GEMS Modern Academy: curriculum, fees and admissions (2026)
GEMS Modern Academy pathways, 2026-27 fees and billing calendars, Grade 6 extras, 2027-28 applications and Nad Al Sheba campus checks.
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Table of contents
GEMS Modern Academy in Nad Al Sheba teaches the Council for the Indian School Certificate Examinations (CISCE) curriculum alongside International Baccalaureate (IB) programmes, from pre-kindergarten to Grade 12. Published 2026-27 tuition is AED 30,983 to AED 73,876. As of 30 October 2026, applications are open for 2027-28; verified fees remain 2026-27. School curriculum, fee schedule, admissions.
Source: withlida.com, 30 October 2026, from Modern's curriculum overview, ICSE/ISC pathway, MYP page and IB overview.
Last verified: 30 October 2026. The five-school comparison for relocating families provides the wider school context. This guide covers Modern's complete published tuition schedule and its own admissions process.
Which curriculum does GEMS Modern Academy teach?
Modern's Indian pathway is CISCE, leading to ICSE and ISC examinations; the school also offers IB programmes. Its ICSE/ISC page, verified 30 October 2026, confirms affiliation to CISCE in New Delhi, ICSE examinations in Grade 10 and ISC examinations in Grade 12. The pathway is not CBSE.
IB, the International Baccalaureate, is a separate educational framework. Modern's IB overview, checked on the same date, describes the Primary Years Programme, Middle Years Programme and Diploma Programme. Its general curriculum page states that teaching is in English and describes the IB approach from Pre-Kindergarten to Grade 5.
For a family continuing an ICSE sequence, the subject record and examination stage provide a direct comparison. For a child transferring within IB, the relevant question is the exact PYP, MYP or Diploma placement. The school name alone cannot settle course continuity, language placement or the entry calendar.
What grades and pathways are available?
Modern's published records extend from Pre-KG to Grade 12, with the choice of pathway becoming especially important in middle and senior school. KHDA's named-campus record, read 30 October 2026, contains an Indian/IB grade series from Pre primary through Grade 12 and a separate Indian series from Grades 6 to 12. Those directory categories need to be read alongside the school's programme descriptions.
The detailed MYP page, verified October 2026, explicitly identifies MYP 1 to 5 as Grades 6 to 10. It describes opportunities for MYP eAssessment leading to a certificate or course results, depending on registration and achievement. The IB overview and fee schedule identify the Diploma stage in Grades 11 and 12.
For the Indian pathway, Modern's subject information, checked October 2026, lists Grade 6 English language and literature, mathematics, science and social studies, alongside languages and other subjects. It describes Grade 8 guidance on choices for Grades 9 and 10 and the later senior years. Its ISC subject rules also attach prior-study and attainment conditions to some choices.
For example, a child arriving for senior school needs the proposed subject combination checked against their completed courses. A grade number and an annual fee do not establish eligibility for every subject. The useful written confirmation names the programme, grade, subjects and start date together.
What are GEMS Modern Academy's current tuition fees?
The school's verified tariff is 2026-27, with annual tuition determined by grade and, in senior school, by pathway. All amounts in the following tables are AED, transcribed from the school-owned fee PDF, checked 30 October 2026.
Main schedule: April 2026 to March 2027
The table retains the PDF's monthly columns and term subtotals. Its main section covers Pre-KG through Grade 12; the Grade 11 and 12 rows here are ISC. The separate IB Diploma rows follow below.
Source: withlida.com, 30 October 2026, from Modern's 2026-27 fee schedule. The earlier rows use the main schedule across the programmes described above; the PDF separately labels IB only at Grades 11 and 12. Confirm the child's programme and invoice with the school.
IB Diploma schedule: September 2026 to June 2027
Source: withlida.com, 30 October 2026, from the separate Grade11IB and Grade12IB section of Modern's 2026-27 fee PDF. Term columns are subtotals of the preceding monthly columns, so they are not additional payments.
