Knowledge and Human Development Authority

No. Most parent interactions are read-only browsing of school information, fees, and inspection reports - no account required. Transfer-certificate attestation is filed by the school on the parent's behalf via the school's professional account. The only parent-facing accounts are for specific service requests (course attestation verification, parent-survey responses); KHDA notifies eligible parents directly if account creation is required.

Open khda.gov.ae > Private Schools or use the school directory search. Each school page shows the latest DSIB inspection rating (Outstanding, Very Good, Good, Acceptable, Weak, Very Weak), the report PDF, current fees per grade, curriculum, and key facilities. {year} note: schools not in their third year of operation may not have a fresh {year} inspection; the most recent published rating remains the reference until KHDA updates.

3-5 working days for the standard case where the issuing school files via the KHDA professional portal. Faster (1-2 days) at off-peak times; longer (7-10 days) during May-July peak around academic-year transitions. Urgent requests can be flagged by the school for prioritisation, but KHDA does not offer a paid expedited service. If a request is stuck beyond 10 working days, the school should follow up via their professional portal account.

Five steps in order. (1) Home-country school issues the transfer certificate. (2) Home-country education ministry attests the certificate. (3) Home-country MoFA stamps it. (4) UAE embassy in the home country attests. (5) On arrival, UAE MoFA attests. The Dubai receiving school then accepts the document with this chain; KHDA itself does not re-attest a foreign document - it only stamps Dubai-issued documents going outbound. Inbound from GCC neighbours follows a similar chain with reduced steps.

No. Fee increases require KHDA approval and are tied to the DSIB rating - higher-rated schools can apply for higher increases within the announced education-cost-index ceiling for the year. Approved increases publish in late spring for the next academic year. If a school invoices a fee increase that does not match the KHDA-approved figure, parents can dispute via KHDA's enquiry channel; resolutions typically favour the parent if the figures genuinely diverge from the approved amount.

It is the binding contract between parent and school, registered centrally with KHDA at admission. Key clauses to read carefully: fee schedule per term, payment due dates and late-fee mechanics, mid-year withdrawal refund formula (varies significantly between schools), policy on payment in arrears (some schools withhold reports for missed payments), required notice period for withdrawal, and any insurance or activity fee outside the core tuition. Ask the school for the registered contract within 14 days of admission and store it.

For the 2025-26 academic year, full DSIB inspections run only for schools in their third year of operation. Other schools receive targeted monitoring visits focused on specific quality areas. Practical implication: the published DSIB rating for most schools remains the previous-cycle rating until the next full cycle. Use the most recent inspection report PDF (often 2024-25) as the reference; ask the school for any KHDA monitoring-visit feedback that has occurred since.

Ask the institute for the KHDA centre permit number and the specific course's attestation status before paying. Attested certificates carry a QR code that verifies on khda.gov.ae > Verify Certificate. Without attestation the certificate is informal and may be rejected by employers, professional bodies, or the receiving regulator for CPD purposes. KHDA-listed accredited centres are searchable on the open data section.

No. KHDA attests only Dubai-issued school documents. For an Abu Dhabi-issued transfer certificate, the Abu Dhabi education authority (ADEK - Abu Dhabi Department of Education and Knowledge) attests on the Abu Dhabi side. The Dubai receiving school accepts an ADEK-stamped certificate without needing a KHDA re-attestation. The same applies to certificates from Sharjah, Ajman, and the northern emirates - the issuing emirate's authority handles attestation, Dubai accepts.

Yes, name mismatches commonly hold attestation in pending status. Reconcile first: ensure the passport name, Emirates ID name, and school records use the identical spelling and word order. If the school has an older record with a different spelling, ask for the records to be updated before submitting the attestation request. The school files via KHDA only after the internal records are clean; this avoids a rejection cycle that can cost 1-2 weeks.

There is a small KHDA attestation fee for transfer certificates (typically AED 100-150 per document); schools are entitled to pass this through. Some schools also charge an internal administrative fee for handling the request - this varies by school and should be disclosed in the parent-school contract. Excessive markups are unusual; if the total exceeds AED 300-500 per certificate, ask for itemisation and escalate to KHDA enquiry if the school cannot justify the figures.

Schools (not parents) can dispute a DSIB rating through KHDA's appeal channel; the process involves submitting evidence for re-review within a fixed window after publication. Parents are not parties to the dispute. Parents who disagree with a rating can provide feedback through the annual KHDA parent survey, which feeds into the next-cycle inspection methodology. The published rating remains in force until a successful appeal or the next cycle.

KHDA coordinates the transition with the affected school and supports families in moving to alternative schools. The school's parent-school contract usually has clauses for this scenario including refund obligations. KHDA's enquiry channel and the parent-information notice published during a closure list the support steps. This is uncommon but has happened to a small number of schools in past cycles; the open-data publication helps families assess school stability ahead of admission.