The ranking holds 45 schools with an international accreditation or an authorised programme. International Baccalaureate programmes are taught at 2 of them. The British Cambridge route, IGCSE and A-Level, at 12. A year of school costs from $2 328 to $23 278. A swimming pool on site is confirmed at 9.
We do not take reviews from maps and directories: their terms forbid it, and nobody checks the quality there. Everything below comes from the official registers of the accrediting organisations and from the schools' own sites, and every fact carries its source and the date of the check.
| Cheapest | $2 328 a year | GEMS Our Own English High School - Al Ain |
| Median | $8 242 a year | top of the fee range at 8 schools with a published fee |
| Most expensive | $23 278 a year | Brighton College Al Ain |
Figures are converted to dollars at a weekly rate; schools publish their fees in their own currency. One-off charges, meals, transport and uniform are not included unless the school says otherwise. Fees for schools in Al Ain are taken from published price lists, not from what third parties say.
33 of the 45 schools in the ranking are private. The other 12 are state schools, set out below. The type of school does not affect the score: private and state schools sit in one list and are scored by the same formula, and only verifiable data moves the number.
12 schools with an international accreditation are funded by the state: Applied Technology Schools - Al Ain (Al Aqabiya), Applied Technology Schools - Al Ain (Tahnoun bin Mohammed Educational Complex), Applied Technology Schools - Al Ain (Al Hili), Mariam Bint Sultan Girls School, Al Jahili Girls School, Al Dahmaa Boys School, Al Dhaher Charter School, Al Bayraq Charter School, Al Hosoon Charter School, Al Reef Charter School, Al Rayaheen School, Ain Al Fayedha Charter School. Admission to these schools is usually competitive, and tuition is free or markedly cheaper than at a private school. In the ranking they stand alongside private schools and are scored on the same nine criteria.
Schools in Al Ain with an IB programme (2): Emirates National Schools - Al Ain City Campus, Future International Academy. 1 of them runs the full three-stage cycle: PYP, MYP and DP. Authorisation is confirmed against the International Baccalaureate register.
The British Cambridge programme - IGCSE and A-Level - is taught at 12 schools in Al Ain: Al Dhafra Private Schools - Al Ain, The International School of Choueifat - Al Ain, Global English School - Al Ain, Al Ain British Academy, GEMS Our Own English High School - Al Ain, Brighton College Al Ain, Al Ain Juniors School, Beaconhouse Private School Al Ain, Universal Private School, Emirates Private School - Al Ain, Garden City British School, Belvedere International School.
A facility counts only when the school names it outright on its own site: a modern campus is not a swimming pool. Swimming pool: 9 schools · School transport: 2 schools.
Comparing schools on a single feature is useless: the most expensive is not the best, and a famous name says nothing about what is backed by documents. The score is therefore built from nine criteria with different weights - from academic programmes and accreditation to facilities, clubs and fees relative to other schools in the country.
A criterion counts towards the score only when there is verifiable data behind it. That is why every score says how many of the nine criteria were counted: at schools in Al Ain that is 7.2 out of 9 on average. A school with a detailed site and a school with no site cannot earn an equally reliable score, and that is shown rather than hidden.
Ratings and reviews from Google Maps, Yandex Maps and 2GIS are not used: their terms forbid aggregation. Only verified reviews left here count. Full methodology →
Published fees run from $2 328 to $23 278 for a school year. The cheapest is GEMS Our Own English High School - Al Ain, the most expensive Brighton College Al Ain. The median for the senior stage is $8 242 a year. Fees are converted into dollars at a weekly rate; schools publish them in their own currency.
Al Dhafra Private Schools - Al Ain comes first with 78.4 points out of 100, counted from 7 of the 9 criteria. Next come The International School of Choueifat - Al Ain (77.9) and Emirates National Schools - Al Ain City Campus (74.9). The score is built from data anyone can check: accreditations found in official registers, programmes, facilities and published fees. A place in the ranking is not for sale.
The ranking holds 45 schools: 33 private and 12 state (Applied Technology Schools - Al Ain (Al Aqabiya), Applied Technology Schools - Al Ain (Tahnoun bin Mohammed Educational Complex), Applied Technology Schools - Al Ain (Al Hili), Mariam Bint Sultan Girls School, Al Jahili Girls School, Al Dahmaa Boys School, Al Dhaher Charter School, Al Bayraq Charter School, Al Hosoon Charter School, Al Reef Charter School, Al Rayaheen School, Ain Al Fayedha Charter School). Private and state schools go into the ranking on equal terms.
International Baccalaureate programmes are taught at 2 schools: Emirates National Schools - Al Ain City Campus, Future International Academy. 1 of them runs the full three-stage cycle: PYP, MYP and DP.
IGCSE and A-Level are offered by 12 schools: Al Dhafra Private Schools - Al Ain, The International School of Choueifat - Al Ain, Global English School - Al Ain, Al Ain British Academy, GEMS Our Own English High School - Al Ain, Brighton College Al Ain, Al Ain Juniors School, Beaconhouse Private School Al Ain, Universal Private School, Emirates Private School - Al Ain, Garden City British School, Belvedere International School.
The earliest intake starts at 3 years old.
The score of every school adds up from nine criteria with different weights: academic programmes, accreditation, facilities, clubs, the fee against other schools in the country, reviews, university destinations, safety and teachers. A criterion counts only when there is data behind it that can be checked, so every score says how many of the nine were counted. Right now that is 7.2 out of 9 on average. We do not use reviews from maps or directories.