Fee rises in Dubai schools, 2012–13 to 2026–27
Each year KHDA sets how much a school may raise its fees. This table puts that rule beside what the Fees Fact Sheets show: for the Year 5 (Grade 4) tuition of 207 schools in 2026–27, how many raised it, kept it or lowered it against the year before, and the median rise.
KHDA's rule and the rise in Year 5 (Grade 4) tuition, by year
| Against the year before | 2012–1312–13 | 2013–1413–14 | 2014–1514–15 | 2015–1615–16 | 2016–1716–17 | 2017–1817–18 | 2018–1918–19 | 2019–2019–20 | 2020–2120–21 | 2021–2221–22 | 2022–2322–23 | 2023–2423–24 | 2024–2524–25 | 2025–2625–26 | 2026–2726–27 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| KHDA's rulethe Education Cost Index or a freeze | 2012–13: up to the index, +3.0% | 2013–14: No rise, index −1.0% | 2014–15: up to the index, +1.74% | 2015–16: up to the index, +2.92% | 2016–17: up to the index, +3.21% | 2017–18: up to the index, +2.4% | 2018–19: Freeze, decree | 2019–20: up to the index, +2.07% | 2020–21: No rise, index −2.35% | 2021–22: No rise, index −2.58% | 2022–23: No rise, index −1.01% | 2023–24: up to the index, +3.0% | 2024–25: up to the index, +2.6% | 2025–26: up to the index, +2.35% | 2026–27: Freeze, decree |
| Median riseof the schools' own rises | +3.0% | 0.0% | +1.74% | +2.93% | +3.51% | +3.6% | 0.0% | +2.07% | 0.0% | 0.0% | 0.0% | +3.0% | +2.6% | +2.35% | 0.0% |
| Raised · kept · loweredto scale | |||||||||||||||
| Raised | Raised, 2012–13: 40 of 49 schools | Raised, 2013–14: 13 of 57 schools | Raised, 2014–15: 54 of 65 schools | Raised, 2015–16: 60 of 69 schools | Raised, 2016–17: 59 of 66 schools | Raised, 2017–18: 53 of 65 schools | Raised, 2018–19: 0 of 118 schools | Raised, 2019–20: 91 of 127 schools | Raised, 2020–21: 2 of 132 schools | Raised, 2021–22: 6 of 141 schools | Raised, 2022–23: 4 of 152 schools | Raised, 2023–24: 164 of 195 schools | Raised, 2024–25: 174 of 203 schools | Raised, 2025–26: 175 of 203 schools | Raised, 2026–27: 3 of 207 schools |
| Kept the same | Kept the same, 2012–13: 8 of 49 schools | Kept the same, 2013–14: 44 of 57 schools | Kept the same, 2014–15: 9 of 65 schools | Kept the same, 2015–16: 9 of 69 schools | Kept the same, 2016–17: 6 of 66 schools | Kept the same, 2017–18: 12 of 65 schools | Kept the same, 2018–19: 118 of 118 schools | Kept the same, 2019–20: 33 of 127 schools | Kept the same, 2020–21: 128 of 132 schools | Kept the same, 2021–22: 134 of 141 schools | Kept the same, 2022–23: 148 of 152 schools | Kept the same, 2023–24: 27 of 195 schools | Kept the same, 2024–25: 29 of 203 schools | Kept the same, 2025–26: 28 of 203 schools | Kept the same, 2026–27: 204 of 207 schools |
| Lowered | Lowered, 2012–13: 1 of 49 schools | Lowered, 2013–14: 0 of 57 schools | Lowered, 2014–15: 2 of 65 schools | Lowered, 2015–16: 0 of 69 schools | Lowered, 2016–17: 1 of 66 schools | Lowered, 2017–18: 0 of 65 schools | Lowered, 2018–19: 0 of 118 schools | Lowered, 2019–20: 3 of 127 schools | Lowered, 2020–21: 2 of 132 schools | Lowered, 2021–22: 1 of 141 schools | Lowered, 2022–23: 0 of 152 schools | Lowered, 2023–24: 4 of 195 schools | Lowered, 2024–25: 0 of 203 schools | Lowered, 2025–26: 0 of 203 schools | Lowered, 2026–27: 0 of 207 schools |
| Schools compared | 49 | 57 | 65 | 69 | 66 | 65 | 118 | 127 | 132 | 141 | 152 | 195 | 203 | 203 | 207 |
How this is worked out
Each school is compared with itself: its Year 5 (Grade 4) tuition in a year's Fees Fact Sheet against the year before's, counted when both sheets give it. The median is the middle of the schools' own rises, not an average of fees.
KHDA lets a school raise its fees by up to the Education Cost Index, or by a multiple of it: by the school's rating until 2017–18, and by the change of its rating from 2019–20. A rise above the index is not a breach. In a freeze year no school may raise its fees; when the index falls, there is no general rise.
A year with fewer than 20 schools compared shows how many there were instead of counts.
Source
KHDA Fees Fact Sheets, 2012–13 to 2026–27; KHDA's and the press's announcements of each year's rule.