Seven new private schools open in Dubai for the 2026-27 academic year. Term starts on Monday 31 August 2026, so if you are still shortlisting, you have about six weeks. This is the biggest single-year arrival of British public school brands the emirate has seen. Harrow, Rugby and Queen Elizabeth’s are all landing at once, alongside three new IB campuses and a British school in Al Quoz that undercuts most of them on price by a wide margin. Here is every confirmed opening, what it costs, where it sits, and the honest catch with each one. We have done the work so that you can decide from these new schools opening in Dubai this year.
First, two things that changed this year
Fees are frozen
On 22 May, under a directive from Sheikh Hamdan bin Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, KHDA confirmed there will be no tuition fee increase across Dubai private schools for 2026-27. It came as part of an AED 1.5 billion economic incentives package. Normally, schools apply for a rise pegged to the Education Cost Index. This year, nobody does.
Important thing to know: new schools were never eligible for increases anyway. Schools operating for under three years cannot raise fees. So the freeze protects you at your current school, not at the new one you are considering.
The age cut-off moved
From 2026-27, the KG and Grade 1 admissions cut-off shifts from 31 August to 31 December. If your child turns three, four, five or six by 31 December of the admission year, they can start that September. Autumn-born children who would have waited a year no longer have to. It also means a bigger cohort competing for the same Foundation Stage seats, which is part of why founding-year places at these new schools moved faster than expected.
List of New Schools Opening In Dubai
1. Queen Elizabeth’s School, Dubai Sports City
The first overseas campus of a UK state grammar school. QE Barnet was founded by royal charter in 1573 and sits at the very top of UK league tables, state and independent. It has been named Sunday Times State Secondary School of the Year four times, including 2026. Moreover, has picked up 202 Oxbridge offers in the past four years. In Dubai it operates as a fee-paying, co-ed day school in partnership with GEDU Global Education, with its own principal and staff.
Founding Principal Dan Clark comes from Marlborough College, where he was Deputy Head (Academic), and previously Repton. Yasir Abrar joins as Founding Head of Senior School. Also, former professional athlete David Pendleton-Nash is Founding Director of Sport, running a high-performance pathway that leans on the Sports City venues next door.
At a glance
- Opens: August 2026
- Location: Dubai Sports City, Al Hebiah Fourth
- Curriculum: National Curriculum for England, IGCSE and A Level
- Year groups: Nursery to Year 8, phasing to Year 13
- KHDA approved fees: AED 93,500 (Nursery) to AED 154,420 (Years 11 to 13)
- Founding families discount: 25 per cent, bringing the range to roughly AED 70,125 to AED 115,815
- Sibling discounts: 5 per cent second child, 10 per cent third and beyond
2. Rugby School Dubai
Rugby School was founded in 1567, invented the sport that carries its name, was the first school to teach science as a subject, and created the Extended Project Qualification. It has also, more recently, withdrawn from national exam league tables entirely. The Dubai campus is its eighth in the group and first in the Middle East, operated by Aldar Education.
Rugby is taking over the existing Kent College Dubai campus in Nad Al Sheba. Aldar and Kent College Canterbury ended their partnership at the close of 2025-26. Kent College Dubai is relocating to a new site under a new partnership with Laureate Education. The building, the pitches and the pools stay put and reopen with a different name on the gate.
Over 90 classrooms, a 400-seat auditorium, specialist labs for physics, biology, electronics, ICT, design technology and food technology, drama and art studios. Along with swimming pools, rugby and football pitches, a hockey pitch, tennis courts and an athletics track. Capacity is over 2,000. It also opens as a full through-school, FS1 to Year 13, rather than a phased Early Years launch.
At a glance
- Opens: August 2026
- Location: Nad Al Sheba, near Meydan Racecourse
- Curriculum: National Curriculum for England, GCSE and A Level
- Year groups: FS1 to Year 13 from day one
- Fees: founding fees from around AED 70,000, ranging to roughly AED 120,000
- Guiding line: “The Whole Person, The Whole Point”
- Commute Reality: good from Meydan, Nad Al Sheba, Dubai Hills, Silicon Oasis, Mirdif and parts of Arabian Ranches. Rough from Marina or the Palm.
