← Back to homeGerman International School Abu Dhabi
Abu Dhabi, UAE · est. 1976 · Private
Illustration · Abu Dhabi
The German International School Abu Dhabi has run since 1976 and takes a child from the kindergarten to the German Abitur. The programme is German, teaching is in German, and the school regularly receives a "very good" rating from the Abu Dhabi education authority. Its support services are broad and set out on a page of their own: a fully equipped sick bay with a nurse, eleven school buses, a cafeteria, a media library, a school shop, school social work and private tutoring. Language support works in both directions: the kindergarten runs German as a foreign language for children whose German is not yet enough, and the middle stage runs intensive French for those who arrive short of it. A full-day package is offered for the lower grades, and clubs run by half-year.
Key facts
Tuition
≈ $10 230–15 412 a year
37 570–56 600 AED
Programmes
German programme
Languages of instruction
German
Languages taught
English, French
About the fees The annual fee for 2026-2027 rises by stage: kindergarten 37,570 dirhams, primary school grades 1-4 44,780, lower secondary grades 5-10 50,570 and upper secondary grades 11-12 56,600. Transport is charged by zone: zone 1 (Abu Dhabi from the Corniche to Shakhbout bint Sultan Street) 5,500 dirhams a year, zone 2 (Al Reem Island) 6,000, zone 3 (Saadiyat, Mangrove Village, Rihan Heights) 7,000 and zone 4 8,000. Kindergarten language support is charged separately: German as a foreign language, three hours a week, 5,000 dirhams a year. A club costs 650 dirhams per pupil per half-year, a double session (football, for instance) 1,300, the full-day package with four afternoons of care 4,270 per half-year and a private lesson 150 dirhams per 45 minutes. In the middle stage intensive French - two extra hours a week - costs 700 dirhams a month or 3,500 a half-year.
Stages and year groups Grades kindergarten - grade 12 (Abitur). The stages run straight through: kindergarten, primary school grades 1-4, lower secondary grades 5-10 and upper secondary grades 11-12 leading to the German school-leaving certificate. Clubs run by half-year, and the lower grades have a full-day package with care four days a week.
Address P.O. Box 4150
Accreditations and programmes verified against official registries
ZfA · accreditationschool is in an official registryconfirmed by a school document, by membership or by taking part in a networkclaimed by the school, no confirmation, not counted in the scoreGuide to all organisations → What stands behind each entry
ZfACentral Agency for German Schools Abroad
A German federal agency. It recognises a school as a German school abroad, funds it and grants the right to award the German leaving certificate. Quality is examined by a state inspection about once every six years, and schools that pass receive the mark of an excellent German school abroad.
What the badge means for this school. The school has been through this organisation's accreditation. It was judged as a whole: governance, safeguarding, staff, premises, teaching. The entry stands in the organisation's public register - anyone can check it.
Register to check for yourself, and the full guide →German programme
The German school programme. Recognised German schools abroad award the Deutsches Internationales Abitur, the German leaving certificate used for entry to universities in Germany. Behind the recognition stands the federal agency ZfA.
What this means for this school. ZfA recognition comes at levels: a school that takes pupils through to the German leaving certificate is one thing, a school with the DSD language diploma, where German is taught as a subject, is another. Which level this school holds is not stated here.
Exams and destinations from the school's official website
The school publishes nothing about where its leavers go: no share going on to university, no exam results, no list of universities.
Facilities from the school's official website
·Swimming poolnot stated on the website
·Sports hallnot stated on the website
·Laboratoriesnot stated on the website
·Theatre or assembly hallnot stated on the website
✓Library
✓Catering
✓School transport
·Boardingnot stated on the website
Campus: A campus in Abu Dhabi with a media library, a cafeteria and a school shop. Transport is eleven school buses, with morning runs and two return runs at 13:45 and 15:45, routes adjusted for new enrolments and children collected at agreed points.
Clubs and activities (5): Sports clubs · Creative clubs · Language clubs · Strategy games · Football
Teaching staff
There is no data for this section yet.
Safety and wellbeing from the school's official website
·CCTVnot stated on the website
·Security staffnot stated on the website
·Access controlnot stated on the website
✓Nurse or medical room
·Counsellornot stated on the website
·Child protection policynot stated on the website
·Staff trainingnot stated on the website
·Anti-bullying policynot stated on the website
The school has a fully equipped sick bay with a nurse and a separately described procedure for accidents. School social work is in place. The school publishes a prevention and protection concept, child protection measures and an anti-bullying concept.
Reviews
No reviews yet. The community rating counts towards the score once a school has five verified reviews - until then we do not show a zero, so as not to mislead.
Criteria breakdown criterion weight in brackets
Academics and programmes (16%)72 Community rating (16%)no dataparent reviews are needed: the criterion switches on at the fifth verified one Exams and destinations (12%) scored on disclosed data55 Safety and wellbeing (12%) scored on disclosed data60 Accreditation and verifiability (10%)85 Teaching staff (10%) scored on disclosed data55 Facilities (10%) scored on disclosed data75 Clubs and activities (8%) scored on disclosed data73 "Scored on disclosed data" stands where we count only what the school has written about itself on its own site: exams and destinations, safety and wellbeing, teaching staff, facilities, clubs and activities. A low score here means the school does not write about this, not that the school does not have it: a school with good security and a sparse site will score low. A school can fill in its profile, and the score will be counted again.
The score is counted from 8 of the 9 criteria.Only those with checkable data count: programmes and accreditations from official registers, the fee from a published price list. Where it says "scored on the median", the school has no data and the middle of the list is put in its place, so that a gap gives no advantage. Admissions, teaching staff and reviews come in as their data arrives.
The full methodology → Similar schools in the country