Dubai Private Schools Enter the World’s Top 10 in Every PISA 2025 Domain: 6th in Reading, 8th in Mathematics and Science, 9th in Computational Problem Solving, 9,600 Pupils From 168 Schools

2026-09-08

On 8 September 2026, the day the OECD published the results of PISA 2025, Sheikh Hamdan bin Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Crown Prince of Dubai, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Defence of the UAE and Chairman of The Executive Council of Dubai, announced that Dubai’s private schools had entered the world’s top 10 in every domain of the assessment for the first time. The 9,600 pupils from 168 private schools who sat the test ranked sixth in the world in reading with an average of 501 points, eighth in mathematics with 511 points, eighth in science with 522 points and ninth in the new domain of computational problem solving with 534 points, 34 points above the OECD average. In PISA 2022 the same system stood ninth in mathematics, thirteenth in reading and fourteenth in science. The result meets a headline target of the Dubai Education 33 strategy seven years early and lands in a year when the OECD average fell to its lowest level ever recorded in reading and mathematics. This article sets out the verified scores, the comparison with 2022 and with the world leaders, the curriculum breakdown, the national UAE picture and what the ranking means in practice for a family or a company moving to Dubai.

What was announced on 8 September 2026

The Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA) is run by the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) every three years and measures how well 15-year-olds apply reading, mathematics and science to real-life problems rather than how much curriculum content they can recall. The 2025 cycle was the largest in the programme’s history: more than 760,000 pupils in 91 countries and economies, representing about 33 million 15-year-olds, took the test, and the OECD released the first volume of results simultaneously worldwide on 8 September 2026. Science was the major domain of the cycle, reading and mathematics were the core minor domains, and a new domain called “Learning in the Digital World” assessed computational problem solving and self-regulated learning.

Dubai’s private schools have taken part since 2009 and their results are compiled separately by the Knowledge and Human Development Authority (KHDA), the emirate’s private education regulator, which compares them with the participating countries and economies. The statement issued through the Government of Dubai Media Office on 8 September 2026 listed the following points:

• Sixth place in the world in reading with an average score of 501 points.
• Eighth place in mathematics with 511 points and eighth place in science with 522 points.
• Ninth place in computational problem solving with 534 points, 34 points above the OECD average.
• An improvement in every domain on PISA 2022, when Dubai’s private schools ranked ninth in mathematics, thirteenth in reading and fourteenth in science.
• Six consecutive cycles of improvement since 2009, adding 37 points in mathematics, 22 points in reading and 36 points in science over the period.
• Emirati pupils in Dubai’s private schools improved by an average of 31 points in mathematics, 30 points in science and 18 points in reading compared with 2022.
• Pupils in International Baccalaureate (IB) schools recorded the highest averages of any curriculum: 557 points in science, 542 in mathematics and 538 in reading.

“We begin the new academic year with an achievement that reflects the strength and continued progress of Dubai’s education system,” Sheikh Hamdan said, congratulating schools, teachers, pupils and parents. He added that he had directed KHDA “to continue building on these achievements, accelerate the development of the education system, and further strengthen Dubai’s position among the world’s leading education systems”.

The scores against the OECD average and the world leaders

The OECD averages for 2025 were 461 points in reading, 463 in mathematics and 482 in science, and the new digital domain is scaled so that the OECD average is 500. The table shows how far Dubai’s private schools sit above each benchmark and how the position has moved since the previous cycle. PISA 2022 figures are from the KHDA report published in December 2023, when 9,250 pupils from 171 schools took part.

By our arithmetic on the official figures, Dubai’s private schools added 14 points in mathematics, 19 in science and 3 in reading between the two cycles. Over the same period the OECD average moved the other way: from 472 to 463 in mathematics, from 485 to 482 in science and from 476 to 461 in reading. The OECD reports that average reading scores across its member countries fell from 489 in 2015 to 461 in 2025, a loss of 28 points that it equates to about a year and a half of schooling, and that mathematics fell by 22 points over the same decade. Dubai’s rise in the rankings therefore reflects both its own gains and the decline elsewhere.

