🇦🇪 International Schools in Abu Dhabi
5 schools, profiled on verifiable public data.
Abu Dhabi is the UAE's other inspection-anchored market: its regulator, ADEK (Abu Dhabi Department of Education and Knowledge), publishes official graded inspection bands (Outstanding → Very Good → Good → Acceptable → Weak → Very Weak) through the Irtiqa'a programme — so, as in Dubai, schools here are genuinely quality-tierable rather than accreditation-capped like most of Asia. The premium end is dominated by British-curriculum schools (Cranleigh, Brighton College, BSAK, Repton — EYFS → IGCSE → A-Level), with American + IB options too (GEMS American Academy). Several carry the verbatim top band: Cranleigh, the not-for-profit BSAK, and Repton all hold ADEK 'Outstanding' (our S-tier), while Brighton College AD and GEMS American Academy sit at 'Very Good' (A). A useful caveat for families: a school's UK BSO 'Outstanding' is a separate accreditation from its local ADEK band — they don't always match (Brighton College AD is BSO Outstanding but ADEK Very Good). Fees are published in AED.
Compare these schools side-by-side →| School | Curricula | Ages | Fees (SGD) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Brighton College Abu DhabiADEK: Very Good | British | 3–18 | AED 50,830–80,780/year (2024/25, directory-reported) |
| Cranleigh Abu DhabiADEK: Outstanding | British | 3–18 | ≈AED 68,000–106,000/year (indicative, third-party; not officially confirmed) |
| GEMS American Academy – Abu DhabiADEK: Very Good | American / IB | 3–18 | AED 57,850–80,610/year (2025/26) |
| Repton School Abu DhabiADEK: Outstanding | British | 3–18 | AED 62,601–80,960/year (2025/26) |
| The British School Al KhubairatADEK: Outstanding | British | 3–18 | AED 45,560–74,560/year (2025/26) |
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