KHDA school ratings in Dubai: how to read them

Open any list of Dubai schools and each one carries a single word: Outstanding, Very Good, Good, Acceptable or Weak. That is the KHDA grade — the Knowledge and Human Development Authority oversees every private school in the emirate. The rating is not the only thing to choose on, but it is the first filter, and it is worth understanding what lies behind it before you book your first tour.

The five grades

Every private school goes through scheduled inspections and receives one of five grades:

• Outstanding;
• Very Good;
• Good;
• Acceptable;
• Weak.

After the 2022/23 inspections the distribution was: 20 schools rated Outstanding, 39 Very Good, 77 Good, 48 Acceptable and one Weak. In other words, roughly one private school in ten holds the top grade.

What the inspectors look at

The grade is built from a long list of measures: the quality of teaching and pupils’ attainment, facilities, the calibre of the staff, leadership, safety, provision for children with special educational needs, and the standard of Arabic and Islamic education. Those last two matter for how you read the result: a school can score “outstanding” on almost every section and lose its overall grade on Arabic alone. So look at the breakdown, not just the headline word.

Why a new school cannot be compared with an old one

New schools are under closer supervision and reach Outstanding only after several years of consistent results. A school usually receives its first full grade a few years after opening, and until then it has no rating at all.

Hence the main rule of reading: Good at a school that opened two years ago and Good at a school with twenty years behind it are different signals. The first may be on its way up; the second has most likely reached its ceiling. The usual view is that a good school should be rated no lower than Good.

How to read the report

Every year the KHDA publishes a full inspection report for each school, plus a short version for parents. Look for three things in it:

• The trend. Is the school improving from one inspection to the next, standing still or slipping?
• The breakdown by phase. The primary and secondary schools on one campus can be graded differently — look at the phase your child is joining.
• The inspectors’ recommendations. The most candid section of all: it states plainly what the school needs to fix.

A school that falls short of the standards is first downgraded and may later lose its licence. For parents this means the rating is a living figure: read the latest report, not a number from last year’s round-up.

What the rating will not tell you

The rating will not tell you whether a school suits your particular child: whether it takes children with weak English, how much screen time there is, how it communicates with parents, whether you can park in the morning. Only a visit answers those — see the school tour: what to ask. For schools with a given grade in each curriculum, see the guides to British, American and IB schools.

The full “Schools in Dubai” series

• Schools in Dubai: how the system works
• Getting into a Dubai school: the five steps
• School documents in the UAE: attestation and the transfer certificate
• Dubai school fees and how to pay less
• The school day in Dubai and the costs on top of fees
• The Dubai school year, holidays and starting age
• British, American or IB: choosing a curriculum in Dubai
• IB Diploma vs A-levels: what each gives a school leaver
• British schools in Dubai: twelve strong options
• American schools in Dubai
• IB schools in Dubai: seven international-curriculum schools
• Dubai school entrance assessments and the CAT4 test
• The Dubai school tour: what to ask and what to watch for
• A child with no English at a Dubai school
• School first, home second: where to live near a Dubai school