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.
Year 2024–25, Year 5 (Grade 4), fees as charged
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.