Education Report

Dubai 2018 / 2019

A F F O R DA B I L I T Y

R E G U L AT O RY C H A N G E S

E VO L U T I O N O F S U P P LY

1
 Introduction
In a matter of a few decades, the emirate of Dubai has
witnessed rapid transformation from a trading port, to a
regional innovation hub underpinned by provision of quality
infrastructure and world class educational institutions.

Through the efforts of Knowledge and Human Development Authority (KHDA),

the quality of education in Dubai has significantly improved, now featuring many
internationally recognised operators offering 16 different curricula to cater to the

Affordability
requirements of an increasingly multinational population.

In tandem with this transformation we have seen a broad range of developments

which we will look to cover in this report. These topics include:

• Affordability is relative!
is relative!
We go beyond simply measuring affordability (in terms of
To test our hypothesis - Affordability is relative to distance and
monetary value) to examining it within the context of distance /
time - Knight Frank carried out a survey with prominent education
time. Education experts views have been considered which
service providers to gauge their understanding of this concept.
allowed us to frame the parameters of ‘affordable schooling’
and redefine traditional concepts of catchment areas in Dubai. Key components of this section:

• Key regulatory changes • Parameters of an affordable school

In this section Clyde & Co set out a high level overview of some • Testing distance or time as a measure under current
of the key regulatory developments which affect the private and future market conditions
school sector in Dubai and which increase the compliance
obligations on operators and new entrants to the market. • Implications for education service providers and
real estate developers
• Historical evolution of supply
• Tuition fee, heat map and enrolment density map
Supply of education institutions for five key curricula has been
analysed and mapped since 1997.

I hope you will enjoy this paper and wish all stakeholders success in the
years to come.

Shehzad Jamal
Partner — Education Consultancy
+971 56 4101 298
shehzad.jamal@me.knightfrank.com

Please refer to the important notice at the end of this report.

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DUBAI EDUCATION MARKET REVIEW 2018 / 2019
Affordability is relative!
The education sector in Dubai is now at a tipping point, with aggressive marketing and tuition fee
discounts symptomatic of an oversupply of schools. Pressure is expected to increase with a further 13
schools slated to open this academic year, bringing the total number of private schools in Dubai to 207.
With this drastic increase in choice, the market is now tipped in favour of consumers who are demanding
quality education at lower price points. However, affordability has never been uniformly defined, nor do we
know if meeting these demands is possible?
The education sector is now maturing,
with 16 curricula available, price points
that range from a few thousand dirhams
to schools that have an approved fees
of more than AED 100,000 annually
and internationally-branded operators
commonplace. Demand for international
brands and schools to provide something
out of the ordinary has driven the desire
for better quality education, by a growing
number of population, perceived to have
large disposable income.
In the last 5 years the majority of new
school openings have driven up average
tuition fees. A recent report by HSBC,
ranked UAE school fees as the second
highest in the world, behind only Hong
Kong. Furthermore, against a stagnated
rate of growth in the economy, many
schools have missed their student
enrollment targets as supply has started
to outstrip demand.
With more choice and increasing tuition
fee levels, parents are inevitably seeking
value for money, bringing the issue of
affordable education under the spotlight.
In 2018, stakeholders reacted to market
conditions in the following manner:
• Private education service
providers invested in costly
marketing campaigns including
outdoor advertising, radio and print,
and introduced disruptive pricing
by reducing tuition fees, introducing
discounts, and implementing various
scholarship schemes.
• The Dubai Government issued a
freeze on both private school fees
and rents (for those schools that rent
land from its Knowledge Fund) for
academic year 2018/19.
These strategies were aimed at
alleviating worries of operators and
parents alike, by reducing the burden of
both fees and rents. These actions can
be termed as stop gap measures. They
don’t tackle the underlying issue of how
4 5
to develop schools that are affordable in
the long-term.
Affordability is relative!
Arriving at a universally accepted
tuition fee for the private sector that
would be considered affordable by all,
is an impossible task. This is because
affordability is not one-dimensional,
which is why Knight Frank went beyond
simply measuring affordability in terms
of monetary value, to rather examining it
within the context of distance, or time i.e
5 km or 15 minutes travel.
In Q2 2018, we conducted a survey with
education service providers; representing
58 large, small, branded and local private
schools in Dubai, using the UK curriculum
to enable comparisons. The aim was two-
fold:
1. To define affordable schools (price
points and facilities)
2. To identify whether distance and/
or time is a relevant measure for
affordability
It is important to note, the overarching
condition to this survey was that
responses must take into account that the
quality of education is to be maintained.
Defining affordable schools
(Key findings)
Participants were unanimous in their
belief that providing affordable education
is challenging, but confirmed it should be
accessible to communities and relative to
an individual’s income.
Tuition fees:
• Year 1: 80% mentioned tuition fees
should be less than AED 33k, and
56% indicated that tuition fee should
be in the range of AED 18k to 28k
• Year 7: 77% mentioned tuition fees
should be less than AED 41k, and
44% indicated that tuition fee should
be in the range of AED 33k to 46k
• Year 13: 70% of participants believed
tuition fees should be equal or less
than AED 60k
School parameters:
• Number of students: 2,000 to
3,000, with class sizes ranging from
25 to 30
• Plot size: many plot sizes were
quoted but 30,000 sq m was
quoted the most
• BUA to plot ratio: optimally 0.8 sq m
to 1.0 sq m
Facilities:
• Essential: Cafeteria, multi-purpose
hall and outdoor swimming pool
were identified as being essential for
an affordable school
• Can be excluded: auditoriums,
tennis courts and indoor swimming
pools
Salaries:
• Teacher salaries: the range between
the highest and lowest basic salary
was in excess of AED 7,000
• Headmaster salary: salary ranges
were fairly consistent
Testing distance or time as a
measure under current and
future market conditions
With an increasing number of different
types of schools available, parents have
more choice and are seeking greater
value for money. Under this current
scenario, we believe that our hypothesis
on distance and catchment area, being
the underlying factor which defines
affordability, is growing in importance and
was tested in our survey. Our key findings
are presented below:
Distance/time: The participants were
requested to place the students in three
brackets a) 0 to 5km b) 5 to 10km and c)
10km ++
• The number of students fell evenly
between the three brackets with
34% students residing <5 km
(Figure 1)
• When international branded schools,
or schools with a unique offering
were excluded, the number of
students in bracket (a) increased to
46% (the assumption is that people
will travel a longer distance for the
unique attribute)
• When price sensitive schools were
eliminated (tuition fees less than
AED 33k for Year 13) the percentage
of students residing in 0-5 km
distance from the school increased
to 53%
Catchment: 70% of participants agreed
that they have witnessed a decline
in their schools’ catchment diameter
due to greater choice available. This is
supported by the fact that the second
most popular reason for students leaving
schools is to move to a school closer
to home, with relocation given as the
primary reason. (Figure 2)
Lessons learned
The survey contained other items as
well, but we noticed that each participant
was drawing from their own experiences
which did not necessarily tally with the
rest. However, what stands out from the
survey is that the population of most
relevance lies within a 5 km radius of
the school, unless the school has a
FIGURE 2
Has your school catchment decreased over time?
10% 20% 70%
Can’t say No Yes
Source: KHDA, Knight Frank Middle East
DUBAI EDUCATION MARKET REVIEW 2018 / 2019
unique USP. The following two pages
FIGURE 1
include Dubai’s education sector maps,
The influence of distance
presenting the current situation of tuition
or time on catchment area
fee price points and student density
across Dubai.
0-5 km 5-10 km 10 km ++
We expect catchment areas to continue
reducing, driven by the increase in the
Total sample
number of schools and choices available.
It will be what makes the school most
attractive, with the exception of schools
that offer certain USPs, which can still
command a wider radius because they
are serving a particular target market. 34% 34%
However, as competition continues to
increase, even these schools will most
likely rely more on catchment area than
the USP they are offering.
33%
Education service providers and real
estate developers both have lessons to
draw from this:
• Education service providers:
Target market is the one on their Excluding foreign branded schools
doorstep. Therefore, new schools and schools with USP’s
and existing schools considering
repositioning should invest in
undertaking a catchment area
analysis to understand population
size, income profile, nationality 30%
mix, competition and above all, 46%
requirement of residents, as it
will help the school create a value
proposition, which in turn will ensure 23%
long-term profitability.
• Real estate developers: Master
planned communities during their
planning phase need to consider the
target market for their development.
This will help determine the type Removing price sensitive schools
and size of school and attract an
appropriate education service
provider. Empirical evidence
21%
suggests that planning for the right
school positively affects other real
estate offerings by way of improved
53%
occupancy and yields.
27%
Source: KHDA, Knight Frank Middle East
DUBAI EDUCATION MARKET REVIEW 2018 / 2019

