IB: International Baccalaureate in Dubai 2026

Despite their relative youth, IB schools in Dubai provide a fairly wide range of formats. These are day schools, and a few schools with full boarding and residential accommodation, which is still new for the Middle East region, and mixed schools, and institutions where only boys or only girls are educated. All these institutions have one thing in common – a consistently high level of training, strict adherence to the standards and goals of the program, and a desire for innovation.

As part of the course, students form their own program, forming a study course of their choice: 1 or 2 disciplines within 6 basic areas, including mathematics, arts, exact and natural sciences, social sciences and sports). This makes it possible to focus on those areas that are of greatest interest to the student, at the same time to maintain wide erudition and educate universal personnel.

Great importance is attached to the development of critical thinking: teenagers do not just cram information, they learn to collect, analyze and present the information received to a different audience, which not only helps with an academic or professional career, but also improves the quality of life.

Each IB country has its own characteristics. By maintaining a multicultural approach, IB schools in Dubai foster responsibility, self-confidence and independence, understanding and respect for different cultures (primarily traditional Arabic), and the desire for the well-being of the community – both at school and at higher levels up to the global level.

IB schools in Dubai for foreigners provide ample opportunities for adaptation for beginners, including students from Russia, Ukraine and the CIS countries. School integration departments successfully cope with this task, there is a large selection of preparatory courses, each school offers EAL programs - English as a Foreign Language - on various terms, which will be an invaluable help for students whose level of language proficiency is insufficient for free learning in a Dubai school.

The IB program includes 3 consecutive stages, and the last one is available in two versions; The child can go through all of them, or limit himself to one or several. Not all IB schools in Dubai offer a full range of programs, some are limited to one or two.

• Primary Years Programme

A program addressed to children from 3 to 12 years old, in fact, uniting kindergarten and primary school. It is most adapted to national education standards.

• Middle Years Programme

The second stage of the program, generally corresponding to secondary school in Russia. It lasts 5 years: enrolled at the age of 11-12 and graduated at the age of 16. The curriculum is built around 8 subject areas, which ultimately gives a balanced education with a good foundation for the future.

•  The Diploma Programme (DP) and the Career-related Programme (CP) are two scenarios for students aged 16-19: one with an eye to the academic environment, the other to find employment as soon as possible. The program is designed to deepen its training in selected profiles (subject areas at this stage are not 8, but only 6), supplemented by an extended essay, practice and a course in the theory of knowledge.

Studying at an IB school in the UAE has a number of advantages:

• The spoken and everyday language in the country is Arabic, but everyone receives international education in English, especially higher education. At the same time, the requirements for applicants in higher and even more so secondary schools are very modest: they will take you to a preparatory school with IELTS 5.0, to a university for a bachelor's degree - from 5.5.
• Openness to expats. 4/5 of the emirate's population are foreigners, and at least 40% of them came from Europe, India and other countries outside the region. Among young people, the share of foreigners is even higher due to the government's well-thought-out policy to attract ambitious and promising schoolchildren and students. The diverse ethnic composition and the lack of competition with the local population form a tolerant and non-discriminatory environment.
• Strong support from the authorities. The authorities of the Emirate of Dubai consider educational tourism to be one of the promising sectors of the economy and the key to the effectiveness of the state, the guarantor of its position in the world market of the division of labor. Therefore , Dubai schools, formally independent, receive significant subsidies and direct support from the state.
• Prospects for admission to international universities. Many universities in the United States and the United Kingdom have opened their branches in Dubai, which allows you to get a prestigious diploma at a lower cost. It is easier to enter here than to parent universities.

• Tuition fees

In the region, Dubai holds the palm in terms of prices: the cost of IB schools in Dubai is higher than in other countries in the region, although it can compete with most European countries, China and Australia, not to mention the United States.

• Cultural differences

The West is the West, the East is the East, and they are not destined to meet, even in the United Arab Emirates. Despite tolerance in many matters, Dubai remains an Islamic state, faith plays a tremendous role in all spheres of public life, including education. Therefore, students will have to comply with the dress code and religious calendar (at least outside the campus), and the program often includes religious Islamic education and the Arabic language (however, as electives, not compulsory lessons).

• Climate

Even in the short winter months, the thermometer here rarely breaks through +25, so it will not be easy for an unprepared person in the Persian Gulf countries. On the other hand, hotels, private houses, schools and public transport, even many bus stops here are equipped with air conditioning, which is somewhat reconciled with sandstorms and scorching sun.

• Shortage of boarding houses

The traditional format of education in Dubai schools is daytime attendance: students come to classes in the morning and go home in the evening. Boarding houses are the exception rather than the rule here.

9 out of 10 schools in Dubai are day schools, this also applies to IB schools in Dubai. However, they are located in the central parts or business districts of cities, so it will not be difficult for parents who live and work here to give their child a ride to school and take them back.

Boarding schools are not numerous, the residence is usually located on campus and includes everything you need - from a canteen and educational buildings with laboratories to sports facilities. Schoolchildren live in single or double rooms with their own bathroom, high-speed Internet, air conditioning and other amenities.

The diet is varied and healthy. Local standards usually take into account the requirements for halal meals; If necessary, the student's parents can order a special diet that takes into account the individual needs of the child.

An individual approach is also manifested in extracurricular activities: each school offers a wide range of opportunities in the field of sports, music, art, all kinds of hobbies, and the cost of the lion's share of the courses is included in the program (for some additional materials, sports equipment or musical instruments, you will need to pay extra).