Dubai School Fee Calculator
Work out how much your child's tuition can rise next year under KHDA rules, and project fees across the rest of their schooling.
How to use
- 1
Enter your child's current annual school fee in AED. The official figure is on your school's KHDA-approved fee schedule, also visible on the KHDA portal at khda.gov.ae.
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Pick your school's most recent KHDA rating. Schools rated Outstanding can raise fees the most; schools rated Weak or Very Weak can't raise fees at all. If you don't know the rating, check the KHDA website or your child's most recent school report.
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Enter how many academic years your child has left at this school. The calculator projects the fee across each of those years.
- 4
Leave the Education Cost Index at the default unless KHDA has announced a new percentage since this calculator was updated. The current default is 2.5%.
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The result shows next year's maximum legal fee, the total you'll pay over the projection, and a year-by-year table you can save.
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Useful: many parents budget the projection figure and are then surprised at the cumulative cost. Even a 3% annual increase compounds to a 34% rise over 10 years.
Frequently asked questions
Every year, KHDA publishes an Education Cost Index (ECI) percentage — a single inflation-tracking figure. Each school's allowed increase is the ECI multiplied by their rating's multiplier. Outstanding schools can charge up to 2× the ECI. Good schools can charge 1.5×. Weak schools can't raise fees at all.
Approximately 2.5%, based on the latest KHDA announcement. The ECI is calculated from inflation and operational cost data for Dubai schools. It's typically lower than headline inflation because school costs are dominated by staff salaries and rent rather than imported goods.
No — not legally. The KHDA cap is binding for any school operating in Dubai. If your school raises tuition above the cap, the increase isn't enforceable. Parents have successfully complained to KHDA and had over-cap increases reversed.
No. KHDA only regulates tuition. School buses, uniform suppliers, after-school activities, and trip fees are unregulated and can rise by any amount. Many schools have started loading costs into these unregulated categories — worth checking the full fee schedule, not just the tuition line.
The new rating applies to fee increases from the next academic year. So a school that was Good (and could raise fees by 1.5× ECI = 3.75% under a 2.5% ECI) becomes Outstanding for the following year and can raise by 2× ECI = 5%. This calculator uses the rating you select, so update it after each KHDA inspection cycle.
Two reasons. First, ancillary costs (bus, lunch, books, technology fee) aren't regulated and can rise separately. Second, schools sometimes apply the maximum allowed increase even in years when they don't need to. The tuition line specifically is capped — total cost is not.
No. KHDA is Dubai's regulator. Abu Dhabi schools fall under ADEK (Abu Dhabi Department of Education and Knowledge), which has a similar but separately announced cap. Other emirates have their own arrangements. This calculator is specifically for Dubai-registered schools.
Reasonable as a planning baseline, less reliable as a guarantee. The ECI changes annually based on inflation, and your school's rating can shift after each inspection (usually every 2–3 years). Recompute with new figures each spring after KHDA publishes the latest ECI.
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Source: Knowledge and Human Development Authority (KHDA) — Education Cost Index framework · Last verified 2026-06. Verify on KHDA (khda.gov.ae). This tool provides estimates only and is not legal, tax or financial advice. Always verify your specific situation with the relevant UAE authority or a licensed advisor before taking action.