Education in the UAE

Compulsory schooling

Education is a constitutional right of every citizen and is free for Emiratis at all stages. Under Federal Decree-Law No. 39 of 2022 on Compulsory Education, parents must send their children to school: for Emiratis until they finish their schooling, and for expatriate residents until they finish the primary stage.¹

School runs from age 4 to 17: two optional kindergarten years, then Grades 1 to 12 in three cycles. Government schools offer general, applied, advanced and elite streams, with the elite stream focused on mathematics and science.²

Government and private schools

Government schools follow the national curriculum and teach in Arabic, with English as a second language and for some technical and scientific subjects. Private schools teach a range of curricula, including the International Baccalaureate and British, American, French, German, Indian, Pakistani and Filipino syllabuses. They must also teach Islamic education, social studies and Arabic, with separate Arabic classes for non-Arabic speakers.⁴

The government portal says the public and private school system offers more than 16 curricula for the different nationalities living in the UAE. Private schools are regulated by the education authority of each emirate, such as the Knowledge and Human Development Authority in Dubai and the Department of Education and Knowledge in Abu Dhabi.^3,7

School fees and inspection ratings for families moving with an investment are in the schools guide.

Universities and accreditation

The Ministry of Higher Education and Scientific Research licenses public and private universities and accredits their programmes, through the Commission for Academic Accreditation. By February 2025 it had licensed 93 institutions, including federal, local and private universities and branches of foreign universities; 36 of them were in Dubai, including those in free zones.^8,5

Under Federal Decree-Law No. 31 of 2025 on Higher Education and Scientific Research, no institution may operate or advertise its programmes without an institutional licence, and no programme may admit students before it is accredited. The ministry keeps national registers of licensed institutions and accredited programmes in Arabic and English.⁹

In 2025 the ministry cut the time to accredit a new programme from six months to seven days. More than 850 new programmes were accredited and more than 25 new institutions were licensed that year, and degrees from 34 UAE institutions became recognised automatically.⁶

Before relying on a UAE degree for a visa, a job or a professional licence, check that the institution and the programme appear on the Commission for Academic Accreditation lists.

Vocational training

Technical and vocational education is regulated nationally by the National Qualifications Center and, in Abu Dhabi, by the Abu Dhabi Centre for Technical and Vocational Education and Training. The 2025 higher education law also covers vocational institutions.^10,6