Average tuition fee heat map

FIGURE 3
Academic year 2016/2017

THE WORLD ISLANDS

PALM JUMEIRAH

DEIRA ISLANDS

DUBAI MARINA
JEBEL ALI
AL SUFOUH JUMEIRAH
DUBAI MEDIA
JUMEIRAH LAKES TOWERS CITY
DEIRA

AL MAMZAR
JUMEIRAH ISLANDS BARSHA AL KARAMA
HEIGHTS
EMIRATES LIVING AL BARSHA AL QUOZ DOWNTOWN
JEBEL ALI
VILLAGE
BUSINESS BAY AL NAHDA
BUR DUBAI

AL TWAR
JUMEIRAH VILLAGE
CIRCLE
AL QUSAIS
DUBAI FESTIVAL
NAD AL SHEBA CITY

DUBAI SPORTS CITY Using data published by KHDA, Knight Frank’s GIS Team has
constructed a heat map to show the spread of schools in Dubai
DUBAI INVESTMENT by seven broad fee brackets (Figure 3) ranging from fees which
PARK MUHAISNAH
RAS AL KHOR fall below AED 23,000 per annum (dark blue) to fees which are
ARABIAN RANCHES RASHIDIYA above AED 63,000 per annum (dark red).

Looking at the heat map there are a few areas where the
WADI AL SAFA concentration of the highest fee schools is acceptable given the
income profiles of these communities. This is particularly the
case for the vast majority of these schools which are in the top
AL WARQA
20% of the market (by fees) where occupancy is around 77% (if
schools that commenced operations in academic year 2017/18
DUBAI SILICON OASIS
INTERNATIONAL CITY
are removed, then the occupancy level increases to 84%). As
AL YALAYIS MUSHRIF
UMM NAHAD noted earlier in this report, this number is slightly distorted by
the fact that some of these schools have USPs which will attract
demand from a wider catchment area, meaning the impact of
Tuition Fee (average year 6 & 7), in AED AL KHAWANEEJ
the 5 km is not as relevant under current circumstances.

< 23,000 43,001-52,000 ACADEMIC CITY Additionally, there are a large number of schools which are
priced towards the higher fee brackets of AED 52,001 and
above and are located in what are known to be middle income
23,001-30,000 52,001-63,000
Av. Year 6/7 Fees Per Annum (AED) communities. As a result of this mispricing, we have seen that
occupancy in the AED 52,000 to AED 83,000 price point stands
30,001-36,000 >63,000
<23,000 43,001 - 52,000 at around 69% compared to 84% in price points below this level.
As the number of schools in Dubai continue to grow, pressure
23,001 - 30,000
36,001-43,000
52,001 - 63,000 may increase on these schools that are located in middle
income communities.
30,001 - 36,000 >63,000
36,001 - 43,000
Source: KHDA, Knight Frank Middle East Esri, HERE, Garmin, © OpenStreetMap contributors, and the GIS user community