The top of the table is unchanged in character. The highest performers across the three core domains were the four Chinese jurisdictions of Beijing, Shanghai, Jiangsu and Zhejiang, which scored 612 points in mathematics, 597 in science and 527 in reading, and Singapore, with 563 in mathematics, 560 in science and 535 in reading. Macao, Chinese Taipei, Japan, Korea, Estonia, Hong Kong and the United Kingdom were also among the leading systems, and in computational problem solving the six highest scorers, all above 545 points, were Macao, Singapore, the Chinese jurisdictions, Japan, Chinese Taipei and Hong Kong. Dubai’s 534 points in that domain put it in the same band as the best OECD countries, where Australia, Estonia, Japan, Korea and New Zealand scored above 530.

Curricula: IB leads, the UK curriculum is the largest

Dubai’s private school system is unusual in its diversity. According to KHDA’s landscape data for the 2024-25 academic year, 227 private schools taught 387,441 pupils from 185 nationalities across 17 curricula, enrolment was up 6% in a year, the schools employed 27,284 teachers and 33,210 of the pupils were Emirati. The UK curriculum accounted for 37% of pupils, the Indian curriculum for 26%, the US curriculum for 14% and the IB for 7%, with French, German, Russian and other national programmes making up the rest. The average PISA score of a system with that mix is a weighted result across schools whose fees start below AED 10,000 a year and rise above AED 100,000, which is why the curriculum breakdown matters more to a parent than the headline rank.

IB schools posted the highest averages in 2025: 557 points in science, 542 in mathematics and 538 in reading, up from 538, 535 and 528 in PISA 2022. Those figures are above Singapore’s national averages in science and mathematics and within three points of Singapore in reading, although the comparison is between a self-selected group of schools and a whole country. In PISA 2022 KHDA also reported that schools rated Outstanding in its inspections scored 551 in mathematics, 553 in science and 554 in reading, well above the system average, and the same pattern of a wide spread between the strongest and the weakest schools should be expected in 2025. The published statement does not give the 2025 results for the UK, Indian or US curricula, so we do not cite them.

The UAE national result and Dubai in the national picture

The national results announced by the Ministry of Education on the same day cover all schools in the country, public and private, and are lower than the Dubai private school figures. According to the ministry, 34,639 pupils from 1,070 schools across the UAE took the test, and the country scored 458 points in science, up 26 points on 2022, 453 in mathematics, up 21, and 433 in reading, up 15. That made the UAE the top-performing Arab country in all three domains and one of only eight of the 91 participating systems to improve in all three subjects. Within the country, Dubai recorded the strongest results of any emirate at 506 points in science, 496 in mathematics and 484 in reading, which is 48, 43 and 51 points above the national average and 24, 33 and 23 points above the OECD average. The gap between the emirate-wide figure and the private school figure reflects the inclusion of public schools in the former.

The same release gave two indicators from the PISA questionnaires that bear on the country’s technology push: 81.7% of UAE pupils said they had learned in class how to evaluate information generated by artificial intelligence, against 62.6% across the OECD, and 96.3% attended schools with subject-specific rules on the use of digital devices, against 71.2% in the OECD. On 2 September 2026 the UAE Cabinet approved an AI curriculum for all public and private schools, as we reported last week.

Education 33 and the school market behind the ranking

The Dubai Education 33 strategy (E33) was announced by Sheikh Hamdan on 1 October 2024 and is implemented by KHDA under its Director General Aisha Miran. It has five strategic goals and 28 “Game Changer” initiatives, and its measurable targets for 2033 include placing Dubai among the world’s top 10 cities for education under the Dubai Social Agenda 33, a 90% parent satisfaction rate with the education options available, at least 49,000 additional seats in affordable schools, 3,000 more Emirati teachers and a tenfold increase in education tourism. The top 10 position in PISA, a marker set for 2033, has now been reached in the first cycle after the strategy was launched.

