UAE announces new school admission criteria

The UAE has announced new age cut-off for school admissions for year 2026-27.

According to the Ministry of Education, the new official age cut-off is December 31 of the admission year, compared to August 31 earlier.

This applies to all schools and kindergartens that start in August or September. However, schools starting in April will continue using March 31 as the cut-off.

It’s important to note that the criteria only applies to new admissions, while current students are not affected, the Education, Human Development and Community Development Council said.

What are the age requirements?

According to the council, the age criteria is as follows:

• For pre-K – Foundation Stage 1 in British curriculum, Petite Section in French and Pre-KG in other international curricula – the age should be 3 years old by December 31 of the admission year.

• For KG1 - FS2 in British curriculum, Moyenne Section in French and KG1 in other curricula – the age should be 4 years old by December 31 of the admission year.

• For KG2 - Year 1 in British curricula, Grande Section in French and KG2 in other curricula – the age should be 5 years old by December 31 of the admission year.

• For Grade 1 – Year 2 in British curricula, Cours Préparatoire in French and Grade 1 in other curricula – the age should be 6 years old by December 31 of the admission year.