Scholarships and Bursaries at Abu Dhabi International Schools

Comparison table

Indicative values for 2026 entry. Confirm directly with each school's admissions office.

Abu Dhabi · Fees

# Scholarships and Bursaries at Abu Dhabi International Schools

Abu Dhabi has two schools with a published, British-style scholarship ladder, Cranleigh Abu Dhabi and Brighton College Abu Dhabi, both running awards at 11+, 13+ and 16+ in academic, music, sport and all-rounder categories, with means-tested bursaries alongside. Everywhere else, the discount mechanism is corporate sponsorship, with ADEK regulating fee bands and capping sibling discounts.

The published pool is small. A senior expat package that pays the fees outright remains the dominant way families afford the USD 35,000 to 90,000 a year tier.

Schools with published programmes

Five names carry the bulk of what is publicly documented.

Cranleigh Abu Dhabi runs the most complete programme: academic, music, sport and all-rounder awards at 11+, 13+ and 16+, with means-tested bursaries on top. Awards are typically 10 to 50% of tuition, with music scholars also receiving free individual instrumental tuition.

Brighton College Abu Dhabi follows the Brighton College Brighton model: scholarships at 11+, 13+ and 16+ across academic, art, drama, music and sport, plus all-rounder awards. Values are similar to Cranleigh.

Repton Abu Dhabi has run academic and music awards at senior-school entry, with bursaries on a discretionary basis. The programme is administered case by case rather than as a published ladder.

British School Al Khubairat (BSAK), the city's oldest British school, is a non-profit governed by an elected board and runs no published scholarship programme. The lower fee point versus Cranleigh and Brighton is treated as the discount.

American Community School (ACS) and American International School Abu Dhabi (ADIS) publish almost no scholarship information. ACS is non-profit on the BSAK model; ADIS is operated by Esol Education at the GEMS mid-tier price point.

Academic awards

Academic scholarships at the British-model schools are the most competitive of the four categories. Cranleigh and Brighton both run written assessments in English and mathematics with a reasoning component (CAT4 or equivalent), plus an interview with senior leadership. The 16+ award also requires GCSE or IGCSE predictions at grade 8 or 9.

Typical award value is 10 to 25% of annual tuition. A 50% academic award is rare and reserved for candidates well above the normal admissions bar. A 100% academic award is essentially never published at Abu Dhabi entry points; the closest analogue is a means-tested bursary stacked on top of a smaller award.

Awards run for the duration of the relevant key stage (11+ through Year 9, 13+ through Year 11, 16+ through sixth form), conditional on sustained standing and conduct.

Music, sport and all-rounder awards

Music candidates perform two contrasting pieces and a sight-reading test; sport candidates attend a games session run by the director of sport. Brighton's art and drama awards work through portfolio or workshop.

Music scholars receive a fee remission of 10 to 25% plus free individual instrumental tuition on the principal instrument. Sport scholars receive a similar fee remission plus priority access to specialist coaching and fixtures. All-rounder awards go to candidates who contribute across several categories; assessment runs across the full set at a similar value. Brighton publishes the all-rounder route most explicitly.

Bursaries

Bursaries are means-tested fee reductions awarded on top of, or independently of, a scholarship. They are confidential, assessed annually, and depend on documented family finances rather than the child's performance.

Cranleigh runs the most explicit bursary programme. Families submit a confidential financial-circumstances form covering household income, liquid assets, dependants, and the proportion of net income required for full fees. Awards can run up to 100% in exceptional cases, but the average award is modest and the funded pool is small. A Cranleigh bursary is most often paired with a scholarship.

Brighton runs bursaries on a similar basis. Repton and BSAK handle them case by case, usually for families already enrolled who face a change of circumstance mid-year. Not a route a new applicant should plan around.

For most applicants, a bursary alone will not bridge the gap to a USD 80,000-a-year school.

ADEK regulated discounts

The Department of Education and Knowledge (ADEK) regulates Abu Dhabi's private school sector, including fee bands, annual increases and the discounts schools may offer. The role is similar to KHDA in Dubai.

