CBSE School Fees in Dubai: Fees by School & Grade (KHDA Figures) + Total Cost

1 AED = ₹25.63Reference rateUpdated 7 Nov 2026, 22:58 GST

Short answer: For the current academic year — 2026–2027, the April-start year for Indian-curriculum schools — KHDA School Fees Fact Sheets put CBSE tuition anywhere from AED 4,466 (≈ ₹1,14,500) a year at the lowest-cost full school to AED 73,876 (≈ ₹18,93,500) at the premium end. Most established Indian schools sit between AED 7,000 (≈ ₹1,79,400) and AED 17,000 (≈ ₹4,35,700). Tuition is only part of the bill: transport, uniforms, books and one-off charges are listed separately below. And for 2026–27, KHDA has confirmed there will be no increase in private school fees in Dubai.

Which academic year these figures belong to

Indian-curriculum schools in Dubai run an April-to-March academic year, so on 8 November 2026 the current year is 2026–2027, which began in April 2026. Every tuition figure in the main table comes from a KHDA School Fees Fact Sheet for 2026–2027 (or the school’s KHDA-published fee data for that year), and the year is stated because most comparison pages still quote 2025–26. In a normal year, KHDA permits fee increases linked to its Education Cost Index — 2.35% for 2025–26 — scaled by inspection rating. For 2026–27 that mechanism is suspended: KHDA’s announcement of 22 May 2026, issued under the directives of Sheikh Hamdan bin Mohammed, confirmed no fee increase at any private school in the emirate for 2026–2027. A child’s fee can still rise on moving up a grade band, because each grade has its own approved fee — the freeze holds each grade’s fee at its 2025–26 level, it does not flatten the ladder.

Tuition by school and grade — KHDA figures, 2026–2027

School	KHDA rating	Selected grade tuition (AED / year)	Source
New Indian Model School, Al Garhoud	Good	KG1: 4,466 · Grade 10: 6,608 · Grades 11–12: 7,769	KHDA school profile figures (2025–26, unchanged for 2026–27 under the freeze)
The Indian High School, Oud Metha	Very Good	Grade 5: 5,525 · Grades 6–8: 6,696 · Grades 9–10: 8,373 · Grades 11–12: 10,465	KHDA-published fee data via the school’s fee listing
GEMS Our Own Indian School, Al Quoz	Very Good	KG: 7,209 · Grades 1–5: 8,250 · Grades 9–10: 11,741 · Grades 11–12: 14,696	KHDA School Fees Fact Sheet 2026–2027
GEMS Our Own English High School, Al Warqa	Very Good	KG: 7,828 · Grade 1: 9,585 · Grade 7: 10,890 · Top band: 16,562	KHDA School Fees Fact Sheet 2026–2027
Delhi Private School, Jebel Ali	Very Good	Full range across grades: 11,389–15,842	KHDA-published fee data, 2026–2027
GEMS Modern Academy, Nad Al Sheba	Outstanding	Pre-primary: 30,983 · Grade 2: 43,311 · Grade 5: 48,173 · Grade 10: 51,345 · Grade 12: 73,876	KHDA School Fees Fact Sheet 2026–2027 (Indian/IB)

Two reading notes. First, the KHDA fact sheet for each grade also shows a total fees line: at GEMS Our Own Indian School, Grade 4 tuition of AED 8,250 (≈ ₹2,11,500) carries a total of AED 8,650 (≈ ₹2,21,700), and Grade 12 tuition of AED 14,696 (≈ ₹3,76,700) a total of AED 15,336 (≈ ₹3,93,100) — the difference is small mandatory items on the sheet. At GEMS Modern Academy the fact-sheet total adds AED 25 to tuition. Second, the cheapest seats in the table are also highly rated: the lowest-cost full KG-to-Grade-12 school, New Indian Model School, is rated Good, and The Indian High School combines the second-lowest fees in this set with a Very Good rating.

The rest of the bill: costs that are not tuition

The freeze announcement covers school fees as KHDA regulates them; KHDA’s release does not list transport, uniforms or other extras, and schools set those charges separately. The items below are the standard non-tuition lines, with the basis for each figure stated.

Item	Typical amount (AED)	Basis
Application fee (new admission)	Up to 500	KHDA cap under its School Registration and Refund Policy, effective 23 March 2026; some schools charge 525 including VAT
Registration / re-enrolment deposit	Up to 10% of annual tuition	KHDA cap; the deposit is deducted from the first term’s tuition
School transport (bus)	Commonly 3,500–7,000 per year, by route distance	School and transport-operator published route fees; not part of tuition and not covered by the freeze wording
Uniforms	Commonly 300–800 per child per year	School uniform suppliers; varies with growth and sets bought
Books and stationery	Commonly 500–1,500 per child per year	School booklists; board-exam years cost more
Fact-sheet mandatory items	25–640 per year	Difference between tuition and total fees on the KHDA fact sheets above

A worked total

One child in Grade 4 at GEMS Our Own Indian School, 2026–2027: tuition AED 8,250 (≈ ₹2,11,500), fact-sheet total AED 8,650 (≈ ₹2,21,700), plus bus transport, uniforms and books from the ranges above produces a realistic all-in year of roughly AED 13,500 (≈ ₹3,46,000) to AED 17,000 (≈ ₹4,35,700) — tuition is only about half to two-thirds of the true annual cost. Family budgets that carry schooling as a monthly line are in the family of four budget breakdown, and the wider household picture is in the cost of living in Dubai for Indians guide.