6 7
DUBAI EDUCATION MARKET REVIEW 2018 / 2019

Student enrolment density

FIGURE 4
Academic year 2016/2017

THE WORLD ISLANDS

PALM JUMEIRAH

DEIRA ISLANDS

DUBAI MARINA
JEBEL ALI
AL SUFOUH JUMEIRAH
DUBAI MEDIA
JUMEIRAH LAKES TOWERS CITY
DEIRA

AL MAMZAR
JUMEIRAH ISLANDS BARSHA AL KARAMA
HEIGHTS
EMIRATES LIVING AL BARSHA AL QUOZ DOWNTOWN
JEBEL ALI
VILLAGE
BUSINESS BAY AL NAHDA
BUR DUBAI

AL TWAR
JUMEIRAH VILLAGE
CIRCLE
AL QUSAIS
DUBAI FESTIVAL Figure 4 shows the density of number of students per school
NAD AL SHEBA CITY
in Dubai. We have used five broad ranges with the dark blue
DUBAI SPORTS CITY
circles showing schools which have less than 1,000 students and
the dark red circles reflecting schools which have over 4,000
DUBAI INVESTMENT
PARK MUHAISNAH students.
RAS AL KHOR

ARABIAN RANCHES RASHIDIYA First, we note that almost 90% of schools in Dubai have total
student numbers below 3,000 and 61% have total student
numbers below 1,500 students. There is also a clear trend in
WADI AL SAFA
schools which fall in the fee brackets of AED 36,000 and below,
these schools are likely to have a higher total student population.
AL WARQA We can see this is the case in the majority of schools in areas
such as Bur Dubai, Deira and International City. Whereas schools
INTERNATIONAL CITY
where fees are in the higher brackets (over AED 63,000) tend to
DUBAI SILICON OASIS
AL YALAYIS MUSHRIF have a enrolments of 1,000 students or fewer. Furthermore, in
UMM NAHAD
this higher fee bracket where the school is not a foreign branded
school we see this number fall even further.
AL KHAWANEEJ
We also note that occupancy on average, is significantly higher
in schools where the student capacity is higher. Schools
Number of students ACADEMIC CITY
which have a capacity of up to 1,500 students have recorded
occupancy at 76%. Schools having a total student population
< 1,000 3,001-4,000 higher than this, recorded occupancy of over 92%.

The data clearly shows that affordability is relative to the

Number1,001-2,000
of Students > 4,000
community. Schools with fee points matching the community
income profile are maintaining high enrolment and occupancy,
< 1,000
2,001-3,000
3,001 to 4,000 and these schools are likely to record a desirable level of
profitability.
1,001 to 2,000 > 4,000
2,001 to 3,000
Source: KHDA, Knight Frank Middle East Esri, HERE, Garmin, © OpenStreetMap contributors, and the GIS user community

8 9
 DUBAI EDUCATION MARKET REVIEW 2018 / 2019

Delivering an affordable school comes with its own challenges. The K-12 sector in the UAE is heavily
regulated and this affects both the operation of schools and the establishment of new schools. The
regulations apply regardless of the school fees to be charged, and there is an increasing cost associated
with regulatory compliance that an affordable school operator will need to take into account. This section
highlights some of the key regulatory developments that are relevant to the private K-12 sector.

Key regulatory “Operators and International Branded stake in the Dubai school to mitigate
any perceived risk flowing from the
Schools in Dubai
changes impacting Investors need to
understand the
Where an operator or investor is looking
board resolution, and we expect this to
continue.

the education sector

regulatory framework
in Dubai to ensure
compliance. This
affects not just the
operations of the
school, but also the
structures available to
establish the school in
the first place.”
to establish a school in Dubai that will
operate under an existing international
school brand, the following restrictions
and requirements apply.
The existing international school needs
to be involved in the licensing process,
regardless of whether they will have
ownership in the Dubai school. The
governing body of the school will also
need to provide a commitment to KHDA
(by way of a board resolution) that it
will be responsible for a list of specific
education matters, that termination and
closure of the Dubai school is subject
to KHDA approval, and that the school
will be responsible for settling financial
disputes in relation to parents and staff
on termination.
Understandably this can cause some
concerns with school governors, and we
have assisted a large number of school
governing boards to understand the
implications of this resolution and its
impact on the school and the governors.
The school will want to ensure they have
the right to influence the Dubai school or
make it comply with KHDA requirements.
We are seeing an increasing trend of
international schools taking a minority
The KHDA also has restrictions on the
closing of schools, or the termination
of brand licence agreements, as they
do not want the international school to
walk away, or the Dubai school to close,
without their approval. The main purpose
of this is the welfare and safety of the
students.
Teacher Licensing and
Good Conduct Certificates
In the first quarter of 2018, the UAE
Government launched the Teacher
Licensing System (TLS), with the aim
of ensuring both a high quality and
‘uniform’ standard of teaching staff within
the region, notwithstanding the fact
that teachers’ qualifications in the UAE
are estimated to be from around 180
countries across the world.
The TLS is being rolled out in phases
but will become mandatory for every
teacher in the UAE in 2021. In order
to obtain their Licence (issued by the
Ministry of Education), teachers will have
to sit exams and undertake professional
development training across four
‘standards’ – (i) Professional and Ethical

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DUBAI EDUCATION MARKET REVIEW 2018 / 2019

“Operators and Investors need

to understand the regulatory
framework in Dubai to ensure
compliance. This affects not
just the operations of the
school, but also the structures
available to establish the
school in the first place.”