3. Harrow International School Dubai
The one everyone has been waiting for, and the only September opening on this list. Taaleem is building Harrow on a 50,000 square metre plot on Hessa Street. As of June, Dubai Media Office put construction at around 85 per cent complete. And Head Master Simon O’Connor has said the build has not lost a single day of its schedule. The campus is designed on neuro-architecture principles and includes a Centre for Performing Arts, STEAM labs and sports fields.
It opens small. Roughly 400 pupils in year one, Early Years to Year 6, scaling to a final capacity of 1,800 to 2,000. Harrow Dubai is a day school with no boarding. It adopts the UK school’s House system in full, along with the Harrow values of honour, courage, humility and fellowship. Classics is on the curriculum from Year 5.
At a glance
- Opens: September 2026
- Location: Hessa Street, convenient for Dubai Marina, Emirates Hills and the Palm
- Curriculum: National Curriculum for England
- Year groups: Early Years to Year 6, phasing to Year 13
- Fees: from AED 80,000, rising to around AED 100,000 by Year 6, with senior years quoted up to around AED 138,000
- Boarding: None in Dubai. Harrow Abu Dhabi will offer it
4. Dubai International Academy Town Square
Innoventures brings its third DIA campus to Nshama Town Square, and for thousands of families out there this ends what one reviewer nicely called the Al Qudra dash. The daily drive to Fairgreen, Motor City or Arabian Ranches because there was no premium IB school inside the gates.
The campus is 330,000 square feet, purpose-built for IB pedagogy rather than retrofitted. Three swimming pools, padel and tennis courts, dance and drama studios, a sprung-floor movement room, full science and design technology labs. It is an IB candidate school aiming for the full continuum, PYP through to the Diploma and Career-related Programmes. Founding Principal Candice Combrinck is an Innoventures veteran, previously Head of Primary at DIA Emirates Hills (KHDA Outstanding) and Vice Principal at DIA Al Barsha.
At a glance
- Opens: August 2026
- Location: Town Square, Al Yalayis 2
- Curriculum: IB candidate school, full continuum planned
- Year groups: Pre-K to Grade 8, growing to Grade 12
- KHDA approved fees: AED 68,000 (Pre-Primary) to AED 120,000 (Grades 11 to 12)
- Founding families fees: AED 49,000 (Pre-KG and KG1), AED 57,000 (KG2 and Grade 1), AED 62,500 (Grades 2 to 5), AED 70,500 (Grades 6 to 8)
- Extras: AED 525 entrance test fee, registration fee at 10 per cent of annual tuition, both deducted from Term 1
5. Ash Mount School, Mudon
The most interesting school on this list of new schools opening in Dubai if you care about how your child actually gets to school. Ash Mount sits directly opposite Mudon Community Centre, with walkways in from the centre and a drop-and-go system on the quietest side road. Students are encouraged to walk or cycle, and the school plans to run cycling proficiency training. Start and finish times are staggered to avoid the usual gate chaos. It is not inside one of Dubai’s official 20-Minute City zones. But Founding Principal Abigail Fishbourne says it is built on that thinking, because what parents keep telling her they want is a school their children can bike to.
Construction was due to complete in June 2026, giving the summer to fit out. Capacity at full build is 2,400.
At a glance
- Opens: August 2026
- Location: Mudon, opposite Mudon Community Centre
- Curriculum: international curriculum grounded in an IB framework with English National Curriculum elements
- Year groups: Pre-KG to Grade 8, growing to Grade 12
- KHDA approved fees: AED 52,000 to AED 85,000
- Founding families’ fees: from AED 44,200 (Pre-KG) to AED 63,750 (Grade 8)
- Sibling discounts: 10 per cent for second, third and fourth child, 15 per cent for the fifth
- Fridays: all students leave at 11.30 am
- Catchment: Arabian Ranches, DAMAC Hills, Mira, Villanova, Tilal Al Ghaf, Town Square, Motor City and Dubai Sports City are all roughly ten minutes out.
6. The Scholars School, Al Quoz
The affordable one on the list of new schools opening in dubai. Founding fees start at AED 42,700, which is under a third of what Queen Elizabeth’s charges for the equivalent stage, and those rates are held for the first three years of operation. Scholars International Group has been running schools in the UAE since 1976, when Dubai Scholars Private School opened. The Scholars School takes over the Al Quoz 1 campus vacated by Clarion School, which closes in July 2026. So this is a repositioning of a well-regarded site rather than a new build, which means finished facilities on day one and no construction risk.
