Islamic and International Schools in Istanbul, Kuala Lumpur and Dubai Compared

Families planning a move to a Muslim-majority country often ask the same question early: which schools combine a recognised international curriculum with space for Islamic studies, Quran or Arabic, and what do they cost? Published answers are patchy. Some schools post a full 2026-27 fee table, others show only a login page, and few describe their Islamic offer in the same place as the fee.

This page does not rank schools and does not call any of them best. It lists, city by city and in alphabetical order, the schools whose own fee pages we could read on 12 November 2026, with what each one states. Fee pages are the school’s own, so each figure below is what the school says, not what a family necessarily pays. Where data are missing, the cell says so.

How the comparison was built

• Source rule. Fees, curricula and Islamic studies statements come from the school’s own pages or the regulator’s fact sheet. Third-party directories are used only to say what a directory claims, and are marked as such.
• Currencies. Each fee is shown in the currency the school uses, then in US dollars. The dirham is fixed at 3.6725 per dollar in the Central Bank of the UAE rate table for September 2026. For ringgit we used 4.0805 per dollar, the figure on the Bank Negara Malaysia exchange rates page on 12 November 2026, which does not label the rate type. Istanbul schools quote in US dollars, so no conversion is needed.
• “n/s”. In the tables, n/s means “not stated on the page read”.
• Fee ranges are the lowest and highest annual tuition published for the 2026-27 year. They exclude extras unless said otherwise, and many schools add application, registration, deposit, transport, meals and exam fees.
• Regulator rating. Only Dubai’s KHDA publishes ratings in a form the schools show. The other two cities have no comparable rating in the pages read.

Dubai

Dubai’s Knowledge and Human Development Authority (KHDA) regulates private schools. The Dubai government announced on 22 May 2026 that the KHDA confirmed no general fee increase for 2026-27.

On Islamic content, none of the five school pages read describes an Islamic Studies or Quran programme. The national rule is the reference point: Khaleej Times reported on 2 September 2022 that the Ministry of Education requires private schools to teach Islamic Studies from Grade 1 to Grade 12 to Muslim pupils, with non-Muslim pupils exempt. It is a press report of the policy, so each school’s timetable should be confirmed with the school. The UAE country page has more on the education rules.

School	Curriculum as stated	Islamic studies or Quran as stated by the school	Language	Annual fee range 2026-27 (AED; approx. USD)	KHDA rating
Dubai International Academy Emirates Hills	IB continuum: PYP, MYP, DP and CP	n/s	n/s	44,979 (KG1) to 79,696 (Years 12-13); USD 12,250 to 21,700	Outstanding, as reported by Khaleej Times on 15 Jul 2026
The English College Dubai	UK	n/s	n/s	54,654 for Year 1, the only fact sheet read; USD 14,880	Very good, on the school’s KHDA fact sheet
The Indian International School (DSO)	n/s	n/s	n/s	9,679 (KG1) to 21,000 (Pre-KG), over 10 months; USD 2,640 to 5,720	n/s
MSB Private School	n/s (page mentions project-based learning)	n/s	n/s	11,816 (FS1-FS2) to 27,681 (Year 13); USD 3,220 to 7,540	n/s
Repton School Dubai	British	n/s	n/s	57,178 (FS1) to 102,753 (Years 12-13); USD 15,570 to 27,980	Outstanding, as reported by Khaleej Times on 15 Jul 2026

Notes on the Dubai data:

• The Dubai International Academy page says the fee is the same for existing and new students. Repton’s total is the sum of three termly fees and excludes lunches, transport and trips.
• The Indian International School sheet lists mandatory annual fees of AED 1,225 for Grades 1-12 and AED 1,250 for Pre-KG on top of tuition, and facility fees of AED 1,750 for new admissions only. Its Grade 12 figure is a one-year discount from the KHDA-approved AED 19,900.
• The English College sheet lists required supplies, with uniform at AED 500 to 2,000 and books at AED 1,000, and says the school asked not to increase tuition for 2026-27. Other year groups have separate sheets we did not read.
• The ratings for the two Outstanding schools come from a Khaleej Times list of 15 July 2026, which reports KHDA ratings. We did not find a current official all-school KHDA ratings list to check them against, and the ratings may predate the latest inspection cycle.
• Not read: Deira International School, whose fee page returned an error. Other Dubai schools with published fact sheets exist and are not listed here.

Istanbul

Istanbul has fewer schools that publish fees in a readable form. The three below quote in US dollars; a fourth school with an Islamic orientation is listed after the table because its amounts did not load.

