American schools in Dubai KHDA rates Good or better

One of the 39 American schools holds Very good, the second of KHDA's six levels, on its latest published report, from the 2023–24 inspections.

22 of the 39 American schools hold Good, the level KHDA's framework expects of every school, on their latest published report, every one from the 2023–24 inspections.

Another 14 American schools are rated Acceptable, the minimum level; 1 has no rating yet. The American hub lists all of them by rating group.

This site does not rate schools or rank them. Many families type “best” into a search; the only answer this page gives that word is KHDA's own judgement, with the year it was made.

KHDA's rating is the one public assessment that covers every private school in Dubai on the same six-level scale, from Outstanding to Very weak, by inspectors who visit the school. What each of the six levels means and how a rating is decided are in the ratings guide; the scale itself is in the glossary.

A rating judges the school as a whole against KHDA's framework. It does not measure fit for one child, the commute, class sizes in one grade, whether a place is open or AP and SAT results, which this site does not hold. Two schools on this page with the same rating can be very different schools; the profile and a visit tell you which.

23 of the 24 schools on this page run from KG to Grade 12 on KHDA's directory; Mirdif American School is listed without a post-16 phase. So the Grade 6 and Grade 11 columns are the ones to read for a family looking at middle or high school.

5 schools on this page also teach the IB beside the American curriculum: Collegiate International School, GEMS Al Khaleej International School, GEMS Dubai American Academy, Philadelphia Private School and Universal American School. Which programme a child would follow at each grade is a question for the school; IB schools in Dubai KHDA rates Outstanding or Very good lists the programmes their reports name.

US grades and British year groups for the same age sit side by side in Which year group is my child in?

The 24 schools stand in 15 places across Dubai. Al Barsha has the most, 5; 10 places have only one each. Each school is counted in the place this site lists for it.

An area page lists every school there, whatever its rating or curriculum; the American page of an area lists that curriculum's schools by rating group, where three or more stand there. The Area column of the tables above opens each area's page.

Families moving from abroad usually choose the home first and the school second. Schools near where you will live or work measures from an area or a landmark, not from where you are now.

The lowest and highest fee at each year group within each rating. No average: a fee belongs to one year group in one year.

At KG2, both the lowest and the highest fee on this page are at schools rated Good. The rating says how KHDA judged the school; it does not set the price.

For every American school, lowest fee first, see Grade 4 fees at every American school; for the picture across all six levels, Fees by KHDA rating. Tuition only: uniforms, transport, books and exam fees are extra and sit on each school's profile. For the whole run of years, the cost planner.

All 24 ratings on this page are from KHDA's 2023–24 inspection cycle, the last full cycle before inspections paused. KHDA rated only a handful of schools in the two years after it, mostly schools in their third year, so every rating here is at least two school years old.

Full inspections resume in 2026–27. When a school on this page receives a new report, its row changes: the rating, the year beside it, or both. This page is rebuilt from the data whenever a new report is read, so the year in each row is the thing to check.

A rating can move in either direction. Rating changes lists every move across all schools, Ratings by curriculum sets the curricula side by side, and How long an Outstanding rating lasts explains the cycle.