The final billed month contains small balancing adjustments. Multiplying a typical monthly entry by the number of billed months can therefore produce a different answer from the published annual total.
As of October 2026, the tuition page says fees are payable in advance at the start of each month and are not collected in July or August. A mid-year entrant may be charged from the beginning of the month of enrolment. The school needs to confirm the child's first invoice, the deposit credit and the remaining instalments.
The admissions page is already inviting 2027-28 applications. None of the 2026-27 figures above is presented as a confirmed 2027-28 price.
What extras apply, and how does the Grade 6 example reconcile?
For Grade 6, KHDA's 2026-27 sheet separates tuition and mandatory charges from required supplies and optional services. That distinction explains what belongs in the annual baseline and what depends on the family's purchases. The following entries come only from the Grade 6 KHDA sheet, verified 30 October 2026.
Source: withlida.com, 30 October 2026, selected entries from the 2026-27 Grade 6 KHDA fee sheet. The source also lists other optional activities. These ranges belong to this grade's sheet, not every grade or every household.
The support-assistant entry does not state its charging frequency. It cannot be treated as an annual support quotation or evidence that the child's required provision is available. The sheet's board-examination line refers to the examination board's own charges without a fixed amount; no examination estimate has been added here.
Worked example: annual expense versus a credited advance
The Grade 6 baseline is AED 48,173 + AED 15 + AED 10 = AED 48,198 for 2026-27. This reproduces KHDA's Total Fees exactly.
The school's tuition page, checked October 2026, states a new-student registration deposit of 10% of tuition, deductible from the year's tuition. Applying that percentage exactly to Grade 6 gives:
Source: withlida.com, 30 October 2026, calculated from the school's deposit/application terms and Grade 6 KHDA sheet. Deposit arithmetic is illustrative; the school's invoice governs payment dates and rounding. Books, uniform and selected services are outside both subtotals.
The deposit changes the timing of tuition cash flow. Adding it to the annual tuition again would count the same amount twice. The application fee is separate and does not receive a tuition credit.
How does admission to GEMS Modern Academy work?
Admission begins with an online enquiry and documents, followed by the school's interview or entrance-test process; an application alone is not an offer. Modern's admissions page, checked 30 October 2026, invites applications for 2027-28 and says interview or test dates are sent by email. It describes admission as first come, first served followed by an interview or entrance test. Actual places need confirmation for the child's programme and grade.
Submit the enquiry and obtain the reference
Complete the online enquiry and upload the requested records. The school says successful online registration generates an Opportunity number. Keep that reference with the intended entry year, grade and pathway.
Prepare the child's records
The school's October 2026 checklist requests copies of the child's and both parents' passports, visas and Emirates IDs, the child's birth certificate in English or Arabic, two recent passport photographs, two years of school reports including learning-support records, and the School Health Form. For early years, nursery reports are requested if available.
Confirm placement and assessment
Provide the date of birth and current school record so the registrar can establish placement and the relevant assessment. Overseas entrants need to confirm when original Emirates IDs will be required. A transfer or school-leaving certificate is required at enrolment; the school publishes origin-specific attestation instructions, including different routes for India, GCC countries and other emirates. Confirm the current requirements for the actual sending school.
Read the formal offer before the deposit
A formal offer identifies the place being offered. The tuition page says the registration deposit is charged after that offer has been made and accepted. The offer, invoice and School/Parent Contract need to establish the programme, start date, payment deadline, deposit credit and any agreed support.
All document and process statements above come from the school's admissions page, as of October 2026; payment-stage distinctions come from its tuition page.
The Grade 6 KHDA sheet lists an application fee of AED 500, including assessment. The school quotes AED 525 including VAT on its tuition page. These are the two sources' published entries, checked October 2026, not two fees to add together. The worked cash example uses the school's explicitly VAT-inclusive amount; the invoice can confirm the breakdown.
Are application fees and registration deposits refundable?
Modern publishes different conditions for the application fee and deposit, including a notice-based qualification for the deposit. A single unconditional label would omit part of its tuition page, verified 30 October 2026.
