Moving your child between Dubai schools mid-year turns on one date, and it is not the day they stop attending. Under the KHDA Registration and Refund Policy, every refund is calculated from the withdrawal date written on the Withdrawal Certificate, and being listed on the school’s register counts as days in school regardless of attendance. Withdraw more than one month into a term and the school deducts the full term’s fees. Withdraw within the first two weeks and it deducts one month.

This guide covers the two certificates you need and the difference between them, the exact refund tiers, the timing decisions that cost or save a term of fees, what a new school can and cannot charge when your child joins mid-year, and the transfer rules that apply when you are arriving from outside the UAE. If you are still choosing the school itself, start with the guide to school admission and the KHDA enrollment process.

Two Certificates, Not One, and They Do Different Jobs

A Withdrawal Certificate confirms your child has left and fixes the refund date. A Transfer Certificate confirms your child is eligible to enroll elsewhere and that all financial obligations are settled. You need both, and a school may withhold either until fees are paid in full.

The KHDA policy defines them separately. A Withdrawal Certificate is “a formal document issued by the school in response to a withdrawal request submitted by the child’s parent or legal guardian.” A Transfer Certificate is “an official document issued by the current school confirming that a child is eligible to transfer to another school, into a grade compliant with the current legislation, and that all financial obligations have been settled.”

Notice what is embedded in the Transfer Certificate definition. It is not merely a leaving note. It certifies the grade your child is entitled to enter, which is why a receiving school treats it as an eligibility document rather than a formality, and it certifies that you do not owe money.

Document What it does Can the school withhold it?
Withdrawal request The form you submit, on which you state the intended withdrawal date No, it is yours to submit
Withdrawal Certificate Records the withdrawal date; every refund is calculated from it Yes, until outstanding fees are paid in full
Transfer Certificate Confirms eligibility to transfer into a compliant grade and that finances are settled Yes, until outstanding fees are paid in full

Both are required beyond Dubai. The policy states that the Withdrawal Certificate and the Transfer Certificate are each “required for a student to register at any other private school or educational institution in Dubai and across the UAE.” Moving to Abu Dhabi or Sharjah does not release you from the Dubai school’s paperwork.

The Date That Decides Everything Is Not the Last Day of Attendance

KHDA is explicit: “The refund date is not determined by the date the student was last physically present or last class attended.” It is the intended withdrawal date you write on the withdrawal request, which is then recorded on the Withdrawal Certificate.

The policy underlines the same point twice, which is unusual and tells you how often it is disputed. Alongside the rule above, it warns in bold that “A student’s absence from school does not constitute withdrawal or trigger a refund. Being listed on the school’s registrar is considered active enrolment, regardless of attendance.” And in the refund conditions: “the refund will be calculated from the start of the term to the withdrawal date on the Withdrawal Certificate, not from the date when the student was absent. Being on the school register counts as days in school.”

The practical failure this describes is common and expensive. A family leaves the UAE in March, the child simply stops attending, and the parents submit a withdrawal request in June when the new school asks for a Transfer Certificate. Fees have accrued for the whole period because the child was on the register. KHDA’s own instruction is to “complete and submit a withdrawal request at the earliest opportunity to avoid additional fee liability.”

The Refund Tiers, and the Cliff at One Month

Tuition is refunded term by term on a three-step scale. Two weeks or less into the term costs one month’s fees. Between two weeks and one month costs two months’ fees. More than one month into the term costs the entire term.

Time enrolled in the term at the withdrawal date What the school deducts
Two weeks or less One month’s fees
Between two weeks and one month Two months’ fees
More than one month The full term’s fees
Before the academic year begins Tuition is refundable; only the registration or re-registration deposit is deducted, and only if notice was given less than 60 calendar days before the start date

The step from “one month” to “more than one month” is where the money is. It is the difference between losing two months of a term and losing all of it. If a relocation date is even slightly flexible and the term has already started, the calendar position of your withdrawal date is worth calculating before you fix travel.