How fees are paid across the year

Indian-curriculum schools commonly collect fees in three terms — April to June, September to December, and January to March — with splits such as 30% / 40% / 30% of the annual fee appearing in published school fee structures. The exact split, and any discount for annual payment, is set by each school within KHDA’s framework and stated on its fact sheet and fee page.

Admissions for the April start

KHDA does not set a single admissions date. For an April-start year, Indian schools in Dubai typically open registrations during the autumn term before — broadly September to November of the preceding year — and oversubscribed schools close lists early. The registration deposit (capped at 10% of tuition, above) is what reserves a confirmed seat, and it is deducted from the first term’s fees. Separately, health costs sit outside school fees entirely: family health cover is covered in health insurance in Dubai for family dependants.

Frequently asked questions

Are Dubai school fees frozen for 2026–27?

Yes. KHDA confirmed on 22 May 2026 that there will be no increase in private school fees in Dubai for the 2026–2027 academic year. The announcement covers school fees; it does not list transport, uniforms or other extras.

Which Good-rated CBSE school is cheapest?

Among the schools verified for this page, New Indian Model School (Good) has the lowest fees — AED 4,466 (≈ ₹1,14,500) in KG1 rising to AED 7,769 (≈ ₹1,99,100) in Grades 11–12 — and The Indian High School (Very Good) is close behind at AED 5,525 (≈ ₹1,41,600) from Grade 5.

What is a KHDA School Fees Fact Sheet?

It is KHDA’s one-page official fee statement for each school and grade, showing approved tuition, mandatory and optional fees, the total, and the school’s fee-increase position for that academic year. Every figure in the main table traces to one.

When do admissions open for Indian schools in Dubai?

Typically in the autumn term (around September–November) before the April start, varying by school; KHDA sets no single date. The deposit that reserves a seat is capped at 10% of annual tuition.

Does the fee rise as a child moves up grades?

Yes — each grade band has its own approved fee, and moving bands raises the fee even in a freeze year. The freeze holds each band’s fee at its previous level; it does not hold a child’s fee flat across bands.

How to read a KHDA fact sheet before comparing schools

Each fact sheet is one page per grade, and four of its lines do most of the work. The tuition line is the approved annual tuition for that grade — the figure used in the table above. The total fees line adds the mandatory items the school charges every student in that grade, which is why totals run slightly above tuition at some schools and almost exactly at tuition at others. A separate block lists optional charges — transport, meals, trips and activities — which are not in the total and which vary by family, and the sheet closes with the school’s fee-increase position for the year: for 2026–2027 the sheets of the GEMS schools above record that the school requested no increase, matching KHDA’s emirate-wide freeze. Comparing two schools on tuition alone therefore understates the comparison by exactly the optional block, and the worked total earlier in this page shows the size of that gap for one real grade.

The fee framework in a normal year

The freeze is an exception to a standing system, and the system explains what happens next. Under KHDA’s School Fees Framework, a school that has completed three years of operation may apply for a fee increase capped by the Education Cost Index (ECI) — a KHDA-computed measure of education-sector costs — multiplied by a factor linked to the school’s inspection rating, so higher-rated schools may apply for larger increases. For 2025–2026 the ECI was set at 2.35%. Schools under three years old are not eligible to apply. For 2026–2027 KHDA set the process aside entirely — no increases at any school regardless of rating — as part of the economic support package announced with the freeze. Whether increases resume for 2027–2028, and at what ECI, is a future KHDA announcement; nothing in the 2026–27 freeze states a position beyond its own year.

Discounts and payment patterns schools publish

Two further patterns appear in published school material and are stated here as patterns, not entitlements. Sibling discounts — a percentage off tuition for second and subsequent children — are offered by a number of Indian-curriculum schools and stated on their own fee pages, with the percentage set by the school. Early or annual-payment discounts appear in some schools’ published terms as well. Both are school-level policies outside KHDA’s approved fee itself: the fact sheet shows the approved fee, and any discount is applied by the school against it. For a two-child family, the arithmetic consequence is that the second child’s effective tuition can sit below the tabled figure at schools with a sibling policy — one more reason the family budget in the cost-of-living guide carries school fees as a range-sensitive line rather than a point figure.

Sources and method

KHDA School Fees Fact Sheets, academic year 2026–2027, opened for GEMS Our Own Indian School, GEMS Our Own English High School and GEMS Modern Academy (grade-level tuition and totals as tabled); KHDA-published fee data for The Indian High School, Delhi Private School and New Indian Model School via school listings and the KHDA school profile. Fee freeze: KHDA / Dubai Media Office announcement, 22 May 2026. Application and deposit caps: KHDA School Registration and Refund Policy (effective 23 March 2026). Only schools whose figures were verified from KHDA or KHDA-linked school fee pages are included. This page is factual information, not advice on school choice. See the methodology page and disclaimer.