School fees in the Middle East: how much are you paying?

A total of 1.51 million students are attending international schools in the Middle East, each spending an average of $7,658 (AED 28,129) annually on school fees, a new study has found.

And it seems that the UAE’s expanding international schools market is showing no signs of slowing, with 17 new schools set to open for the 2018-2019 academic year.

According to the latest data from ISC Research, released ahead of the forthcoming International and Private Schools Education Forum (IPSEF) Middle East in Dubai, the UAE led all countries in the Middle East in the number of international schools, boasting 624 international schools, up from 596 last year.

Following the UAE, there are 257 international schools in Saudi Arabia and 166 in Qatar. The research also shows that the premium, English-language international schools market continues to expand across the Middle East, seemingly unaffected by challenging economic conditions.

“The market in the Middle East, particularly in the UAE, continues to expand. ISC Research is aware of 17 new international schools opening for the 2018-2019 academic year in the UAE, 13 of which are located in Dubai,” said Richard Gaskell, schools director at ISC Research.

Rhona Greenhill, co-founder, IPSEF which runs the leading international conference on private and international schools in the UK, China and the Middle East said the growth of the international schools’ market in the Middle East further confirms the role education plays in the development agenda of governments in the region.

“A number of initiatives have been set in place to enable private companies to establish local branches or independently set-up international schools and help support the growth of the education sector as a whole in this part of the world,” he said.

New market updates will be revealed at the Dubai edition of IPSEF, which will be held on September 21-23 2018 at the KHDA headquarters in Dubai International Academic City.

If you liked this story, you may be interested in reading about the Dubai school fees freeze earlier this year.