Moving to the UAE as a Teacher from the UK

A UAE teaching offer is worth taking if the package leaves you more each month than your UK pay does after rent. The table below shows the lowest monthly package that matches common points on the England pay scale, worked out with the same calculation as the Landing Check. This guide does not quote UAE teacher salaries: no official body publishes them, and the figures on recruiter sites vary too much to rely on.

Last reviewed 2 November 2026. The cloud session that wrote this guide could not open the government pages, so each rule was read from search results quoting them; the Sources list says which. Check the licence rules with your school before you rely on them.

What a UAE package needs to match your UK pay

Each row starts from a statutory point on the England teachers' pay scale for 2025/26 ^[1]England teachers' pay points from 1 September 2025 (M1 £32,916, M6 £45,352, U1 £47,472, U3 £51,048; Inner L... and a household. It counts UK take-home pay after income tax and National Insurance, less UK rent and council tax for the area. On the UAE side it counts rent, the housing fee and, for the family, school fees. The figure is the monthly package, in cash, that keeps you level. The smaller line adds the cost of the move spread over two years.

Food, bills, transport and leisure are left out on both sides; add your own figures in the Landing Check. If the school provides housing or pays your children's fees, the cash package you need is lower. Enter the offer as it is written, with its allowances, and the check works out the rest. The government has accepted a 3.5% rise for England from September 2026 ^[2]The 3.5% award from September 2026. These rows use the 2025/26 scale until the 2026 figures are confirmed.

The UAE teaching licence

Every teacher in the UAE needs a professional teaching licence, private schools included. The UAE government portal lists a bachelor's degree in the relevant field and the licence, and says private schools must make sure their teachers hold one ^[3]Bachelor's degree, professional licence, private schools' duty. The Ministry of Education has said the licence has been required since 2021, and that it involves a subject exam and a professional exam on educational foundations ^[4]Licence required since 2021; subject and professional exams.

No current source says UK Qualified Teacher Status exempts you from the exams. In 2018 the Ministry said no nationality would be exempt ^[5]No nationality exempt from the licence exams (2018). Ask the school what you will need to sit, and whether you sit it before or after you start.

Dubai: what KHDA asks of schools

Private schools in Dubai are regulated by the Knowledge and Human Development Authority (KHDA). Its guide for appointing teaching staff, issued in September 2025, requires new teachers to hold a bachelor's degree, except those working with children under 36 months, and every teacher to have a KHDA Appointment Notice ^[6]KHDA guide for appointing teaching staff, September 2025, bachelor's degree and Appointment Notice. A related degree can count for the subject you teach where KHDA accepts it as compatible ^[7]Related degrees accepted where compatible.

Two practical points from the same rules:

• Police clearances. Schools must see a UAE police clearance and one from every country you have lived in during the past five years ^[8]Police clearances for the past five years.
• Leaving a school. A teacher who leaves without following KHDA's rules (full notice, leaving at the end of a term, the exit survey) waits 90 days for a new Appointment Notice ^[9]The 90-day wait after leaving without following the rules. Read your contract's notice clause before you sign.

Abu Dhabi: what ADEK asks of schools

In Abu Dhabi, the Department of Education and Knowledge (ADEK) sets the rules for private schools. Its School Staff Eligibility Policy sets a bachelor's degree as the minimum for class and subject teachers, tied to the subject taught ^[10]Bachelor's degree minimum for teachers in Abu Dhabi. Its Employment Policy says qualifications must be attested, with evidence of UAE equivalency ^[11]Attested qualifications and UAE equivalency. ADEK also requires a teaching licence or recognised teaching diploma, a criminal record certificate, a medical report and language tests ^[12]Teaching licence or diploma, criminal record certificate, medical report, language tests.

Documents to get in the UK

• A criminal record certificate. UK schools use a DBS check, which overseas schools cannot request. Instead, apply to ACRO for an International Child Protection Certificate, which exists for people applying to work with children outside the UK ^[13]International Child Protection Certificate from ACRO; DBS not open to overseas schools.
• Your degree and teaching qualification, attested. Sources disagree on which UAE authority handles equivalency, so ask the school which documents it needs attested, and in what order, before you pay for anything.

When to resign, and when the UAE year starts

The UAE school year for 2026/27 starts on 31 August 2026 for schools on the Ministry calendar and Dubai's September-start private schools ^[14]2026/27 school year from 31 August 2026. Schools teaching some other curricula keep their own dates.

If you teach in a maintained school in England, the national conditions (the Burgundy Book) set three resignation dates ^[15]Burgundy Book resignation dates:

• resign by 31 October to leave on 31 December
• resign by the end of February to leave on 30 April
• resign by 31 May to leave on 31 August

Academies can set their own dates, so check your contract. For a late August start in the UAE, the 31 May date is the one that matters, so you need a signed offer before then.

Your Teachers' Pension

You stop being an active member of the Teachers' Pension Scheme when you leave, unless your new school has been accepted into the scheme ^[16]Active membership ends on moving abroad; which overseas schools can be accepted. The overseas schools that can stay in are a closed group of British schools in the EU, so a UAE school cannot be one ^[16]Active membership ends on moving abroad; which overseas schools can be accepted. Your benefits stay in the scheme as deferred benefits. If you return to teaching in England after a break of five years or less, you keep protections such as the link to your final salary for older service ^[17]Returning within five years. The Pensions guide covers what non-residence means for the rest of your UK savings.

What to ask about the package

A UAE teaching contract is a package, and two offers with the same monthly figure can be worth very different amounts. Ask, and get the answer in the offer letter:

• whether housing is provided, or paid as an allowance, and how much
• whether the school pays an annual flight home, and for whom
• whether your own children get a place or a fee discount, and for how many children
• what health cover is included. Private employers in every emirate must provide health insurance from 1 January 2025 ^[18]Health insurance for private sector workers in every emirate from 1 January 2025, so ask about cover for your family as well
• the basic salary on its own, because your end-of-service gratuity is worked out on basic pay. The How to Read a UAE Job Offer guide explains why

Recruitment and visa costs belong to the employer: the Labour Law says an employer may not charge the worker recruitment or employment fees and costs, directly or indirectly ^[19]Recruitment and employment costs on the employer.

Next steps

1. Run the Landing Check with your own salary, city and household; any row in the table above opens it with that pay point filled in.
2. Put an offer through the Package Decoder to split basic pay from allowances.
3. Use the school finder to compare fees if your children will not get a place at your school.