Conduct, (ii) Professional Knowledge, (iii)
Professional Practice and (iv) Professional
Growth. Teachers with qualifications
from certain jurisdictions (namely UK,
Ireland, US, New Zealand, Canada and
Australia) will be exempt from (ii), (iii)
and (iv), however will need to participate
in the training and take the exam in
Professional and Ethical Conduct.
Schools themselves will have to meet the
costs of the training and exams for their
teachers although the fees have not yet
been announced.
In order to obtain the license, it was
recently announced that teachers
will also be required to obtain a good
conduct certificate from the police
department of the country where they
last taught. This requirement also applies
to those currently teaching in the UAE.
As the TLS is in its nascent phase, there
has been limited information released
in relation to the requirements. For
example, the consequences if certain
jurisdictions are unable to provide the
required certification are unclear. We
expect these aspects to be clarified
soon.
School Fee Freeze
In June 2018, the Dubai Executive
Council announced that private schools
in Dubai would not be permitted to raise
their school fees for the academic year
2018/2019. The announcement came at a
late stage in the academic calendar after
issuance of KHDA approvals to schools in
relation to fee increases.
While the ruling was welcomed by
parents, it has caused practical
challenges for schools who had already
forecasted and/or implemented their
2018/2019 financial budgets on the basis
of a fee increase. As a general rule of
thumb, the better a school performs in
the annual KHDA inspection, the more
likely they are to be awarded the right to
increase their fees. Additionally, school
fees in Dubai have, historically, risen year
on year.
It is not yet known whether the school
fee freeze will be extended to the next
academic year, or whether it will be
replicated to other Emirates. Many
schools have escalating rent charges in
their operating leases with landlords, and
now is the time for schools and landlords
to look at those arrangements to ensure
the sustainability of the school during the
coming period.
School Transport
Education institutions naturally have
extensive obligations in relation to the
health and safety of their students. Safety
obligations on school transport have
become an increasingly topical issue
following the occurrence of a number of
tragic events.
Notwithstanding the fact that they
may use an external provider, schools
themselves remain responsible for
the health and safety of their pupils
and employees on school transport.
Throughout the course of 2018, the UAE
has launched a number of initiatives that
aim to ensure safe transportation for
students. The Dubai Roads and Traffic
Authority has, for example, issued the
Guiding Manual of School Transport in
the Emirate of Dubai which sets out the
Historical evolution
expected standards and obligations of
transport operators and schools. of supply
It is anticipated that more legislation that
This section presents a summary analysis of 5 key curricula along with the
is prescriptive will be enacted in the near
locations of schools in 1997, 2007 and 2017. The curricula analysed are:
future. In the meantime, schools must
ensure that they undertake sufficient due • UK Curriculum Schools
diligence when appointing a third party
transport provider. • Indian Curriculum Schools
• American Curriculum Schools
Data Protection • IB Curriculum Schools
Data protection remains a hot topic • Ministry of Education Curriculum Schools
globally, and the UAE is no exception.
Although privacy laws are being
developed, those working and living in
the UAE are becoming more aware of the
risks of not protecting their own data. It
is only a matter of time until substantive
regulations are enacted and now is the
time to start implementing best practice.
In particular, schools should be mindful of
the way in which they collect information
about pupils, employees, parents,
governors and others. It may be that
consent requirements will be introduced
in line with data protection laws globally,
whereby those giving their information
must expressly give consent for the
information to be used for a particular
purpose. Schools may also need to
consider whether staff will need further
training on data protection matters, and
whether information about pupils can be
given readily, even to their parents.

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DUBAI EDUCATION MARKET REVIEW 2018 / 2019 DUBAI EDUCATION MARKET REVIEW 2018 / 2019

UK Curriculum Schools Penetration of UK Schools in Dubai

FIGURE 5 FIGURE 6 FIGURE 9 FIGURE 10

Academic year 2016/2017 snapshot Number of students and schools by DSIB curriculum rating 1997 2007

40,000 30 THE WORLD ISLANDS THE WORLD ISLANDS

Number of schools (branches excluded) 74
35,000
25

Number of students 93,771 30,000 PALM JUMEIRAH

DEIRA ISLANDS
PALM JUMEIRAH
DEIRA ISLANDS
20
25,000 DUBAI DUBAI
AL SUFOUH JUMEIRAH AL SUFOUH JUMEIRAH
New schools established since 2007 34 MARINA
DEIRA
MARINA
DEIRA
20,000 15 JUMEIRAH AL KARAMA AL MAMZAR JUMEIRAH AL KARAMA AL MAMZAR
LAKES BARSHA LAKES BARSHA
TOWERS HEIGHTS DOWNTOWN TOWERS HEIGHTS DOWNTOWN
AL QUOZ AL QUOZ
Number of students attending schools with 15,000 AL BARSHA BUSINESS AL BARSHA BUSINESS
67,462 10 BAY BAY
rating good and above 10,000
DUBAI
FESTIVAL AL QUSAIS
DUBAI
FESTIVAL AL QUSAIS
JUMEIRAH JUMEIRAH
VILLAGE NAD AL SHEBA CITY VILLAGE NAD AL SHEBA CITY
5
Number of schools with improved 5,000 CIRCLE CIRCLE
3
DSIB rating 0 0
RAS AL
MUHAISNAH
RAS AL
MUHAISNAH
ARABIAN KHOR RASHIDIYA ARABIAN KHOR RASHIDIYA
RANCHES RANCHES

No
evaluation

Inspection
upcoming

Weak

Acceptable

Good

Very
good

Outstanding
Weighted average fee in AED* 37,071 MIRDIF MIRDIF

AL WARQA AL WARQA
INTERNATIONAL INTERNATIONAL
DUBAI SILICON CITY DUBAI SILICON CITY
AL YALAYIS UMM NAHAD OASIS MUSHRIF AL YALAYIS UMM NAHAD OASIS MUSHRIF
Source: KHDA, Knight Frank Middle East *Based on median fee range for year 6 & 7 Source: KHDA, Knight Frank Middle East Students Number of schools (RHS)
ACADEMIC CITY ACADEMIC CITY
AL KHAWANEEJ AL KHAWANEEJ

FIGURE 7 FIGURE 8
Number of students & schools by year 6 & 7 fee brackets, AED Number of students vs total
CONTRIBUTION
30% 34%