For the application fee, the school says it is refundable if no place is offered, unless the registration is carried forward to the next academic year. It is not refundable when a place is offered and the family declines it. If a place is accepted, the application fee remains separate from tuition.
For the registration deposit, the new-student bullet labels it non-refundable. The same page's withdrawal section then says it is refundable when written notice reaches the registrar at least 60 calendar days before the year starts, and not refundable with less notice. The notice qualification must therefore travel with any description of the deposit.
The school also says a formal withdrawal request, rather than simply the last day attended, determines the fee calculation. Where a future leaving date is agreed and the child continues attending, that applicable leaving date is used under the stated refund policy. It describes an online withdrawal process and Transfer Certificate requests through GEMS Connect, alongside written notice to the registrar.
Confirm the applicable start date, notice deadline and calculation against the actual offer and School/Parent Contract. The KHDA school-fee refund explainer provides the regulator-policy context. A child's absence alone is not a useful substitute for a recorded withdrawal request.
Which campus and household journey need checking?
The relevant campus is GEMS Modern Academy in Nad Al Sheba. KHDA's record, checked 30 October 2026, uses the location wording “nadd al shiba first”. Match the school name and its actual drop-off entrance when checking a home address.
The same KHDA record displays Outstanding overall for 2023-24. KHDA, the Knowledge and Human Development Authority, regulates Dubai's private schools. This is a dated inspection judgement, not a newly issued 2026-27 rating or confirmation of a child's admission or support plan.
A practical household comparison can keep three records together:
- School confirmation: the child's offered programme, grade, start date, required language or learning support, and actual support availability.
- Journey record: the exact home entrance, campus gate, intended school-day arrival and collection times, and a timed route check. Include the onward work trip and any sibling collection.
- Transport confirmation: the operator's written coverage for the proposed address, pickup point, seat availability, route timing and the applicable charge. A transport range on a fee sheet does not establish service to that address.
On a school tour, the useful checks concern the spaces the child would actually use, how transitions between lessons work, collection arrangements and access to agreed support. These are family-specific confirmations, not findings from a visit by this publication.
For a family continuing CISCE, the strongest starting point is the child's course continuity and confirmed subjects. For a family continuing IB, it is the specific programme placement and calendar. In either case, the home comparison becomes meaningful when an offered school place and a tested household journey sit beside the rent and other housing costs. No property purchase follows automatically from the school choice.
Frequently asked questions, verified 30 October 2026
Is GEMS Modern Academy a CBSE school?
Its published Indian pathway is CISCE, leading to ICSE in Grade 10 and ISC in Grade 12. It also offers IB programmes. Modern's ICSE/ISC pathway, verified 30 October 2026.
What are the fees of GEMS Modern Academy?
Published 2026-27 annual tuition ranges from AED 30,983 for Pre-KG to AED 73,876 for Grades 11 and 12 IB Diploma. The main schedule and IB Diploma schedule use different billing calendars. Required supplies and applicable services sit outside tuition. School fee PDF, verified 30 October 2026.
What is GEMS Modern Academy's KHDA rating?
KHDA's named-campus record displays Outstanding overall for the 2023-24 inspection. That is the inspection period shown when verified on 30 October 2026. KHDA campus record.
Where is GEMS Modern Academy in Dubai?
It is in Nad Al Sheba; KHDA records the location as “nadd al shiba first”. Confirm the actual entrance and school-run arrangements for the household's proposed address. KHDA campus record, verified 30 October 2026.
Checked by the publication's independent check, 30 October 2026.
2026-10-30 · first published · curriculum and dated KHDA rating verified; 2026-27 main and IB billing calendars transcribed; Grade 6 mandatory charges and deposit credit reconciled; 2027-28 applications kept separate from the current tariff. Fee and admission terms require confirmation with Modern and KHDA for the child's actual offer.
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Architect-turned-real-estate-specialist based in Dubai. She helps buyers, sellers, and investors read property with a designer's eye — structure, location, and long-term value.