The curriculum is the National Curriculum for England, layered with High Performance Learning. Founding Principal is Kyle Knott.
At a glance
- Opens: August 2026
- Location: Al Asayel Street, Al Quoz 1, between Downtown and Jumeirah
- Curriculum: National Curriculum for England with High Performance Learning
- Year groups: Foundation Stage to Year 6, phasing upward
- Official fees: AED 61,000 to AED 85,000
- Founding families’ fees: AED 42,700 to AED 54,000, held for three years
- Included: books, key online subscriptions and stationery are covered by tuition
WOW Emirates tip: it opens primary only. If you have a Year 8 child, this is not your school yet.
7. Ambassador International Academy, Mankhool
This is the first dedicated IB school in Mankhool, and for families in Bur Dubai, Downtown, City Walk, La Mer, Pearl Jumeirah, Meydan, Dubai Creek Harbour and Dubai Islands, it is the first shot at a full IB pathway without the long drive south.
Bridge Education is building it on a 400,000 square foot site next to Mankhool Park, with capacity for around 2,300. The academic pitch leans hard into AI literacy, coding, entrepreneurship and digital skills, woven through the IB framework. Founding Principal Ruth Burke has more than 30 years across Ireland, the UK and the UAE, most recently five years leading Swiss International Scientific School Dubai.
At a glance
- Opens: August 2026
- Location: Al Mankhool, Bur Dubai
- Curriculum: IB, full continuum planned
- Year groups: Pre-KG to Grade 8, growing to Grade 12
- KHDA approved fees: AED 65,000 (Pre-KG) to AED 95,000 (senior years)
- Founding families fees: from AED 45,000 (Pre-KG), AED 59,000 (Grades 1 to 5), AED 69,000 (Grades 6 to 8). No discount published for Grades 10 to 13
- Transport: third-party service, AED 8,400 two-way across Dubai, AED 13,200 from Sharjah
What Parents Need To Actually Ask?
Not “what are the fees.” Ask: what is the KHDA-approved fee? How long is my founding discount guaranteed? And is it locked for the lifetime of my child at the school or for a fixed number of years?
Every school on this list is discounting heavily to fill its founding cohort. That is normal, and it is a real saving. But the approved fee is the legal ceiling, and once the discount window closes, a school can move toward it without fresh KHDA approval. At DIA Town Square, that gap is AED 19,000 a year at Pre-KG. At Queen Elizabeth’s it is more than AED 23,000. Get the answer in writing, and model your budget against the ceiling.
Second question, especially for the September starters: what happens if the campus is not ready? Ask about the contingency plan and the refund terms. Harrow is 85 per cent built and confident. Others are quieter about it.
New Schools Opening In Dubai: FAQs
Six open in August 2026 and the 2026-27 academic year starts on Monday 31 August. Harrow International School Dubai opens in September 2026.
No. KHDA confirmed a fee freeze for 2026-27 in May 2026. Schools operating for under three years, which includes every school on this list, were never eligible for an increase anyway.
Yes. From 2026-27, the KG and Grade 1 admissions cut-off moves from 31 August to 31 December. Children turning three by 31 December of the admission year can start Foundation Stage that September.
DIA Town Square, Ambassador International Academy Mankhool and Ash Mount School, which uses an IB framework blended with English National Curriculum elements.
No. None of them has been inspected because none of them has opened. Dubai schools are typically inspected in their third year of operation. You are assessing leadership, the operator’s track record at its other campuses, and the campus itself.
Conclusion
Picking the school is one decision. The rest of the move is a dozen more. If you are still weighing up neighbourhoods, the best areas to live in Dubai are worth reading alongside this. Because Mudon, Town Square and Nad Al Sheba are precisely the communities these campuses were built to serve. Run the numbers against our 2026 cost of living breakdown so the tuition figures above sit in context with rent, transport and everything else. If a new tenancy is part of the plan, the UAE tenant credit check is now live, and it changes how landlords assess you. So read that before you sign anything. And for the practical bits nobody warns you about, our guide to Dubai SIM cards and how to get the Dh100 student parking pass will save you a wasted afternoon.
Fees and opening dates verified as of 13 July 2026 and subject to final KHDA approvals. Always confirm current fees directly with the school’s admissions office and check the school’s KHDA Fees Fact Sheet.
Images: official websites
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