Annual fee increases are capped to a published index combining CPI and an education-specific weighting. A school cannot raise fees beyond the cap without ADEK approval, granted on the basis of capital investment, audited cost increases or improved inspection ratings.

Sibling discounts are permitted within ADEK rules, typically 5 to 10% for a second child, 10 to 20% for a third or fourth. The discount schedule sits in each school's published fee schedule.

Early-payment discounts of 2 to 5% are common for payment in a single up-front instalment versus three or four cheques. These are not scholarships; they shift cash-flow risk to the family. Refundable registration and capital fees are regulated separately.

Employer-sponsored arrangements

The largest single source of fee relief in Abu Dhabi is not a scholarship. It is the education allowance built into expat employment contracts, particularly with the government-linked employers.

Mubadala and the broader government investment ecosystem (ADNOC, ADQ, ADIA, Etihad, Aldar at the executive level) route senior staff into Cranleigh, Brighton, Repton and BSAK on employer-paid seats. Allowances of USD 50,000 to 120,000 per child per year are typical for executive packages, with caps at two or three children and an age range of 4 to 18. Multinationals at Masdar City, KIZAD and the cultural district run similar arrangements at varying caps.

A Mubadala-paid Cranleigh place is the same seat as a privately paid Cranleigh place; only the cash flow differs. The school typically requires a sponsorship letter at enrolment and at each fee cycle.

For senior expat families, the question is rarely "is there a scholarship". It is what the package covers, what the cap is, and which school the cap reaches. A USD 80,000 cap reaches Cranleigh for one child; a USD 50,000 cap reaches the mid-tier.

Application timelines

Scholarship cycles run 12 to 18 months ahead of entry. The British-model schools follow the UK academic year: applications open the autumn before September entry, with assessment days in January and February and award letters in February and March.

The 16+ window is the most competitive: the candidate pool is wider and the awards fewer because most sixth-form places fill internally. A 13+ application benefits from less competition; an 11+ application from the largest published pool.

Late applications are sometimes assessed off-cycle if a place opens, but the scholarship pool is committed during the main round. A family arriving in May for a September start is too late.

Related reading

• International school fees in Abu Dhabi
• Affordable international schools in Abu Dhabi
• Cost of living in Abu Dhabi
• Best international schools in Abu Dhabi

FAQs

Which Abu Dhabi schools publish scholarship awards? Cranleigh and Brighton College run published programmes at 11+, 13+ and 16+ in academic, music, sport and all-rounder categories. Repton runs smaller academic and music awards at senior-school entry. BSAK, ACS and ADIS publish no scholarship programme; bursary support is in-year and discretionary.

Can a non-Emirati child win one? Yes. The British-model scholarships at Cranleigh and Brighton are open to applicants of any nationality and assessed on the published criteria, not on passport.

How much is a typical award worth? Most academic, music and sport awards sit at 10 to 25% of tuition, occasionally up to 50% for a standout candidate. A 100% award is rare and usually involves a bursary stacked on a smaller scholarship.

Are sibling discounts a real thing? Yes, and ADEK regulates them. Most schools offer 5 to 10% off the second child, 10 to 20% off the third or fourth, published in the fee schedule and applied automatically.

What about the employer route? Senior expat packages with Mubadala, ADNOC, ADQ, ADIA, Etihad and large multinationals routinely include education allowances of USD 50,000 to 120,000 per child per year, paid directly to the school. For most Cranleigh, Brighton, Repton and BSAK families, this allowance pays the fees, not a scholarship.

When should I start the application? Open the conversation with admissions 12 to 18 months before target entry. Assessment days run January and February for September entry, with award letters in February and March.

Can fees be negotiated outside these mechanisms? ADEK caps annual increases but does not regulate downward negotiation. Schools rarely move on the headline fee. Early-payment discounts of 2 to 5% are common; one-off concessions are not.

Sources

• ADEK published private school regulations and fee policy framework, 2026
• Cranleigh Abu Dhabi published scholarship and bursary policy
• Brighton College Abu Dhabi published scholarship policy
• Repton Foundation School admissions documentation
• BSAK fee schedule and bursary statement of practice
• ACS Abu Dhabi and ADIS admissions documentation
• Published education allowance terms in standard UAE expat contracts, 2026