The supply side is growing at the same time. For the 2026-27 academic year KHDA licensed 26 new private education institutions, including 17 early childhood centres, seven schools and two universities, with the seven schools adding 16,846 seats; four of them follow the UK curriculum and three the IB, and the names include Harrow International School Dubai, Queen Elizabeth’s School Dubai Sports City and Rugby School Dubai, as we set out in August. Twenty-one private schools opened in the three preceding academic years, and the number of educators in the private sector rose 17.5% over that period. On costs, KHDA set the Education Cost Index, which caps annual fee increases, at 2.35% for 2025-26 and then froze private school tuition fees for 2026-27, so the fees a family agrees this September will not rise for the coming year. Neighbouring Sharjah opened the 2026-27 year with more than 204,000 pupils and six new private schools, as we reported on 30 August, and demand across the emirates is fed by population growth: Dubai passed 4.58 million residents at the end of 2025, up 7.5% in a year.

What the ranking means for a family or a company moving to Dubai

A PISA rank does not change a law or a procedure, so there is nothing to file and no deadline to meet. Its practical value is as evidence in a decision that most relocating families and many employers take every year: whether the schooling available in Dubai is good enough to move a family, and at what cost. Four points follow from the facts above.

1. The system average is now on a par with Western Europe and North America, and the best schools are on a par with East Asia. A family choosing between Dubai and a European or North American city no longer has to treat schooling as the compromise in the move. The choice within Dubai remains wide: the same city holds IB schools scoring above 550 in science and affordable schools with fees below AED 10,000, so KHDA inspection ratings and the school’s own results matter more than the emirate-wide number.
2. Seats are being added, but the timing still needs planning. The 16,846 new seats for 2026-27 and the 49,000 affordable seats targeted by 2033 widen the choice, but admissions to the most sought-after schools open a year ahead and popular year groups fill early. A family arriving mid-year should expect to apply to several schools and to pay a registration deposit to hold a place.
3. Enrolment runs alongside the residence visa, not after it. Schools accept applications on a passport, but a child’s residence visa and Emirates ID, issued under a parent’s sponsorship, are needed to complete enrolment, and a pupil transferring from a school abroad is usually asked for previous reports and a transfer certificate whose attestation should be checked with the receiving school. The UAE Ministry of Foreign Affairs now attests educational documents fully online, a service we described in August, which removes one of the slower steps for parents’ own qualifications.
4. For employers and investors, the ranking is a hiring and a market argument. Recruiters relocating senior staff with families now have an independent benchmark to quote, and school places at recognised curricula remain a standard element of relocation packages. For operators, the E33 target of 49,000 affordable seats, the 26 institutions licensed this year and the fee framework describe a regulated market that is still short of capacity in specific segments and locations.

Checklist for a family moving to Dubai with school-age children

• Shortlist schools by curriculum, KHDA inspection rating and location before choosing where to live; commuting time across Dubai is often the deciding factor.
• Check the fee schedule for the year of entry, the registration and re-enrolment deposits and the extras: transport, uniforms, devices, trips and exams.
• Apply to more than one school and note the assessment or interview dates for the child’s year group.
• Prepare the child’s passport, birth certificate, vaccination record, previous school reports and a transfer certificate, and ask the school which documents must be attested.
• Plan the parent’s residence visa first: the child’s visa, Emirates ID and school enrolment depend on it.
• If the move is tied to a new company or a Golden Visa, align the licence, visa and school admission calendars so that none of the three waits for the others.

How Atlant Capital can help

Atlant Capital works with founders, executives and investors relocating to the UAE with their families. We handle company formation on the mainland and in free zones, which is the usual route to a residence visa for a business owner; work permits and residence visas for owners, staff and their dependants, including children’s visas under a parent’s sponsorship; Golden Visa applications for investors, entrepreneurs and specialists whose families move with them; and personal and corporate bank account opening, which schools and landlords expect to see in place. Bookkeeping, audit and tax filings are handled by licensed accounting firms from our partner network. To plan a family relocation around a school calendar, contact us.

