KHDA School Ratings Explained: What Outstanding, Good, and Acceptable Actually Mean

What each KHDA rating level means, how inspections work, and what the ratings tell you about a Dubai private school’s quality in practice.

Every private school in Dubai is evaluated by the Knowledge and Human Development Authority (KHDA) through its Dubai Schools Inspection Bureau (DSIB). The inspection results are published as ratings — from Outstanding at the top to Very Weak at the bottom — and they directly affect how much a school can raise its fees. For parents choosing between schools, these ratings are the most accessible public indicator of education quality. For schools, they shape budgets, reputations, and regulatory standing.

This guide breaks down what each rating level actually means in practice, how the inspection process works, what inspectors evaluate, how ratings connect to school fees, and what the current inspection pause means for families making school decisions in 2026.

What Is KHDA and What Does It Do?

The Knowledge and Human Development Authority (KHDA) is Dubai’s government regulator for private education. Established in 2006, it oversees all private schools, universities, and training institutes in the emirate. Its most visible function for parents is the school inspection programme, which it runs through the Dubai Schools Inspection Bureau (DSIB).

DSIB conducts independent inspections of every private school in Dubai and publishes detailed reports — available free on the KHDA website — that cover academic performance, teaching quality, student wellbeing, leadership, and more. These reports give each school an overall rating and sub-ratings across several performance areas. KHDA currently regulates approximately 227 private schools serving around 387,000 students from 185 nationalities, across 17 different curricula offered in Dubai.

The KHDA Rating Scale: Six Levels Explained

KHDA uses a six-point rating scale that is part of the UAE Unified Inspection Framework — the same framework used by ADEK in Abu Dhabi and SPEA in Sharjah, making ratings broadly comparable across emirates. Each level describes a specific quality threshold, not a relative ranking. A school rated “Good” meets a defined standard of performance, regardless of how many other schools share that rating.

Outstanding

This is the highest achievable rating. It signals that the quality of education substantially exceeds UAE expectations across all assessed areas. Outstanding schools demonstrate exceptional student attainment, consistently high-quality teaching, strong leadership with clear strategic direction, and robust wellbeing and inclusion provisions. Students in these schools typically perform well above international benchmarks, and the school culture actively promotes critical thinking, independent learning, and innovation. In the most recent full inspection cycle (2023–24), 23 out of 209 inspected schools received an Outstanding rating.

What it means in practice: these schools have built consistent performance over multiple years. Achieving Outstanding on a first inspection is extremely rare — schools typically need several cycles of sustained results and evidence-based improvement before reaching this level. Outstanding-rated schools also had the greatest flexibility under the traditional fee framework to request fee increases.

Very Good

Very Good means the school’s performance exceeds UAE expectations. These schools deliver strong academic outcomes, high-quality teaching, and effective leadership, but may have one or two areas where performance has not yet reached the level required for Outstanding. Typically, a Very Good school excels in most dimensions but may still be developing consistency across all year groups or subjects — for instance, secondary-phase teaching may be stronger than primary, or attainment in core subjects may outpace Arabic provision. In 2023–24, 48 schools held a Very Good rating.

Good

Good is what KHDA calls “the expected level for every school in Dubai.” This is the baseline quality standard the regulator wants all schools to meet. A Good-rated school meets UAE expectations: students achieve adequately across core subjects, teaching is effective, the curriculum is implemented properly, leadership provides clear direction, and wellbeing and safety provisions are sound. The majority of Dubai’s private schools — 85 in the 2023–24 cycle — sit at this level. Around 81% of students in Dubai attend schools rated Good or better, according to KHDA’s published data.

What it means in practice: a Good rating does not mean “average” in the everyday sense. It means the school is meeting the standard KHDA has set as its quality benchmark. Many Good-rated schools are well-established institutions with stable results. Some are on an upward trajectory toward Very Good, while others have maintained Good consistently across multiple cycles.

Acceptable

Acceptable is the minimum level of quality that KHDA considers sufficient. These schools meet basic requirements but fall below KHDA’s expected standard. Typical characteristics include inconsistent teaching quality, variable student attainment across subjects or year groups, weaker leadership or self-evaluation processes, or areas where curriculum delivery needs strengthening. In 2023–24, 51 schools were rated Acceptable.