Terms are defined for payment, not by the school’s timetable

KHDA defines a term for payment purposes as “one of three designated payment periods in the academic year, each aligning with a school break,” and requires that “the fee structure must be divided into a minimum of three payment terms regardless of the school’s internal academic structure.” A school running four internal terms or two semesters still bills in at least three. Ask which payment term your withdrawal date falls into, because that is the unit the refund is calculated against.

On the payment side, schools may collect tuition in three installments, capped at 40 per cent of annual tuition for the first term and 30 per cent for each of the second and third, or as ten equal monthly installments. Which structure you are on changes how much of the year you have already paid when you withdraw.

Deposits: What Comes Back and What Does Not

The registration deposit is capped at 10 per cent of annual tuition, the re-registration deposit at 5 per cent or AED 500 whichever is higher, and the application fee at AED 500. The 60-calendar-day notice rule decides whether a deposit is refunded.

  • Application fee. Up to AED 500 to process a new student’s application, covering standard assessments and administrative costs. Before accepting an application or collecting any fee, the school must confirm to parents whether a place is available in that grade.
  • Registration deposit. No more than 10 per cent of annual tuition, and it is not an extra cost: it is “deductible from the tuition fees for the term of enrolment.” Schools must not request a deposit before a formal offer has been issued.
  • Re-registration deposit. No more than 5 per cent of annual tuition or AED 500, whichever is higher. Schools cannot demand any additional fee or deposit to secure a place.
  • The 60-day rule. Deposits are refundable if you formally notify the school of your intention to cancel or withdraw at least 60 calendar days before the relevant start date, and non-refundable if you notify with less than 60 days to go.

One protection is easy to miss. If you do not pay the re-registration deposit by the stated deadline and your child does not enroll the following year, “the school cannot seek payment of that re-registration deposit at a later date.” Declining to re-register costs you the place, not a debt.

The re-registration calendar is regulated too

Schools starting in September may collect re-registration deposits only after the end of the spring break, and the payment deadline “must not be set earlier than May 1.” Schools starting in April may collect only after the winter break, with a deadline no earlier than 1 February. A school pressing you for a re-registration decision in February for a September start is outside the policy. This matters when you are mid-decision about relocating and do not yet want to commit.

Joining the New School Mid-Year

New students may be registered at any point in the academic year. If your child joins mid-month, the school may charge tuition from the start of that month, not from the day they walk in.

KHDA states the rule with its own worked example: “If new students enrol during the academic year, the school can charge tuition fees starting from the month of enrolment. (For example, if a new student enrols in a new school in the 3rd week of October, the school can charge tuition fees from the beginning of October.)”

That is a small, avoidable cost. A start date on the 2nd of a month and a start date on the 25th of the same month are billed identically. Where the receiving school is flexible about the joining date and your child is not currently enrolled elsewhere, starting early in the month rather than late gets you three extra weeks of the fee you are already paying.

A place must be confirmed before money changes hands

The policy requires the school to confirm availability in the relevant grade or year group before accepting an application or collecting any fee, and prohibits requesting a deposit before a formal offer is issued. In a mid-year move, where availability is genuinely tight in popular grades, this is the rule that stops you paying application fees into schools that have no seat.

No Entrance Test Is Required to Switch Schools Within the UAE

The UAE government portal states plainly that “No test is required to switch from one school to another within the UAE as per the MoE’s regulations.” Schools may still set their own admission criteria, but a mandatory transfer test is not a federal requirement.

Transfers between schools are governed by Article 16 of Ministerial Decree No. 820 of 2014 on Registration Terms for Students, cited on the government portal’s switching schools page, last updated 2 June 2025. The same page notes that the Ministry of Education operates a student transfer request service through its e-services portal, which is the route for government schools and for transfers the ministry handles directly.

The distinction to hold on to is that assessment and admission are two different things. A receiving school will very often assess your child, and it is entitled to, in order to place them correctly and to apply its own criteria. What it cannot do is present a test as a regulatory requirement for transferring within the UAE.

