Dubai to Open 26 New Private Education Institutions in 2026-27: Seven Schools Including Harrow and Rugby, Nearly 17,000 Seats

Published: 2026-08-26

Dubai will open 26 new private education institutions in the 2026-27 academic year: 17 early childhood centres, seven schools and two international higher education institutions, the Knowledge and Human Development Authority (KHDA) announced on 2026-08-25. The seven schools, four following the UK curriculum and three the International Baccalaureate, add 16,846 seats, and the early childhood centres add more than 1,700 places, so the emirate gains close to 19,000 new places in a single year. The named openings include Dubai campuses of three British schools, Harrow International School Dubai, Queen Elizabeth’s School Dubai Sports City and Rugby School Dubai, plus the Dubai campus of the American University of Beirut in September 2026 and MBA and EMBA programmes of Peking University HSBC Business School from January 2027. KHDA says the private education sector has grown 4.6% a year for three consecutive years, and the 2026-27 intake comes with a freeze on private school fees confirmed on 2026-05-22.

What KHDA announced for 2026-27

The announcement covers the three tiers of Dubai’s private education system that KHDA licenses: early childhood centres for children from birth to around six years, schools from foundation stage to Year 13 or Grade 12, and higher education institutions operating in Dubai under KHDA permits. The 2026-27 list, published a week before most schools reopen, looks like this.

Aisha Miran, Director General of KHDA, said the continued growth of the sector “reflects the trust that learners, families, educators and investors place in Dubai as a destination for high-quality education”, and that every new centre, school and institution “expands opportunities for learners at every stage of their educational journey”. KHDA links the expansion to the Education 33 strategy and to the Dubai Economic Agenda D33.

The seven new schools

KHDA named three of the seven schools, all of them first overseas or first Middle East campuses of long-established British institutions. Details on locations and fees below come from the schools’ own announcements as reported by Gulf News in 2025 and 2026, not from the KHDA release.

• Harrow International School Dubai: operated by Taaleem on Hessa Street, UK curriculum, planned capacity of 1,800 students, fees announced at AED 80,000 to 100,000 a year. It is the first Dubai campus of the school founded in 1572.
• Queen Elizabeth’s School Dubai Sports City: the first overseas campus of the Barnet grammar school, opened in partnership with GEDU Global Education, National Curriculum for England, launching with Nursery to Year 8 and a sixth form to follow, published fees of AED 70,125 to 102,453.
• Rugby School Dubai: opened by Aldar Education in partnership with Rugby School Global in Nad Al Sheba, on the campus previously occupied by Kent College Dubai, British curriculum from FS1 to Year 13 with GCSE and A-Level examinations, more than 90 classrooms and a 400-seat auditorium.

KHDA did not publish the names of the remaining four schools. Among the International Baccalaureate schools that announced August 2026 openings in Dubai are Ash Mount School in Mudon (Interstar Education, AED 52,000 to 75,000), Dubai International Academy Town Square (Innoventures Education, AED 49,000 to 70,500) and Ambassador International Academy Mankhool (Bridge Education, AED 45,000 to 69,000), according to a Gulf News guide updated on 2026-07-22. Whether these are the three IB schools in the KHDA count has not been confirmed officially.

Early childhood centres and universities

The 17 new early childhood centres are the largest group by number of institutions and will add more than 1,700 places. The curricula on offer, the UK Early Years Foundation Stage, Montessori, the Ontario curriculum, French and Indian programmes, reflect the main expatriate communities the centres serve. In 2025-26 Dubai opened 16 such centres with more than 2,400 new enrolments, so the number of new centres is stable year on year while the places per centre are fewer.

In higher education, the American University of Beirut opens its Dubai campus in September 2026; the university had already announced an academic and executive hub in the Dubai International Financial Centre. Peking University HSBC Business School, ranked 47th globally in the QS rankings cited by KHDA, will launch MBA and EMBA programmes in January 2027. Over the past three years 11 higher education institutions have opened in Dubai and enrolment has grown 29%, the fastest rate of the three tiers.

How 2026-27 compares with 2025-26

A year earlier, on 2025-08-24, KHDA announced 25 new institutions for 2025-26: 16 early childhood centres, six schools (five UK curriculum and one French) and three universities, adding more than 11,700 school seats. At that point the sector comprised 331 early childhood centres, 233 schools and 44 higher education institutions.

The number of new institutions is almost identical, but the school capacity added is about 44% higher, which points to larger campuses: the 2026-27 openings average roughly 2,400 seats per school against under 2,000 a year earlier.