25,000 18 300,000

16

20,000 250,000
14 FIGURE 11
CAGR: 5.9% 2017
12
15,000 200,000
10

8 THE WORLD ISLANDS

10,000 150,000
6

4
CAGR: 7.4% PALM JUMEIRAH
5,000 100,000
DEIRA ISLANDS
2

0 0 50,000
DUBAI MARINA
0-
10,000

10,001-
20,000

20,001-
30,000

30,001-
40,000

40,001-
50,000

50,001-
60,000

60,001-
70,000

70,001-
80,000

80,001-
90,000

90,001-
100,000

2009/10

2010/11

2011/12

2012/13

2013/14

2014/15

2015/16

2016/17
JEBEL ALI AL SUFOUH JUMEIRAH
DUBAI
JUMEIRAH LAKES MEDIA DEIRA
TOWERS CITY
AL MAMZAR
BARSHA AL KARAMA
JUMEIRAH
HEIGHTS AL BARSHA AL QUOZ
ISLANDS DOWNTOWN
Source: KHDA, Knight Frank Middle East Students Schools Source: KHDA, Knight Frank Middle East UK Total JEBEL ALI EMIRATES
VILLAGE LIVING BUSINESS BAY BUR DUBAI AL NAHDA

AL TWAR
JUMEIRAH AL QUSAIS
VILLAGE DUBAI
NAD AL SHEBA
CIRCLE FESTIVAL
CITY
UK curriculum schools are the most prominent in Dubai, in terms of the number of students (34%) and number of schools DUBAI SPORTS
CITY
(39%). What makes the UK curriculum appealing to the Dubai market? DUBAI
INVESTMENT MUHAISNAH
RAS AL KHOR
PARK
• Global standardised curriculum and examination system that eases transferability between schools and countries – a factor that ARABIAN RASHIDIYA
RANCHES
is appealing to the expatriate community. MIRDIF
WADI AL SAFA

• It caters to almost the entire socio-economic spectrum of society, with tuition fees ranging from a few thousand Dirhams annually
to schools in excess of AED 90,000 per annum. AL WARQA

• UK branded schools aim to provide students similar educational experiences in terms of quality. AL YALAYIS
DUBAI SILICON
INTERNATIONAL
CITY MUSHRIF
UMM NAHAD OASIS

In academic year 2018/19, six schools will be introduced to the system, increasing the number of schools to 85.
AL KHAWANEEJ

ACADEMIC CITY

Source: Knight Frank Middle East

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DUBAI EDUCATION MARKET REVIEW 2018 / 2019 DUBAI EDUCATION MARKET REVIEW 2018 / 2019

American Curriculum Schools Penetration of American Schools in Dubai

FIGURE 12 FIGURE 13 FIGURE 16 FIGURE 17

Academic year 2016/2017 snapshot Number of students and schools by DSIB curriculum rating 1997 2007

25,000 14 THE WORLD ISLANDS THE WORLD ISLANDS

Number of schools (branches excluded) 34
12
20,000
Number of students 48,257 PALM JUMEIRAH
DEIRA ISLANDS
PALM JUMEIRAH
DEIRA ISLANDS
10
DUBAI DUBAI
AL SUFOUH JUMEIRAH AL SUFOUH JUMEIRAH
New schools established since 2007 8 15,000
8
MARINA
DEIRA
MARINA
DEIRA
JUMEIRAH AL KARAMA AL MAMZAR JUMEIRAH AL KARAMA AL MAMZAR
LAKES BARSHA LAKES BARSHA
TOWERS HEIGHTS DOWNTOWN TOWERS HEIGHTS DOWNTOWN
AL QUOZ AL QUOZ
Number of students attending schools with 10,000
6
AL BARSHA BUSINESS AL BARSHA BUSINESS
23,476 BAY BAY
rating good and above 4
DUBAI
FESTIVAL AL QUSAIS
DUBAI
FESTIVAL AL QUSAIS
JUMEIRAH JUMEIRAH
VILLAGE NAD AL SHEBA CITY VILLAGE NAD AL SHEBA CITY
5,000
Number of schools with improved 2 CIRCLE CIRCLE
3
DSIB rating RAS AL
MUHAISNAH
RAS AL
MUHAISNAH
0 0 ARABIAN KHOR RASHIDIYA ARABIAN KHOR RASHIDIYA
RANCHES RANCHES

Inspection
upcoming

Weak

Acceptable

Good

Outstanding
Weighted average fee in AED* 29,495 MIRDIF MIRDIF

AL WARQA AL WARQA
INTERNATIONAL INTERNATIONAL
DUBAI SILICON CITY DUBAI SILICON CITY
AL YALAYIS UMM NAHAD OASIS MUSHRIF AL YALAYIS UMM NAHAD OASIS MUSHRIF
Source: KHDA, Knight Frank Middle East *Based on median fee range for year 6 & 7 Source: KHDA, Knight Frank Middle East Students Number of schools (RHS)
ACADEMIC CITY ACADEMIC CITY
AL KHAWANEEJ AL KHAWANEEJ

FIGURE 14 FIGURE 15
Number of students & schools by year 6 & 7 fee brackets, AED Number of students vs total
CONTRIBUTION
22% 18%

25,000 12 300,000

10 250,000
20,000
CAGR: 5.9% FIGURE 18

8 200,000 2017
15,000

6 150,000
THE WORLD ISLANDS
10,000
4 100,000
CAGR: 3.0% PALM JUMEIRAH
5,000
2 50,000
DEIRA ISLANDS

0 0 0
DUBAI MARINA
0-
10,000

10,001-
20,000

20,001-
30,000

30,001-
40,000

40,001-
50,000

50,001-
60,000

60,001-
70,000

70,001-
80,000

80,001-
90,000

90,001-
100,000

2009/10

2010/11

2011/12

2012/13

2013/14

2014/15

2015/16

2016/17
JEBEL ALI AL SUFOUH JUMEIRAH
DUBAI
JUMEIRAH LAKES MEDIA DEIRA
TOWERS CITY
AL MAMZAR
BARSHA AL KARAMA
JUMEIRAH
HEIGHTS AL BARSHA AL QUOZ
ISLANDS DOWNTOWN
Source: KHDA, Knight Frank Middle East Students Schools Source: KHDA, Knight Frank Middle East American Total JEBEL ALI EMIRATES
VILLAGE LIVING BUSINESS BAY BUR DUBAI AL NAHDA

