Permits for early childhood education and schools (K12)

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How to Apply for Your Educational Services Permit

Below is an overview of the process to apply for an Educational Services Permit. For a full list of the required documents, please log in to the e-Service portal.

What are the prerequisites?
  1. Complete the process with the concerned commercial authority to obtain an Initial Approval.
  2.  In order to secure a name for your school, check its availability with the commercial authority and obtain a Trade Name Reservation certificate from them.
     
  3. Prepare an  Academic Plan following the Hearts and Minds Guide, outlining the details of the proposed location.

Once you have satisfied the pre-requisites above, KHDA will review your application and provide an initial approval, which will allow you to obtain a commercial license from the commercial authority.

Upon receiving the KHDA NOC, the school’s  candidate for the principal position will be invited to interview  with KHDA’s academic team. The Educational Services Permit will be issued once the principal is appointed by KHDA and permit fees are paid.

The compliance team will schedule a final visit to verify the school’s operational readiness.

What comes next?
  1. The Academic Calendar
  2. The Parent-school Contract
  3. Student Registration

To help you fulfill the above requirements, you’ll have the support of the relevant KHDA teams.

 

Service fee: AED 50,000 for for-profit schools and AED 20,000 for nonprofit schools
This process  requires  10 - 35 working days.
 
If you have any questions, please contact our team.

How to Renew Your Educational Services Permit

How to Cancel Your Educational Services Permit

How to Amend Your Educational Services Permit

Responsibilities

Quality Assurance

School Fees

Advertising

Appointment of school principal and staff

Forms and Guidelines

School-related forms

Forms to use with staff

Early Childhood and Schools

Principal Appointment Guide for Private

Page last updated 28 September 2021