Three years of growth in numbers

KHDA summarised the last three academic years as follows:

• the private education sector has grown 4.6% a year on average;
• 21 new private schools opened, and school enrolment rose 3.1%;
• 87 new early childhood centres opened, and their enrolment rose 2.6%;
• the number of educators in the sector grew 17.5%;
• 11 higher education institutions opened, with enrolment up 29%.

The capacity growth follows the population: Dubai passed 4.58 million residents in 2025, and the residential market is being sized for continued inflows, as discussed in our note on the Dubai property market in H2 2026.

Fee freeze and incentives for the sector

The 2026-27 intake is the first under the fee freeze confirmed by KHDA on 2026-05-22 under the directives of Sheikh Hamdan bin Mohammed, Crown Prince of Dubai: no private school in the emirate may increase its fees for the 2026-27 academic year. The decision was part of the second economic incentives package worth AED 1.5 billion, which brought total recent incentives to AED 2.5 billion across 33 initiatives. For education providers the package included deferrals or instalments of licence renewal fees, deferral of fines, and for early childhood centres exemption from licence renewal fees, fines and Dubai Municipality market fees, plus partial rent exemptions and extended rent-free periods for centres under construction.

KHDA also reported that around 9,000 affordable school places were added during 2025-26, that schools in the affordable segment serve about 230,000 students, and that approximately 7,500 more affordable places are planned over the next two academic years. Dubai’s private schools currently offer 17 different curricula.

What this means for relocating families and business owners

For founders and executives moving to Dubai with children, the practical effect is more choice at the premium end of the British and IB segments, where waiting lists have been the norm, and no fee increases at existing schools this year. Admission still requires attested previous school reports, birth certificates and passports; our guide to digital attestation of education documents in the UAE covers the procedure. Parents need a valid UAE residence visa for the child before a school can issue an enrolment; the sequence is company or employment visa for the sponsor first, then dependant visas, then school registration.

For investors, the numbers describe a regulated sector that KHDA is actively expanding: 87 early childhood centres in three years, licence fee exemptions for new centres, and a stated target of 7,500 additional affordable school places. Education is a licensed activity that requires KHDA permits in addition to the trade licence, so the entity structure should be planned around the regulator’s requirements from the outset.

How Atlant Capital can help

Atlant Capital works with founders, executives and investors relocating to Dubai with their families and businesses. We handle company formation in Dubai and the UAE, including the choice between mainland and free zone licences for education and other regulated activities, arrange work visas, Golden Visa and residency for the sponsor and dependants so that school enrolment can proceed on time, and manage corporate bank account opening so that tuition, rent and payroll can be paid from a UAE account from the first month.

Conclusion

Dubai’s 2026-27 school year opens with 26 new private institutions and close to 19,000 new places across schools and early childhood centres, the largest capacity addition in the last three announcements. The named schools, Harrow, Queen Elizabeth’s and Rugby, bring established British brands into the premium segment, while the fee freeze and the incentives package address costs for families and operators at the same time. For anyone planning a move to Dubai in the next 12 months, the school seat is no longer the bottleneck it was, but the visa and attestation sequence still determines whether a child starts on the first day of term.

FAQ

How many new schools are opening in Dubai in 2026-27?

Seven new private schools open in Dubai in the 2026-27 academic year, according to KHDA’s announcement of 2026-08-25. Four follow the UK curriculum and three the International Baccalaureate, adding 16,846 seats in total. The named schools are Harrow International School Dubai, Queen Elizabeth’s School Dubai Sports City and Rugby School Dubai.

What are the fees at Harrow International School Dubai?

Harrow International School Dubai, operated by Taaleem on Hessa Street, announced fees of AED 80,000 to 100,000 a year and a planned capacity of 1,800 students. Queen Elizabeth’s School Dubai Sports City published fees of AED 70,125 to 102,453. These figures come from the schools’ own announcements reported by Gulf News, not from KHDA.

Will Dubai private school fees increase in 2026-27?

No. On 2026-05-22 KHDA confirmed that private schools in Dubai may not increase fees for the 2026-27 academic year, under the directives of Sheikh Hamdan bin Mohammed. The freeze was part of the second economic incentives package worth AED 1.5 billion, which also gave education providers deferrals of licence renewal fees and fines.

Which universities are opening in Dubai in 2026-27?

Two international higher education institutions: the American University of Beirut opens its Dubai campus in September 2026, and Peking University HSBC Business School, ranked 47th in the QS rankings cited by KHDA, launches MBA and EMBA programmes in January 2027. Over the past three years 11 higher education institutions have opened in Dubai and enrolment has risen 29%.