School	Curriculum as stated	Islamic studies or Quran as stated by the school	Language	Annual fee range 2026-27 (USD)	Regulator rating
The British International School Istanbul	Page lists Cambridge IGCSE and the IB Diploma	n/s	n/s	21,600 (Pre-School half day) to 52,500 (Year 13, includes IB fees)	None published
Istanbul International Community School, Hisar campus	Fee sheet refers to IB Diploma and AP courses for Grades 11-12	n/s	n/s	25,200 (EY3-4) to 48,900 (Grades 11-12), instalment option, 10% VAT included	None published
MEF International School Istanbul	Fee sheet lists levels up to IB-1 and IB-2	n/s	n/s	23,610 (Pre-School) to 46,265 (IB-2), tuition and food, 10% VAT included	None published

Notes on the Istanbul data:

• The British International School adds a USD 1,250 application fee and a USD 5,500 registration fee, and excludes the bus, health insurance, uniforms and trips. Its fees are paid in three instalments.
• The Hisar campus fee sheet lists a USD 300 application fee, a USD 1,200 registration fee and a USD 8,000 capital levy for new students entering Grade 1 or above. It states a 2.5% discount for full payment and says payments are accepted only in US dollars.
• MEF’s sheet states a USD 1,250 application fee and a USD 4,250 registration fee for new applicants, and a yearly placement fee. It states a 20% discount for half-day pre-school and pre-kindergarten places.
• Ihsan International School runs campuses in Esenyurt, Atakent and Basaksehir. Its fees page states that prices for 2026-2027 are officially approved and offers conversion into several currencies, but the price tables did not show amounts when we read it, so no figure is given. The school’s homepage, read the same day, did not mention Islamic studies, Quran or Arabic as courses. A directory, International Schools Database, says the school teaches in English with Arabic and Turkish offered and lists Islamic practice at the school. That is a secondary source and has not been confirmed with the school.
• Not stated by any of the pages above: how Turkish-language and religion lessons are handled for Turkish or Muslim pupils. The primary Ministry of National Education rules were not located, so none is summarised here. Families can ask each school.

For living costs in the city, see the Turkey guide and cost of living in Turkey.

Kuala Lumpur

Malaysian international schools state fees per term or per year in ringgit, and the services tax (SST) is added to many of them. The four below publish clear tables. Two Islamic schools are listed after the table because their fee amounts could not be read.

School	Curriculum as stated	Islamic studies or Quran as stated by the school	Language	Annual fee range 2026-27 (MYR; approx. USD)	Regulator rating
Alice Smith School	n/s	n/s	n/s	53,730 (pre-school, normal day) to 122,370 (Years 10-13), three terms; USD 13,170 to 29,990	None published
Garden International School	n/s on the fee page (school site headings refer to IGCSE and a British primary school)	n/s	n/s	52,440 (Nursery) to 126,870 (Years 10-13); USD 12,850 to 31,090	None published
International School of Kuala Lumpur (ISKL)	Page mentions IB and AP exam fees	n/s	n/s	70,200 (Prep Reception) to 143,400 (Grades 9-12); USD 17,200 to 35,140	None published
Tenby International School, Setia Eco Park	Cambridge IGCSE and A Levels, per the school’s fee article	n/s	n/s	23,400 (Nursery) to 75,900 (Years 12-13, five terms at 15,180); USD 5,740 to 18,600	None published

Notes on the Kuala Lumpur data:

• Fees exclude SST. Alice Smith adds 6% on most year groups, Garden says 6% applies to annual fees above RM 60,000, ISKL states a 6% SST applies, and Tenby says fees exclude applicable taxes.
• Alice Smith lists a separate programme fee of RM 4,500 a term for Years 7 to 13 and an application fee of RM 1,500. Garden adds a registration fee of RM 10,000 (Nursery and Reception) or RM 20,000 (Years 1-13), and an application fee of RM 1,590. ISKL lists a student registration fee of RM 59,000 (about USD 14,460) for Prep Senior to Grade 12, plus an application fee of RM 1,800.
• Tenby’s annual figures are our sum of the published termly fees. Its page lists a Year 11 footnote that does not match the table, so that year should be checked with the school. The school is in Setia Eco Park, Shah Alam, in the wider Kuala Lumpur area. It also lists a national school with lower fees, which we did not include.
• Not read, so not tabulated: International Islamic School Malaysia (Gombak), whose A-Levels site lists a Tuition & Fees page that we could not read, and Abedeen Academy, whose fee page references a Quran programme but showed no amounts when we read it. Both describe Islamic content, which none of the four tabulated pages does, but neither could be compared on cost.

Read alsoThe UAE: visas, costs, schools and halal life

What is not published

Across the 15 schools named on this page, these data gaps stand out:

• Islamic studies and Quran offer. None of the 12 schools with readable fee pages states its Islamic offer on that page. In Dubai, the national policy applies to Muslim pupils. For Istanbul and Kuala Lumpur, no school page we read stated the arrangement.
• Language of instruction. Not stated on the fee pages for any school in the tables.
• A comparable regulator rating. Only Dubai has one, and two of its five schools do not show it on the pages read.
• Fees for Ihsan, International Islamic School Malaysia and Abedeen Academy. Pages exist, but the amounts did not display in the version we could read.
• Total cost of attendance. Registration, capital levies, deposits, meals, buses and exam fees are listed by some and not by others, so the ranges are tuition only.

How a family might read the tables

A table like this cannot say which school suits a child. The figures can be sorted by whatever matters to a household: cost, curriculum, city, or the way Islamic studies are timetabled. A useful written question to each school is how many hours a week are given to Islamic studies, Quran and Arabic, in which language, and whether the child continues the home country’s examination track. Answers sit with the school, so this page does not supply them.

Questions about residence status for the family sit on the official portals, summarised in the UAE golden visa guide and the country pages. This is information only and not a recommendation of any school.