Exams for work in the Gulf
The exams GCC jobs make you sit
Trade tests before a Saudi visa, the engineers' exam behind an iqama title, the UAE teacher licence, and the driving theory test everyone sits. What each one is, what it costs, who has to take it, and what nobody would confirm to us - sourced and dated.
All six GCC countries · freeDriving theory tests3,016 practice questions, timed mocks at each authority's real length, and a printable pack per authority.Start practising →
Work and licensing exams
Free guides with sample questions. A full practice bank gets written for whichever of these people ask for, so each guide has a waiting list rather than a price.
United Arab EmiratesAbu Dhabi broker courseAbu Dhabi Real Estate Centre (ADREC)MandatoryTraining is now a condition of the broker licence in Abu Dhabi40 hoursCourse length, as a training provider states itAbu Dhabi has just made broker training compulsory, with a final assessment at the end of it and a credential that expires every year. It is new enough that the providers selling it do not yet agree on who is allowed to take it.Guide and practice →Bank: in preparationUnited Arab EmiratesDubai RERA examDubai Land Department (RERA)AED 700The broker exam, as DLD prices itAED 500Issuing the real estate broker cardYou cannot broker property in Dubai without a broker card, and you cannot get the card without passing this exam. The government fee for it is AED 700. Most of what you will be quoted is not the government fee.Guide and practice →AED 199QatarQatar UPDA examMinistry of Municipality, Qatar (UPDA, formerly MMUP)25-27 questionsThe exam, multiple choice, on computer in 60 minutes50%, 52% or 60%The pass mark, depending on which source you readYou cannot work as an engineer in Qatar without accreditation, and for most engineers that means this exam. It is 25 to 27 questions in one hour - and three different sources will tell you three different pass marks.Guide and practice →AED 199Saudi ArabiaSaudi SCE examSaudi Council of Engineers (SCE)SAR 1,000,000Maximum fine for practising engineering, or employing an engineer, without SCE accreditation90 + 50FE questions: 90 in General Engineering, then 50 in your discipline, 3 hours eachEvery engineer working in Saudi Arabia needs SCE registration to keep an engineer iqama, but not every engineer needs an exam. This page covers who does, what the FE and PE look like, what each step costs, and where SCE's own pages contradict each other.Guide and practice →AED 299Saudi ArabiaSaudi SVPTakamol, for the Ministry of Human Resources (PACC / SVP portal)USD 85Test fee outside Saudi Arabia, from 9 September 202650%Pass markThe SVP test, which many people call the Takamol test, decides whether you get a Saudi work visa in a trade, or keep your work permit if you are already there. This page covers what it costs, what it tests, and what nobody can honestly promise you.Guide and practice →AED 149United Arab EmiratesUAE teacher licenceMinistry of Education (MoE), Professional Licensing DepartmentAED 300Typical first-time cost: the AED 250 test package plus AED 50 for the licence80 questions, 2 hoursThe Grades 3-12 pedagogy test, multiple choice, on computerYou have been told you need a UAE teacher licence, or you are about to move and someone mentioned an exam. This is what the two tests are, what they cost, and the part most guides leave out: the official sources do not agree on who in Dubai and Abu Dhabi private schools has to sit them.Guide and practice →AED 249