Transferring From a School Outside the UAE

A Transfer Certificate issued abroad generally has to be attested through the full legalization chain before a UAE school will accept it. A Transfer Certificate issued by another UAE school does not, because the local education authority can verify it directly.

The chain for a foreign document runs through the education authority or notary in the country of issue, then that country’s ministry of foreign affairs, then the UAE mission in that country, then the UAE Ministry of Foreign Affairs. It takes weeks rather than days, and it is the single most common reason a mid-year arrival is delayed. The full sequence, costs and current authority names are set out in the guide to educational certificate attestation in the UAE.

Start attestation before you leave the origin country. Once you are in Dubai, obtaining a document from your child’s former school and walking it through a foreign ministry is materially harder. If your child is entering the final years of school on a non-MoE curriculum, the separate equivalency process matters too, and is covered in the guide to the Ministry of Education equivalency certificate.

Younger children have their own rule inside the KHDA policy: for any child previously enrolled at a KHDA-permitted early childhood center or a school offering provision for under-sixes, “a valid Transfer Certificate or Withdrawal Certificate must be submitted as part of the registration process before enrolment is confirmed.” Nursery-to-school moves inside Dubai are covered by the same paperwork, as explained in the guide to nursery regulation and licensing in Dubai.

The Sequence That Avoids the Expensive Mistakes

Order matters more than speed here. Doing these in the wrong order is what produces a child with a place at a new school and no certificate to take there.

  1. Secure the offer at the new school first. Confirm in writing that a place exists in the correct grade before you withdraw from anywhere. Places in popular grades mid-year are the binding constraint, not paperwork.
  2. Calculate your withdrawal date against the refund tiers. Establish which payment term the date falls in and how far into that term it sits. The step past one month costs the full term.
  3. Submit the withdrawal request, stating the intended date. This is the document that fixes the refund calculation. Submit it as early as you reasonably can, because the register, not attendance, drives liability.
  4. Settle every outstanding fee. Tuition, mandatory services fees and other approved charges. Until these are clear, both certificates can lawfully be withheld.
  5. Collect both certificates and check the grade stated. The Transfer Certificate certifies eligibility for a specific grade. An error here surfaces at the receiving school, not before.
  6. Register at the new school and confirm the billing start. Expect tuition from the start of the month of enrollment, and check what has been prorated.

If the School Will Not Release the Certificate or the Refund

KHDA requires the school’s internal complaints process to be completed and documented before it will take a dispute. Escalating first will simply return you to the school.

The policy is specific: schools “are expected to resolve any fee, refund, or withdrawal disputes with parents through their internal complaints and resolution process,” and “it is required that all internal resolution steps have been completed and documented before a matter is referred to KHDA.” Once that is exhausted, either party may refer the matter to KHDA through its official channels, and KHDA may request documentary evidence from either or both sides, with schools required to cooperate fully.

The operative word is “documented.” Put the withdrawal request, the stated date, the fee position and each response in writing at the time, not reconstructed afterwards. Where a school withholds a certificate over fees you accept are owed, the faster route is to settle and reclaim than to dispute, because the certificate gates your child’s enrollment somewhere else.

Timing the Move Around the School Year

Two constraints pull in opposite directions when a job move sets the date. Financially, withdrawing early in a payment term or before a term begins is materially cheaper than withdrawing a month into it. Educationally, curricula do not align across systems, and a child moving between a British, American or IB program mid-year may repeat or skip material regardless of when they move. The comparison of what each system covers and when is in the guide to UAE school curricula compared, and the inspection ratings that shape availability in each grade are explained in the guide to KHDA school ratings.

If the relocation package is still being negotiated, the school fee clause is worth more attention than most families give it, particularly whether it survives a change of school mid-year. That is covered in the guide to negotiating a UAE relocation package, and the wider sequencing of a family move is in the 90-day checklist for moving to Dubai.

Frequently Asked Questions

Can a Dubai school refuse to give my child a Transfer Certificate?