AL TWAR
JUMEIRAH AL QUSAIS
VILLAGE DUBAI
NAD AL SHEBA
CIRCLE FESTIVAL
CITY
The American curriculum schools have a market share of almost 18% for both the number of students and schools. In DUBAI SPORTS
CITY
the last three academic years, student numbers were almost constant, which has resulted in a gradual decline in market DUBAI
INVESTMENT MUHAISNAH
share from 22% in academic year 2009/10 to 18% in 2016/17. PARK
RAS AL KHOR
ARABIAN RASHIDIYA
RANCHES
The majority of the schools have received a DSIB rating of “acceptable” and “good” with only one school maintaining an MIRDIF
WADI AL SAFA
“outstanding” rating.

In academic year 2018/19, two schools will be introduced to the system, increasing the number of schools to 36. AL WARQA

INTERNATIONAL
DUBAI SILICON MUSHRIF
AL YALAYIS CITY
UMM NAHAD OASIS

AL KHAWANEEJ

ACADEMIC CITY

Source: Knight Frank Middle East

16 17
DUBAI EDUCATION MARKET REVIEW 2018 / 2019 DUBAI EDUCATION MARKET REVIEW 2018 / 2019

Indian Curriculum Schools Penetration of Indian Schools in Dubai

FIGURE 19 FIGURE 20 FIGURE 23 FIGURE 24

Academic year 2016/2017 snapshot Number of students and schools by DSIB curriculum rating 1997 2007

25,000 12 THE WORLD ISLANDS THE WORLD ISLANDS

Number of schools (branches excluded) 33
10
Number of students 79,579 20,000 PALM JUMEIRAH
DEIRA ISLANDS
PALM JUMEIRAH
DEIRA ISLANDS

8 DUBAI DUBAI
AL SUFOUH JUMEIRAH AL SUFOUH JUMEIRAH
New schools established since 2007 16 15,000 MARINA
DEIRA
MARINA
DEIRA
JUMEIRAH AL KARAMA AL MAMZAR JUMEIRAH AL KARAMA AL MAMZAR
6 LAKES BARSHA LAKES BARSHA
TOWERS HEIGHTS DOWNTOWN TOWERS HEIGHTS DOWNTOWN
AL QUOZ AL QUOZ
Number of students attending schools with 10,000 AL BARSHA BUSINESS AL BARSHA BUSINESS
41,150 BAY BAY
rating good and above 4 DUBAI
FESTIVAL AL QUSAIS
DUBAI
FESTIVAL AL QUSAIS
JUMEIRAH JUMEIRAH
VILLAGE NAD AL SHEBA CITY VILLAGE NAD AL SHEBA CITY
5,000
Number of schools with improved 2 CIRCLE CIRCLE
nil
DSIB rating 2016 vs 2017 RAS AL
MUHAISNAH
RAS AL
MUHAISNAH
ARABIAN KHOR RASHIDIYA ARABIAN KHOR RASHIDIYA
0 0
RANCHES RANCHES

No
evaluation

Inspection
upcoming

Weak

Acceptable

Good

Very good

Outstanding
Weighted average fee in AED* 10,766 MIRDIF MIRDIF

AL WARQA AL WARQA
INTERNATIONAL INTERNATIONAL
DUBAI SILICON CITY DUBAI SILICON CITY
AL YALAYIS UMM NAHAD OASIS MUSHRIF AL YALAYIS UMM NAHAD OASIS MUSHRIF
Source: KHDA, Knight Frank Middle East *Based on median fee range for year 6 & 7 Source: KHDA, Knight Frank Middle East Students Number of schools (RHS)
ACADEMIC CITY ACADEMIC CITY
AL KHAWANEEJ AL KHAWANEEJ

FIGURE 21 FIGURE 22
Number of students & schools by year 6 & 7 fee brackets, AED Number of students vs total

CONTRIBUTION
30% 29%

300,000
60,000 14

12 250,000
50,000
FIGURE 25
CAGR: 5.9%
10
200,000 2017
40,000

8
30,000 150,000

6 CAGR: 5.5% THE WORLD ISLANDS

20,000 100,000
4
PALM JUMEIRAH

10,000 50,000
2 DEIRA ISLANDS

0 0 0
DUBAI MARINA
0-
10,000

10,001-
20,000

20,001-
30,000

30,001-
40,000

40,001-
50,000

JEBEL ALI AL SUFOUH JUMEIRAH

50,001-
60,000

2009/10

2010/11

2011/12

2012/13

2013/14

2014/15

2015/16

2016/17
DUBAI
JUMEIRAH LAKES MEDIA DEIRA
TOWERS CITY
AL MAMZAR
BARSHA AL KARAMA
JUMEIRAH
HEIGHTS AL BARSHA AL QUOZ
ISLANDS DOWNTOWN
Source: KHDA, Knight Frank Middle East Students Schools Source: KHDA, Knight Frank Middle East Indian Total JEBEL ALI EMIRATES
VILLAGE LIVING BUSINESS BAY BUR DUBAI AL NAHDA

AL TWAR
JUMEIRAH AL QUSAIS
VILLAGE DUBAI
NAD AL SHEBA
CIRCLE FESTIVAL
Indian curriculum schools have maintained 30% of the student population. In terms of the number of students per school, DUBAI SPORTS CITY
Indian schools are usually twice the size of American or UK curriculum schools. Indian curriculum schools not only serve the CITY
DUBAI
Indian community, but also cater to the population of the subcontinent. INVESTMENT RAS AL KHOR
MUHAISNAH
PARK
ARABIAN RASHIDIYA
Factors that draw parents are: RANCHES

