Choosing care
Nursery in Dubai, without the open-day fog
Updated October 2026
How to shortlist a Dubai nursery using the KHDA licence, real hours, and the week a place actually exists. Check the official notice.
Start with the week, not the logo
The useful question is which week they can take your child for the days you need. January and April intakes in busy districts, especially villa communities and JVC, fill while people are still comparing brochures. Ask for the branch, the room age, and the days. A place on Tuesday and Thursday is not a place.
Read KHDA, then stand at the door
KHDA inspection reports are public for Dubai early years centres. Read the latest one for that branch. Then visit at drop-off. You are looking at staffing, not at a balloon arch. After 1pm, ask what aftercare costs and who is in the room. Core hours and a full day are priced as different things because they are.
Abu Dhabi is a different regulator
Do not carry a KHDA rating across the border. Abu Dhabi private education is under ADEK. If you might move emirates inside two years, ask each nursery how records transfer, and keep your own vaccine screenshots anyway.
Short questions
- Is FS1 better in a nursery or a school?
- It depends on the child and the campus, not on a slogan. Visit both at arrival time and compare the room size and the pickup hour you will actually live with.
A parent guide, not a government notice. Confirm deadlines on the official portal before you book or pay.