Rugby School Dubai
Not yet rated Nad Al Sheba, Dubai · British (NCfE)
- KHDA rating
- Not yet rated
Newly opened or not yet through a full inspection cycle. Ratings are from the last full inspection cycle (2023–24).
- Annual fees
- Fees not yet published
Varies by year group; confirm current fees with the school. 2026–27 fees are frozen by KHDA directive.
- Curriculum
- British (NCfE)
- Established
- Opening 2026
- School transport
- Bus service available
- Location
- Al Abjar Street, Nad Al Sheba 2, Meydan South (former Kent College campus), Dubai
District-level pin for Nad Al Sheba — use the Google Maps link for the exact gate.
Link verified against a live domain, July 2026.
Check travel time from your location
Opens live directions in Google Maps — real traffic from your own address beats any published estimate. School-run traffic peaks roughly 7–8am; test your route at drop-off time.
In context
It has not yet completed a full KHDA inspection cycle — no rating is not a bad rating, but there is no inspection evidence yet either.
These comparisons are computed from the verified data in this register, not editorial opinion.
What the inspectors said
This school has not yet been inspected by KHDA, so there is no rating and no inspection findings to report. What follows is verified public record about the school itself — what it has committed to, and what remains unproven — kept clearly separate from anything a regulator has judged.
What is known and committed:
- Rugby School’s first campus outside the United Kingdom, run by Aldar Education, opening August 2026 on the Nad Al Sheba site currently occupied by Kent College Dubai — which relocates in 2026.
- Unusually, it opens the whole school at once, FS1 to Year 13, rather than adding a grade a year: a child can join at any stage from day one, and the sixth form exists immediately.
- English National Curriculum to GCSE and A Level, with the sport and pastoral tradition the school is known for; Executive Principal Henry Price arrives from headship of Oakham School in the UK, having previously been Senior Housemaster and Head of Classics at Rugby School itself.
- Founding fees from around AED 70,000 to AED 120,000, with scholarships from Year 7 and a 50% Emirati scholarship available from Year 4.
What is not yet proven:
- There is no KHDA rating and will not be one for some time: new schools receive an initial evaluation, with a full inspection typically in the third year of operation.
- Even strong new schools normally debut at Good — the only school ever to open at Very Good in Dubai is Royal Grammar School Guildford.
- Opening every year group at once is ambitious: ask how the senior school is staffed in year one, and who is teaching the first GCSE and A Level cohorts.
- The campus is inherited rather than purpose-built for this school — worth seeing in person before committing.
Inclusion (students of determination): No KHDA inspection has taken place, so there is no regulator judgement of inclusion. Two verifiable facts help. The campus design includes dedicated additional spaces for inclusion and learning support alongside medical clinics and prayer rooms, so provision has been planned into the building rather than retrofitted. And the site is inherited from Kent College, an established and previously inspected school under the same owner, Aldar Education — which is why this school can open across the full FS1 to Year 13 range rather than the Year 6 or Year 8 cap normally applied to new schools. Kent College held Very Good with inspectors calling it ‘a fully inclusive school, with excellent care and support for all students’. That history belongs to the previous school, not this one, but the building and the owner carry over. See the special educational needs guide for the questions to ask on a visit.
Inspector summaries are being added school by school as each report is read — 169 of 169 so far, dated per cycle, never invented. A school without a summary yet is unread, not unjudged.
Visit kit
Questions worth asking on a tour — tuned to this school’s rating and curriculum:
- Which facilities are open today, and which are still ‘coming soon’?
- Who leads inclusion here — and may we meet them before enrolling?
- How much staff turnover did you have last year, and why?
- What are actual class sizes this term — not the maximum?
- How and how often will I hear about my child’s progress?
- If the school is not full, what happens to fees and staffing next year?
Saved only on this device — never uploaded, never shared.
Special educational needs? Read the inclusion guide before you visit.
Other schools in Nad Al Sheba
- GEMS Modern Academy — Outstanding, AED 30,000 to 41,000 a year
- GEMS Legacy School — Good, AED 26,000 to 50,000 a year
- Repton School Dubai — Outstanding, AED 57,178 to 102,753 a year
- Kings School Nad Al Sheba — Very Good, AED 43,264 to 96,232 a year
Work at this school? Correct or update this record — verified corrections are made promptly and logged publicly.