A school is entitled to withhold both the Transfer Certificate and the Withdrawal Certificate until all outstanding fees are paid in full, including tuition, mandatory services fees and other approved charges. It cannot withhold them once fees are settled, and both are required for your child to register at any other private school or educational institution in Dubai and across the UAE.

What is the difference between a Withdrawal Certificate and a Transfer Certificate?

The Withdrawal Certificate is issued in response to your withdrawal request and records the withdrawal date, which is the date every refund calculation is based on. The Transfer Certificate confirms that your child is eligible to transfer to another school into a grade compliant with current legislation and that all financial obligations have been settled. You need both.

How much of my child’s school fees do I get back if I withdraw mid-term?

Tuition is refunded on a term-by-term basis using three tiers. If your child was enrolled in the term for two weeks or less, one month’s fees are deducted. Between two weeks and one month, two months’ fees are deducted. More than one month into the term, the full term’s fees are deducted. Fees paid before the academic year starts are refundable, with only the deposit deducted if you gave less than 60 calendar days’ notice.

Does the refund start from the day my child stopped attending?

No. KHDA states that the refund date is not determined by the last day the student was physically present. It is the intended withdrawal date recorded on the Withdrawal Certificate, which is the date you specified in your withdrawal request. Being listed on the school’s register counts as active enrollment regardless of attendance, so submit the withdrawal request as early as possible.

Can a school register my child in the middle of the academic year?

Yes. Schools can register new students at any time during the academic year, subject to a place being available in the relevant grade. The school must confirm availability before accepting an application or collecting any fee, and cannot request a deposit before it has issued a formal offer.

Will I be charged for the whole month if my child starts mid-month?

Yes. KHDA permits schools to charge tuition from the month of enrollment, and gives the example of a student enrolling in the third week of October being charged from the beginning of October. Where the joining date is flexible, starting early in a month rather than late avoids paying for weeks you did not use.

Does my child have to sit an entrance test to move schools within the UAE?

Not as a regulatory requirement. The UAE government portal states that no test is required to switch from one school to another within the UAE under Ministry of Education regulations. Individual schools may still apply their own admission criteria and will often assess a child for correct placement, which is a different thing from a mandatory transfer test.

Do I need to attest a Transfer Certificate from my child’s school abroad?

A Transfer Certificate issued outside the UAE normally needs the full legalization chain: attestation in the country of issue, that country’s ministry of foreign affairs, the UAE mission there, and finally the UAE Ministry of Foreign Affairs. A certificate from another UAE school does not need this, because the local education authority can verify it directly. Begin attestation before you leave the origin country.

How much can a school charge me just to apply?

Application fees are capped at AED 500 for new students, covering standard assessments and administrative costs, and are not part of tuition. The registration deposit is capped at 10 per cent of annual tuition and is deducted from the tuition for the term of enrollment rather than charged on top. The re-registration deposit is capped at 5 per cent of annual tuition or AED 500, whichever is higher.

What can I do if the school will not refund what I am owed?

Complete the school’s internal complaints and resolution process first and document every step, because KHDA requires that before it will consider a referral. Once the internal process is exhausted, either party may refer the matter to KHDA through its official channels. KHDA may request documentary evidence from both sides, and schools are required to cooperate fully with the review.

Official Sources

This article references information from the following authorities:

Information is current as of August 2026. Two limitations are worth stating. The KHDA Registration and Refund Policy quoted throughout was read from a copy published by a KHDA-licensed Dubai school, because khda.gov.ae was not reachable at the time of writing; the wording is the authority’s own and schools are required to publish it, but confirm the current version at the KHDA link above. Second, the full text of Article 16 of Ministerial Decree No. 820 of 2014 could not be retrieved, so this article relies on the government portal’s description of it rather than the decree itself. No school-specific fee, notice period or term date is quoted here, because those sit in your parent-school contract and vary by school. This article explains published policy and is not legal advice. Read your parent-school contract alongside it and confirm the position with your school and KHDA before acting.