WADI AL SAFA MIRDIF

• Standardised curriculum and examination system

• Competitive tuition fees - making it appealing to a wider population base AL WARQA

• High focus on core subjects DUBAI SILICON

INTERNATIONAL
MUSHRIF
AL YALAYIS CITY
UMM NAHAD OASIS
Indian branded schools aim to provide students similar education experiences in terms of quality. In the academic year 2018/19, two
schools are to be introduced to the system, which will increase the number of schools to 36. AL KHAWANEEJ

ACADEMIC CITY

Source: Knight Frank Middle East

18 19
DUBAI EDUCATION MARKET REVIEW 2018 / 2019 DUBAI EDUCATION MARKET REVIEW 2018 / 2019

International Baccalaureate Curriculum Schools Penetration of International Baccalaureate Schools in Dubai

FIGURE 26 FIGURE 27 FIGURE 30

Academic year 2016/2017 snapshot Number of students and schools by DSIB curriculum rating 2007

10,000 8 THE WORLD ISLANDS

Number of schools (branches excluded) 11

PALM JUMEIRAH
Number of students 13,232 8,000
6 DEIRA ISLANDS

Number of new schools in last 5 years 9

6,000
DUBAI MARINA
JEBEL ALI AL SUFOUH JUMEIRAH
Number of students attending schools with 4
JUMEIRAH LAKES
DUBAI
12,624 TOWERS
MEDIA DEIRA
rating good and above 4,000 CITY
AL MAMZAR
BARSHA AL KARAMA
JUMEIRAH
HEIGHTS
Number of schools with improved 2
ISLANDS AL BARSHA AL QUOZ DOWNTOWN
2 JEBEL ALI EMIRATES
BUSINESS BAY AL NAHDA
DSIB rating 2016 vs 2017 2,000 VILLAGE LIVING BUR DUBAI

Weighted average fee in AED* 65,517 0 AL TWAR

0
JUMEIRAH
Inspection Good Very Outstanding VILLAGE DUBAI
AL QUSAIS
NAD AL SHEBA
upcoming good CIRCLE FESTIVAL
DUBAI SPORTS CITY
CITY
Source: KHDA, Knight Frank Middle East *Based on median fee range for year 6 & 7 Source: KHDA, Knight Frank Middle East Students Number of schools (RHS)
DUBAI
INVESTMENT MUHAISNAH
RAS AL KHOR
PARK
ARABIAN RASHIDIYA
RANCHES
FIGURE 28 FIGURE 29
WADI AL SAFA MIRDIF
Number of students & schools by year 6 & 7 fee brackets, AED Number of students vs total

CONTRIBUTION AL WARQA
CONTRIBUTION
2% 6%
INTERNATIONAL
8,000 5 AL YALAYIS DUBAI SILICON
300,000 UMM NAHAD CITY MUSHRIF
OASIS

4 250,000
6,000 CAGR: 5.9%
200,000 FIGURE 31
3
2017
4,000 150,000

2
100,000
THE WORLD ISLANDS
2,000
1 CAGR: 21.9%
50,000
PALM JUMEIRAH

0 0 0 DEIRA ISLANDS
40,001-
50,000

50,001-
60,000

60,001-
70,000

70,001-
80,000

80,001-
90,000

90,001-
100,000

2009/10

2010/11

2011/12

2012/13

2013/14

2014/15

2015/16

2016/17 DUBAI MARINA

JEBEL ALI AL SUFOUH JUMEIRAH
DUBAI
JUMEIRAH LAKES MEDIA DEIRA
TOWERS CITY
AL MAMZAR
Source: KHDA, Knight Frank Middle East Students Schools Source: KHDA, Knight Frank Middle East IB Total BARSHA AL KARAMA
JUMEIRAH
HEIGHTS AL BARSHA AL QUOZ
ISLANDS DOWNTOWN
JEBEL ALI EMIRATES
VILLAGE LIVING BUSINESS BAY BUR DUBAI AL NAHDA

AL TWAR
JUMEIRAH AL QUSAIS
VILLAGE DUBAI
NAD AL SHEBA
The International Baccalaureate is the fastest growing curricula within Dubai’s education space. It has witnessed a growth CIRCLE FESTIVAL
DUBAI SPORTS CITY
rate of 21.9% CAGR since academic year 2009/10, which led to market share increasing from 2% in academic year 2009/10, CITY

to 6% by 2016/2017. DUBAI
INVESTMENT MUHAISNAH
RAS AL KHOR
PARK
ARABIAN RASHIDIYA
Factors that draw parents to the system are: RANCHES

MIRDIF
• Standardised examination system that is internationally recognised WADI AL SAFA

• It is considered as a system that will instil attributes of independent learning in children AL WARQA

• Certain US colleges provide credits to students who have sat through their IB examinations AL YALAYIS DUBAI SILICON
INTERNATIONAL
UMM NAHAD CITY MUSHRIF
OASIS

Source: Knight Frank Middle East

20 21
DUBAI EDUCATION MARKET REVIEW 2018 / 2019 DUBAI EDUCATION MARKET REVIEW 2018 / 2019

Ministry of Education Curriculum Schools Penetration of Ministry of Education Schools in Dubai

FIGURE 32 FIGURE 33 FIGURE 36 FIGURE 37

Academic year 2016/2017 snapshot Number of students and schools by DSIB curriculum rating 1997 2007