What it means in practice: KHDA has historically encouraged families — particularly Emirati families — to choose schools rated Good or better. The regulator has directly contacted Emirati parents at Acceptable-rated schools, recommending alternative institutions. KHDA’s admissions guidelines restrict Emirati students from enrolling in schools rated Weak or below, and there has been a broader policy push to move all Emirati students into Good-rated schools. While expatriate families face no formal restriction on enrolling in Acceptable schools, the rating is a clear signal that KHDA sees room for significant improvement.

Weak

A Weak rating means the school’s performance is below the minimum expectation. These schools have substantial deficiencies — whether in academic attainment, teaching quality, safeguarding, leadership, or a combination of these. Schools rated Weak are expected to implement urgent improvement measures and face closer regulatory scrutiny. In 2023–24, only two schools received a Weak rating across the entire Dubai private school system.

Emirati students are not permitted to enrol in Weak-rated schools. Under the traditional fee framework, schools that dropped to a Weak rating were barred from increasing their fees.

Very Weak

Very Weak is the lowest possible rating. It indicates that performance is significantly below UAE expectations across multiple areas, with serious concerns about the quality of education and potentially about student safety or welfare. No Dubai private schools received a Very Weak rating in the 2023–24 cycle, and it remains extremely rare in practice.

What Inspectors Evaluate: The Six Performance Standards

The UAE Unified Inspection Framework assesses schools against six key performance standards. Each standard receives its own rating, and these individual ratings feed into the school’s overall judgement. Understanding the sub-ratings is often more useful than the headline rating alone — a school might be Good overall but Very Good for teaching, or Outstanding for wellbeing but Good for attainment.

Performance Standard	What It Covers
1. Students’ Achievement	Attainment and progress in core subjects: English, mathematics, science, Arabic (as first and additional language), and Islamic education. Benchmarked against international standards where possible.
2. Students’ Personal and Social Development	Behaviour, attitudes, understanding of Islamic values, awareness of Emirati culture and heritage, social responsibility, and innovation skills.
3. Teaching and Assessment	Quality of instruction, subject knowledge of teachers, use of assessment data to guide planning, differentiation for students of varying ability, and promotion of critical thinking.
4. Curriculum	Design and implementation of the curriculum, cross-curricular links, adaptation to meet local requirements (Arabic, Islamic studies, UAE social studies), and enrichment opportunities.
5. Protection, Care, Guidance and Support	Child protection and safeguarding, health and safety, quality of care and support, and inclusion provisions for students of determination (students with special educational needs).
6. Leadership and Management	Effectiveness of school leaders, governance, self-evaluation accuracy, improvement planning, staffing, facilities, and partnerships with parents and community.

In addition to these six standards, KHDA provides separate wellbeing and inclusion ratings — areas that have received increasing emphasis in recent inspection cycles. In the 2023–24 results, 83% of schools received Good or higher ratings for wellbeing provision, and 76% achieved Good or higher for inclusive education.

How Inspections Work in Practice

During a typical inspection cycle, DSIB teams spend several days at a school. The process is not a single snapshot — inspectors observe lessons across all year groups and subjects, review student work, analyse assessment data and exam results, meet with school leaders and teachers, conduct focus groups with parents and students, and review school policies and self-evaluation documents.

Inspections assess each school phase separately (foundation/early years, primary, middle, secondary), so a school can perform differently across phases. A school might have Outstanding attainment in primary mathematics but only Good in secondary — these nuances are captured in the detailed inspection report, which typically runs 15–25 pages.

New schools in Dubai are inspected for the first time in their third year of operation. Achieving higher than Good on a first inspection is statistically unusual. This is partly because the criteria for Very Good and Outstanding require evidence of sustained performance over time, which a school in its first inspection cycle simply cannot demonstrate.

Where to Find Inspection Reports

All inspection reports are published on the KHDA Education Directory. Each school’s page includes the most recent inspection report (downloadable as PDF), the overall rating and sub-ratings, school details including curriculum, fee range, and student numbers. Reports are published in English and Arabic.

How Ratings Affect School Fees

One of the most tangible consequences of KHDA ratings for families is their direct connection to tuition fees. Under KHDA’s School Fees Framework, the amount by which a school may increase its fees is linked to its inspection rating and the annual Education Cost Index (ECI) — a figure calculated based on audited school operating costs such as staff salaries, rent, and support services.

Rating Change	Permitted Fee Increase (Traditional Framework)
Rating maintained (same as previous year)	Up to the ECI rate
Improved from Weak → Acceptable or Acceptable → Good	Up to 2× the ECI
Improved from Good → Very Good	Up to 1.75× the ECI
Improved from Very Good → Outstanding	Up to 1.5× the ECI
Rating declined	No fee increase permitted

Schools operating for fewer than three years are not eligible to request fee increases at all, regardless of their rating. All fee increases require individual application to and approval from KHDA — the ECI sets the maximum ceiling, not an automatic entitlement.

