Placement guide

Age for school admissions in the UAE

As per the directive from the federal government of the UAE, we have implemented an August 31st cut-off date for Pre K – Grade 1 applicants. All students will be required to sit an age-related placement test. Students must demonstrate developmental, emotional and academic readiness in their assessment in order to be considered.

For more details on Dubai school admission ages, whether it’s the KG1 age cutoff in the UAE or age requirements for higher grades, please take a look at the table below. You can also compare ages for equivalent grades across different curricula.

Students must have turned the following ages as of August 31. Applicable for all new FS1/Pre-KG – Year 2/Grade 1 students enrolling from September 2021:

Age as of 31st August

GIS-Dubai

North America

England

Australia/ NZ

South Africa

"Grade"

"Grade"

"Year"

"Year"

"Year"

3 years old(potty trained)

PreK

--

FS1 (Nursery)

--

--

4 years old(potty trained)

KG 1

PreK

FS2 (Reception)

KG

--

5 years old

KG 2

KG

1

Prep

Reception

6 years old

1

1

2

1

1

7 years old

2

2

3

2

2

8 years old

3

3

4

3

3

9 years old

4

4

5

4

4

10 years old

5

5

6

5

5

11 years old

6

6

7

6

6

12 years old

7

7

8

7

7

13 years old

8

8

9

8

8

14 years old

9

9

10

9

9

15 years old

10

10

11

10

10

16 years old

11

11

12

11

11

17 years old

12

12

13

12

12

An offer of a place is not solely based on the entrance test, or on whether the child is the right age for school admissions in the UAE. Parents should also provide us with the most recent copy of their child's school report from the past two years when submitting an application form, this will assist us if the student is coming from another country or a different curriculum.

You can easily submit an inquiry online to apply for admission.

The Admissions Team is committed to working together with families in determining the educational placement that is best for each student.

More To Explore

Quick Links