Abu Dhabi and Riyadh among world's cheapest cities for international school fees - report

A new report by the International Schools Database ranks Riyadh as the cheapest city in the GCC when it comes to the cost of international schools, followed by Abu Dhabi.

The study compared the cost of international schools in 32 cities around the world. The online school database calculated the cost of a full term's fees for a six-year-old student. One-time costs like application fees were excluded. Only cities with seven or more international schools were used in the article.

In terms of school fees alone, the average cost of tuition at an international school in Riyadh is US$411 per month, followed by Abu Dhabi at $722, and Doha at $752. Dubai is the most expensive city in the region, with the average cost of tuition at international school coming in at $1,009 per month.

The study also compared the cost of international schools as a percentage of rent. Dubai was again the most expensive, accounting for nearly half (46%) the cost of rent, followed by Riyadh (34%), Abu Dhabi (27%), and Doha (23%).

Globally, Cape Town, South Africa is the cheapest city for international schools, costing $319 per month. However, when compared to the cost of rent, Copenhagen is the world's cheapest, with tuition accounting for only 17% of rent.

The most expensive city for international school fees is Shanghai, where the average cost of tuition is $2783 and accounts for 137% of rent.

The study also found that international school prices tend to correlate with local prices, and are not fixed at a "global price".




According to the graph above, a significant correlation between local rents and international education costs. As shown above, in the majority of cities both costs tend to go hand-in-hand, which means that cheaper cities tend to have cheaper tuition fees while more expensive cities also have more expensive international schools.

This could suggest that international schools do not only depend on generous expat packages paid by big companies; they also (and often mostly) depend on locals and expats on locally-indexed salaries.