The Inspection Pause: What Happened and What It Means

In June 2024, KHDA announced it would pause full school inspections for the 2024–25 academic year. That pause was subsequently extended through the 2025–26 academic year. The only exceptions are schools that opened in 2022 (reaching their third year of operation and therefore due for their first inspection) — four such schools received full inspections in the 2024–25 cycle.

KHDA described the decision as part of an “evolving approach to supporting quality education,” aligned with the government’s Education 33 strategy. During the pause, schools are monitored through self-evaluation reports and targeted quality assurance visits rather than full inspections. Most schools currently retain their last published rating from the 2023–24 inspection cycle.

Impact on Fees During the Pause

With no new inspection ratings being issued for most schools, the traditional tiered fee system — where higher-rated and improving schools could request larger fee increases — has been effectively suspended. For the 2025–26 academic year, KHDA approved an ECI of 2.35%, and all eligible for-profit schools may apply for fee increases up to that cap, regardless of their rating. No school can request more than the ECI, and no performance-based differentiation applies.

This means an Outstanding-rated school and an Acceptable-rated school have the same fee increase ceiling during the pause — a departure from the traditional framework. KHDA has not yet confirmed when full inspections will resume or how the fee framework will be restructured once they do.

2023–24 Rating Distribution: The Numbers

The most recent comprehensive inspection data comes from the 2023–24 academic year, when 209 private schools were inspected (including 10 first-time inspections).

Rating	Number of Schools	Percentage
Outstanding	23	11%
Very Good	48	23%
Good	85	41%
Acceptable	51	24%
Weak	2	1%
Very Weak	0	0%

Key trends from the 2023–24 results: 26 schools improved their overall rating (benefiting approximately 49,500 students), while three schools saw their ratings decline. 90% of schools improved in at least one quality indicator. Progress in Arabic as a first language improved significantly, with 64% of schools rated Good or higher — up from 52% the previous year. Wellbeing provision remained strong, with 83% of schools achieving Good or higher.

How to Read a KHDA Report: Practical Guidance

The overall rating is useful as a starting point, but it compresses substantial detail into a single word. Parents who rely solely on the headline rating miss important information. Here is what to focus on when reading a full KHDA inspection report.

Check the sub-ratings across all six performance standards. A school rated Good overall might be Very Good for teaching and assessment but only Acceptable for leadership — or the reverse. The profile of strengths and weaknesses matters more than the single word on the front page. If your child has specific needs (for example, if they are a student of determination), pay particular attention to the inclusion and wellbeing sub-ratings, which are reported separately.

Look at phase-level ratings. Schools are assessed across foundation stage, primary, middle, and secondary. A school that is Outstanding at primary level but only Good at secondary will appear as one overall rating — but your child’s experience depends on which phase they are entering. Read the subject-specific findings. Attainment and progress are assessed individually for English, mathematics, science, Arabic, and Islamic education. Weaknesses in Arabic provision are common even in otherwise highly rated schools and are often a factor preventing schools from reaching the next rating level.

Review the improvement trajectory. The report shows whether the school’s rating has changed compared to previous cycles. A school that has moved from Acceptable to Good shows an upward trend that may continue. A school that has been Good for five consecutive cycles is stable but may not be actively pursuing further improvement.

KHDA Ratings vs Other Emirates

While Dubai uses the KHDA/DSIB inspection system, other emirates have their own regulators: ADEK in Abu Dhabi, SPEA in Sharjah, and the federal Ministry of Education (MoE) in the remaining emirates. All three main regulators — KHDA, ADEK, and SPEA — now use the UAE Unified Inspection Framework with the same six-point rating scale and six performance standards. This means the ratings are designed to be comparable across emirates, though minor differences in how reports are presented exist — for example, KHDA includes a separate wellbeing element not currently used by ADEK or SPEA.

If you are comparing schools across Dubai and Abu Dhabi, the ratings use the same criteria and definitions. However, inspection frequency differs: KHDA traditionally inspected annually (now paused), while ADEK runs biennial inspections through its Irtiqa’a programme. SPEA in Sharjah operates on a two-year cycle, with lower-rated schools inspected annually.