THE WORLD ISLANDS THE WORLD ISLANDS

Number of schools (branches excluded) 11 12,000 8

Number of students 13,678 10,000

PALM JUMEIRAH
DEIRA ISLANDS
PALM JUMEIRAH
DEIRA ISLANDS

6
DUBAI DUBAI
AL SUFOUH JUMEIRAH AL SUFOUH JUMEIRAH
Number of new schools in last 5 years Nil 8,000
MARINA
DEIRA
MARINA
DEIRA
JUMEIRAH AL KARAMA AL MAMZAR JUMEIRAH AL KARAMA AL MAMZAR
LAKES BARSHA LAKES BARSHA
TOWERS HEIGHTS DOWNTOWN TOWERS HEIGHTS DOWNTOWN
AL QUOZ AL QUOZ
Number of students attending schools with AL BARSHA BUSINESS AL BARSHA BUSINESS
2,949 6,000 4
BAY BAY
rating good and above DUBAI
FESTIVAL AL QUSAIS
DUBAI
FESTIVAL AL QUSAIS
JUMEIRAH JUMEIRAH
VILLAGE NAD AL SHEBA CITY VILLAGE NAD AL SHEBA CITY
Number of schools with improved 4,000 CIRCLE CIRCLE
1.00 2
DSIB rating 2016 vs 2017 RAS AL
MUHAISNAH
RAS AL
MUHAISNAH
ARABIAN KHOR RASHIDIYA ARABIAN KHOR RASHIDIYA
2,000 RANCHES RANCHES
Weighted average fee in AED* 6,518 MIRDIF MIRDIF

0 0 AL WARQA AL WARQA

Acceptable Good INTERNATIONAL INTERNATIONAL

DUBAI SILICON CITY DUBAI SILICON CITY
AL YALAYIS UMM NAHAD OASIS MUSHRIF AL YALAYIS UMM NAHAD OASIS MUSHRIF
Source: KHDA, Knight Frank Middle East *Based on median fee range for year 6 & 7 Source: KHDA, Knight Frank Middle East Students Number of schools (RHS)
ACADEMIC CITY ACADEMIC CITY
AL KHAWANEEJ AL KHAWANEEJ

FIGURE 34 FIGURE 35
Number of students and schools by Year 6 & 7 fee brackets Number of students vs total

CONTRIBUTION
9% 5%

12,000 6 300,000

10,000 5 250,000 FIGURE 38

CAGR: 5.9% 2017
8,000 4 200,000

6,000 3 150,000
THE WORLD ISLANDS

4,000 2 100,000
PALM JUMEIRAH
CAGR: -2.6%
2,000 1 50,000 DEIRA ISLANDS

0 0 0
DUBAI MARINA
0-10,000

10,001-
20,000

20,001-
30,000

2009/10

2010/11

2011/12

2012/13

2013/14

2014/15

2015/16

2016/17 JEBEL ALI AL SUFOUH JUMEIRAH

DUBAI
JUMEIRAH LAKES MEDIA DEIRA
TOWERS CITY
AL MAMZAR
BARSHA AL KARAMA
JUMEIRAH
HEIGHTS AL BARSHA AL QUOZ
ISLANDS DOWNTOWN
Source: KHDA, Knight Frank Middle East Students Schools Source: KHDA, Knight Frank Middle East Private MoE Total JEBEL ALI EMIRATES
VILLAGE LIVING BUSINESS BAY BUR DUBAI AL NAHDA

AL TWAR
JUMEIRAH AL QUSAIS
VILLAGE DUBAI
NAD AL SHEBA
CIRCLE FESTIVAL
CITY
Designed to cater for UAE nationals’ requirements, the number of private Ministry of Education curriculum schools has DUBAI SPORTS
CITY
declined from 15 in 2009/2010 to 11 in 2016/17, resulting in the number of students also declining, albeit marginally. DUBAI
INVESTMENT MUHAISNAH
RAS AL KHOR
PARK
As time progresses, these schools are faced with increased competition as a result of improving standards in public sector schools ARABIAN RASHIDIYA
RANCHES
and also options available to parents to enrol their children in schools offering western curricula.
WADI AL SAFA

AL WARQA

INTERNATIONAL
DUBAI SILICON MUSHRIF
AL YALAYIS CITY
UMM NAHAD OASIS

AL KHAWANEEJ

ACADEMIC CITY

Source: Knight Frank Middle East

22 23
 EDUCATION
FIGURE 39
Shehzad Jamal
Number of private schools Partner
+971 56 4101 298
90
shehzad.jamal@me.knightfrank.com
80
UK Emma Cleugh, MRICS
70
American
Partner, Department Head, UK
+44 7778 463 958
60 emma.cleugh@knightfrank.com
Indian

50 Others RESEARCH
40 MoE Taimur Khan
Manager
30 IB +971 56 4202 312
20 taimur.khan@knightfrank.com

10 DEVELOPMENT CONSULTANCY &

RESEARCH
0
2009/ 2010/ 2011/ 2012/ 2013/ 2014/ 2015/ 2016/ 2017/ 2018/ Harmen De Jong
2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019
Partner
TOTAL 148 148 148 153 158 169 173 185 194 207 +971 56 1766 588
harmen.dejong@me.knightfrank.com

Source: Knight Frank Middle East CAPITAL MARKETS / INVESTMENT

Joseph Morris, MRICS
Partner
+971 50 5036 351
FIGURE 40 joseph.morris@me.knightfrank.com
Student population
MEDIA & MARKETING
120,000 Nicola Milton
Head of Middle East Marketing
UK +971 56 6116 368
100,000
nicola.milton@me.knightfrank.com
Indian

80,000 American
CLYDE & CO
Others Ross Barfoot, Partner
60,000
Naji Hawayek, Partner
MoE
Munisha Khatwani, Senior Associate
40,000 IB
Katy Thomson, Associate
+971 4 384 4000
clydeco.com
20,000

0
2009/ 2010/ 2011/ 2012/ 2013/ 2014/ 2015/ 2016/ 2017/
2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018

TOTAL 182,818 193,323 207,118 225,099 243,715 255,235 265,299 273,599 281,432

Source: Knight Frank Middle East

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