Dubai International Academy
Outstanding Emirates Hills, Dubai · IB
- KHDA rating
- Outstanding
The highest KHDA rating - consistently excellent teaching and outcomes. From KHDA’s 2023-24 inspection - now more than two years old. Checked against KHDA’s directory on 14 September 2026.
- Dubai focus areas
- Wellbeing: Very good · Inclusion: Very good
KHDA’s separate judgements for student wellbeing and for inclusion, from the same inspection.
- Year groups
- KG1 to Grade 13
As registered with KHDA. Typical ages about 4 to 19.
- Annual fees
- AED 44,979 to 79,696 a year
Varies by year group. 2026-27 fees are frozen by KHDA directive.
- Curriculum
- IB
KHDA lists: IB (13 Y),International Baccalaureate.
- School transport
- Bus service available
- Location
- Emirates Hills, Dubai
- Contacting the school
- Ask us and we will ask them
We hold this school's details and put questions to it for parents - fees for a year group, whether there is a place, what happens next. KHDA's own page for the school, linked below, carries its published contact details if you would rather go direct.
Map not loaded. It comes from Google, so nothing is requested from them until you ask for it.
Pin from KHDA’s directory entry for this school. Check the entrance with the Google Maps link above before your first drop-off.
We do not publish schools' own contact details. Ask us a question below and we put it to the school; KHDA's page for this school carries its published details.
KHDA’s page for this school - every inspection report
Check travel time from your location
Opens live directions in Google Maps - real traffic from your own address beats any published estimate. School-run traffic peaks roughly 7-8am; test your route at drop-off time.
How far is this from another school? What the bus costs
If your children may end up at different schools, the distance that decides your mornings is the one between them, not from home to each.
In context
Its mid-range fee is about 8 per cent below the median for IB schools in this guide (AED 67,582). It is one of 23 schools in this guide currently rated Outstanding.
These comparisons are computed from the verified data in this register, not editorial opinion.
What the inspectors said
Strengths the inspectors named:
- The only full IB-continuum school in Dubai rated Outstanding - reclaimed in 2022-23 and retained in 2023-24.
- Teaching quality, pastoral care and curriculum innovation cited as standout areas.
- Care and support judged Outstanding; the commitment to health and wellbeing described as exemplary, with mutually respectful relationships creating ‘a very special atmosphere’.
What they asked the school to improve:
- Wellbeing judged Very Good against the Outstanding overall profile.
- Engage the parents of all identified students of determination - the school reaches most, not yet all.
- The report’s formal development points: adapt the KG science curriculum better to the age group so children are properly prepared for the Primary Years Programme, increase opportunities for investigation in PYP science through stronger physical and human resources, and strengthen the inclusion improvement plan so that barriers to learning for students of determination are reduced.
- Consistency in planning for inquiry, and alignment of assessment analysis with KHDA guidelines, are named as areas for refinement even within an Outstanding profile.
Inclusion (students of determination): Very Good - while the school’s overall rating is Outstanding, its provision and outcomes for students of determination sit one level below, which is exactly the gap a family whose child needs support should notice. Inspectors found timely and accurate identification, supportive classrooms, personalised learning plans and differentiated instruction covering both students of determination and high achievers, with overall care and support rated Outstanding. Two published development points: strengthen the inclusion improvement plan so that barriers to learning for students of determination are reduced, and engage the parents of all identified students - the school reaches most, not yet all. The senior structure is useful here: all four IB programmes including the Career-related Programme, so there is a non-Diploma route through Sixth Form. Practical note: admission is competitive with waiting lists requiring persistent follow-up. See the special educational needs guide for the questions to ask on a visit.
Inspector summaries are being added school by school as each report is read - 221 of 230 so far, dated per cycle, never invented. A school without a summary yet is unread, not unjudged.
Paraphrased from KHDA’s published inspection record for 2023-24. Read the dated report on KHDA’s page for this school.
Visit kit
Questions worth asking on a tour - tuned to this school’s rating and curriculum:
- Who leads inclusion here - and may we meet them before enrolling?
- How much staff turnover did you have last year, and why?
- What are actual class sizes this term - not the maximum?
- How and how often will I hear about my child’s progress?
- How long is the real waiting list for my child’s year group, and how does sibling priority work?
Saved only on this device - never uploaded, never shared.
Special educational needs? Read the inclusion guide before you visit.
What we don't know about this school
Every other page on this site tells you what we have verified. This one tells you what we have not, because a register you cannot calibrate is worth less than one you can. We do not currently hold:
- whether it is co-educational, boys or girls
- how many children are on roll
- its facilities - sports, arts, science, library
- published exam results or university destinations
- what registration, transport, uniform and meals add to the fee
- the year it opened - the figure we held was wrong on every school we checked
None of it is guessed or filled in from a similar school. Ask for any of it using the form below and it moves up the queue - requests are how we decide what to collect next.
Ask this school a question - we'll do the asking
Tell us the year group, and we will ask Dubai International Academy what it costs, whether there is a place, and what the next step is. Then we send you what they say. Every answer we get is also checked into this school's record, so the next parent finds it already here.
Your details stay with us. We contact the school ourselves, and we do not pass your name or address to them, or to any agent, unless you ask us to. No school pays to appear in this guide, and none can pay to change what it says.
Other schools in Emirates Hills
- Dubai British School Emirates Hills - Outstanding, AED 53,027 to 79,541 a year
Work at this school? Correct or update this record - checked against the source and answered within five working days. If you disagree with something we are not going to change, reply on the record and we publish your statement on this page.