Limitations of the Rating System

KHDA ratings are the most reliable public quality indicator for Dubai private schools, but they have inherent limitations that parents should understand.

Ratings are snapshots in time. A school’s quality can change between inspections — staff turnover, leadership changes, or rapid enrolment growth can all affect performance. With the current inspection pause extending to two academic years, the most recent ratings for most schools are now from 2023–24 and may not reflect current conditions. Arabic and Islamic education weigh heavily. Schools following international curricula sometimes score lower overall because attainment in Arabic language and Islamic studies — which are mandatory assessment areas — drags down the average. A school delivering world-class IB or British curriculum education might receive a Good rather than Very Good overall because its Arabic provision is rated Acceptable. This is a consistent pattern across multiple curriculum types.

Fee level does not equal rating. Some of the most expensive schools in Dubai are rated Good, not Outstanding. Conversely, some highly rated schools charge moderate fees. There is no guaranteed correlation between tuition cost and KHDA rating. Finally, ratings do not capture school culture, extracurricular breadth, pastoral care quality, or how well a particular school’s ethos fits a particular child — factors that are difficult to quantify but significant in practice.

FAQ

What are the KHDA school ratings in Dubai?

KHDA rates every private school in Dubai on a six-point scale: Outstanding, Very Good, Good, Acceptable, Weak, and Very Weak. The ratings are published annually (when inspections are active) and are based on assessments of academic achievement, teaching quality, student wellbeing, curriculum, safeguarding, and school leadership. Reports are free to download from the KHDA website.

What does a Good KHDA rating actually mean?

Good is the standard KHDA expects all Dubai schools to meet. It means the school meets UAE quality expectations across core areas: students achieve adequately in key subjects, teaching is effective, the curriculum is properly implemented, and wellbeing provisions are in place. It does not mean “average” — it is the defined benchmark. In 2023–24, 85 schools (41% of those inspected) held a Good rating.

Can my child attend an Acceptable or Weak-rated school?

Expatriate children face no formal restriction on enrolling in Acceptable-rated schools. However, UAE national (Emirati) students are not permitted to enrol in schools rated Weak or below, and KHDA has actively encouraged Emirati families to move children from Acceptable schools to Good-rated alternatives. For all families, KHDA recommends choosing schools rated Good or better.

Are KHDA inspections still happening in 2025–26?

KHDA paused full inspections starting from the 2024–25 academic year and extended the pause through 2025–26. The only exceptions are schools in their third year of operation (opened in 2022), which received first-time inspections. All other schools retain their 2023–24 ratings. KHDA has not announced when full inspections will resume.

How do KHDA ratings affect school fees?

Under the traditional fee framework, schools that improved their rating could raise fees by up to double the annual Education Cost Index (ECI), while schools whose ratings dropped could not raise fees at all. During the current inspection pause, all eligible schools can apply for fee increases up to the ECI rate (2.35% for 2025–26), regardless of their rating — the performance-linked system is effectively suspended.

Where can I download a school’s KHDA inspection report?

Full inspection reports are available for free on the KHDA Education Directory at web.khda.gov.ae. Search by school name to view the overall rating, sub-ratings, and the complete downloadable PDF report. Reports are available in English and Arabic.

Are KHDA ratings comparable to school ratings in Abu Dhabi and Sharjah?

Yes. KHDA in Dubai, ADEK in Abu Dhabi, and SPEA in Sharjah all use the UAE Unified Inspection Framework with the same six-point rating scale and six performance standards. The ratings are designed to be directly comparable, though minor differences exist in report presentation — for example, KHDA includes a separate wellbeing element.

How long does it take a new school to get a KHDA rating?

New private schools in Dubai are first inspected in their third year of operation. Achieving higher than Good on a first inspection is rare, because the criteria for Very Good and Outstanding require evidence of sustained performance over time. Most schools need several inspection cycles to build the track record required for higher ratings.

Official Sources

This article references information from the following UAE government and education authorities:

• KHDA — Knowledge and Human Development Authority (official website)
• KHDA — Inspection Key Findings 2023–2024
• KHDA — Dubai Schools Inspection Bureau (DSIB)
• KHDA — Education Directory (school search and reports)
• UAE School Inspection Framework
• KHDA — Announcement on inspection pause for 2025–26
• KHDA — Guide for Parents

KHDA regulations, inspection processes, and fee frameworks are subject to change. Full inspections have been paused for the 2024–25 and 2025–26 academic years. Verify current requirements directly with KHDA before making school enrolment decisions.