Conclusion

The facts announced on 8 September 2026 are specific: 9,600 pupils from 168 Dubai private schools scored 501 points in reading, 511 in mathematics, 522 in science and 534 in computational problem solving in PISA 2025, placing the system sixth, eighth, eighth and ninth in the world among 91 participating countries and economies, 40, 48, 40 and 34 points above the OECD averages, and up from ninth, thirteenth and fourteenth in 2022. IB schools led with 557, 542 and 538 points, Emirati pupils gained 31, 30 and 18 points, and the UAE as a whole improved in all three subjects while the OECD average fell to its lowest level on record. For a family weighing a move, the number that matters most is not the rank but the spread behind it, which is why the checklist above starts with the school and the visa rather than with the ranking.

Sources: Government of Dubai Media Office statement on Dubai private schools in PISA 2025, 8 September 2026, as carried by WAM, Emirates 24|7 and Gulf News; UAE Ministry of Education statement on the national PISA 2025 results, 8 September 2026, as reported by Khaleej Times and Gulf News; OECD, PISA 2025 Results (Volume I), released 8 September 2026, and OECD press release of the same date; Dubai Media Office release on PISA 2022 results, 7 December 2023; Dubai Media Office release on the Education 33 strategy, 2 October 2024; KHDA private school landscape data for 2024-25 and KHDA announcements on the 2026-27 academic year and the 2026-27 fee freeze; Gulf News on the 2025-26 Education Cost Index.

FAQ

How did Dubai private schools rank in PISA 2025?

Dubai’s private schools ranked sixth in the world in reading with 501 points, eighth in mathematics with 511 points, eighth in science with 522 points and ninth in computational problem solving with 534 points. The results were announced by Sheikh Hamdan bin Mohammed on 8 September 2026 and cover 9,600 pupils from 168 private schools. The OECD averages were 461, 463, 482 and 500 points respectively, so Dubai sits 40, 48, 40 and 34 points above them. In PISA 2022 the emirate’s private schools were ninth in mathematics, thirteenth in reading and fourteenth in science.

What is PISA and who took part in 2025?

PISA is the OECD’s Programme for International Student Assessment, a test held every three years that measures whether 15-year-olds can apply reading, mathematics and science to real-life problems. PISA 2025 was the largest cycle to date, with more than 760,000 pupils in 91 countries and economies, and its results were released on 8 September 2026. Science was the major domain, and a new domain called Learning in the Digital World measured computational problem solving. The highest scorers were the Chinese jurisdictions of Beijing, Shanghai, Jiangsu and Zhejiang and Singapore, followed by Macao, Chinese Taipei, Japan, Korea, Estonia, Hong Kong and the United Kingdom.

Which curriculum scored highest in Dubai?

International Baccalaureate schools recorded the highest averages in Dubai in PISA 2025: 557 points in science, 542 in mathematics and 538 in reading, up from 538, 535 and 528 in 2022. Dubai’s 227 private schools teach 17 curricula to 387,441 pupils, according to KHDA data for 2024-25; the UK curriculum has 37% of pupils, the Indian curriculum 26%, the US curriculum 14% and the IB 7%. Results for the other curricula were not published in the 8 September 2026 statement.

What does the result mean for a family moving to Dubai?

It gives a family independent evidence that Dubai’s private schools perform at the level of leading European and North American systems, with the best schools at East Asian levels, but the choice within the city still has to be made school by school using KHDA inspection ratings, curriculum and fees. Practically, school enrolment requires the child’s residence visa and Emirates ID under a parent’s sponsorship, admissions to popular schools open a year ahead, seven new schools added 16,846 seats for 2026-27, and KHDA froze private school tuition fees for the 2026-27 academic year after capping increases at 2.35% in 2025-26.