Nursery fees in Dubai: days, hours and extras (2026/27)

Dubai nursery fees depend on attendance days, session hours and holiday cover. As of 15 October 2026, Westfield's 2026/27 schedule totals AED 38,390 in term tuition, calculated for five days a week, 7:30am to 4pm. Registration and optional extended care are separate; its monthly plan also includes specified camps.

Source: withlida.com, 15 October 2026, from Westfield's 2026/27 PDF and payment terms, Al Fajr's 2026/27 operator schedule, Bloom's annual schedule and Green Grass's fee-request page. Selected published examples, not a citywide price range or ranking. Monthly, termly and annual amounts buy different packages.

Last verified: 15 October 2026.

For K-12 school tuition, the KHDA fee fact-sheet explainer and school fee worksheet by year group cover the school comparison separately. KHDA is Dubai's Knowledge and Human Development Authority, the education regulator.

How much does nursery cost?

The published amount is meaningful only alongside its attendance and billing period. The schedules below show the selected operators' 2026/27 examples, rather than a Dubai minimum, maximum or average.

Westfield: term and monthly tuition for each session

Westfield's fee sheet offers three attendance patterns and three base sessions. The table retains every published base-tuition option. All amounts are AED; the term labels are September to December, January to March, and April to June. The monthly option runs on calendar months from September to June, with half-term, winter and spring camps included under the operator's terms, as verified on 15 October 2026.

Source: withlida.com, 15 October 2026, transcribed from Westfield Nursery Fees 2026-27, page 1. Monthly coverage follows Westfield's payment terms. Registration, extended care and separately purchased courses are outside these base figures.

Al Fajr: attendance-day fees with an hours question still open

Al Fajr publishes the following academic-year 2026/27 schedule in its operator article dated 20 September 2026. The fee table does not establish comparable session start and finish times. These are attendance-day prices, not confirmed equivalents of Westfield's or Bloom's sessions.

Source: withlida.com, 15 October 2026, from Al Fajr's academic-year 2026/27 fee schedule. Its annual registration is AED 2,000 including books. Its FS1 and FS2 classes, the Foundation Stage curriculum groups, are five days per week only. The operator advertises a 5% full-year enrolment discount; no discount is applied here, and its basis and eligibility need to appear in the written quote.

Bloom: annual nursery fees, with days and hours retained

Bloom's Nursery Fees table sits under its annual AY2026/27 tuition schedule. The following amounts are annual AED figures, not monthly charges or prices for a single term.

Source: withlida.com, 15 October 2026, from the Nursery Fees table on Bloom World Academy's annual AY2026/27 schedule. The same attendance prices appear on its nursery-specific fee page. Camp coverage is not established by this tuition table.

Green Grass's tuition page, checked 15 October 2026, instead asks parents to select the Jumeirah 1 or Al Manara branch and request its 2026/27 fee card. A price for Green Grass belongs in the comparison only after that branch-specific quote arrives.

What do days and hours change?

Days determine how often a child attends; hours determine how much of the family's working day the session covers. A quoted morning and an afternoon pickup are different services even when both are called nursery.

For a family collecting before lunch, the morning rows provide the relevant starting point. For a parent whose work ends later, the closer fit is the row that reaches the required pickup time, together with the journey from work. Westfield's base timetable reaches 4pm, with a separately priced 4pm to 5:30pm extension; Bloom lists an 8am to 5pm nursery session. These are the operators' published 2026/27 options, verified 15 October 2026, rather than assumptions about available places.

The days themselves matter too: a quote needs the actual weekdays, whether they remain fixed and what happens when a public holiday falls on a booked day. Al Fajr's written hours are necessary before comparing its day-based fee with either timed schedule. None of these tables establishes that an extra attendance day can be added at a daily fraction of the weekly price.

Is monthly billing equivalent to termly billing?

At Westfield, monthly billing changes the included holiday cover as well as the payment schedule. Dividing a term total by the number of months does not reproduce its monthly package.

The worked example selects five days per week, 7:30am to 4pm, throughout the published September-to-June schedule. No promotional discount is used. Every total below is calculated from Westfield's 2026/27 PDF and terms, verified 15 October 2026.

Source: withlida.com, 15 October 2026, calculations from Westfield's 2026/27 schedule. The extension scenarios use its separate published row; confirm the booked weekdays and camp-day extension coverage in writing. Term totals exclude separately booked camps. Optional uniforms and activities are not included in these calculated subtotals.

The monthly base plan includes half-term, winter and spring camps. An illustrative termly package can therefore add one half-term week, one two-week winter course and one two-week spring course, all five days per week to 4pm:

Source: withlida.com, 15 October 2026, calculated from the course and tuition tables in Westfield's 2026/27 PDF.

This is an illustrative package difference, not a verified saving for identical cover. The selected camp basket assumes one half-term week. A matched comparison needs the actual camp dates, all required half-term weeks, the child's booked weekdays and the same daily hours under each plan. It also needs confirmation of any August joining charge. Summer care is separate from this September-to-June example. For a family needing regular holiday cover, the monthly package is the relevant comparison; for term-time attendance, the tuition-plus-selected-extras calculation is the closer fit.

As of October 2026, Westfield's terms allow monthly proration only in the first joining month, with a prorated August charge if the first term starts in August. They do not prorate public holidays. Switching from monthly to termly waits until the next term starts. Al Fajr's table and Bloom's annual table cannot establish equivalent monthly packages by arithmetic alone.

What do registration and camps add?

Westfield's compulsory registration adds AED 1,500 to the selected tuition package; holiday courses and extended care need their own lines. Al Fajr's AED 2,000 annual registration includes books. These are operator-specific 2026/27 charges, checked 15 October 2026, rather than a common nursery tariff.

Westfield publishes the following separate extended-care prices, all AED:

Source: withlida.com, 15 October 2026, Westfield's 2026/27 fee sheet. The extension row does not separately specify attendance-day tiers, so the quote must confirm how it applies to the chosen pattern.

For a five-day course from 7:30am to 4pm, its published camp amounts are:

Source: withlida.com, 15 October 2026, Westfield's 2026/27 course table. These are the selected five-day, to-4pm course prices; the PDF also lists other attendance patterns and hours. Its monthly terms expressly include half-term, winter and spring camps, not summer courses.

The same PDF lists an optional uniform set at AED 120 plus VAT, the value-added tax. Its terms also list early drop-off before 7:30am at AED 75 per day, late pickup at AED 75 per hour and an automatic AED 100 charge after 5:30pm with no grace period. The interaction of those pickup charges needs confirmation in the agreement. Bounced-cheque charges are AED 200 plus VAT; payment after the tenth of the month or term attracts AED 250 plus VAT. These are published Westfield terms as of October 2026, not planned costs in the attendance example.

Meals, transport, nappies, medical charges, optional activities and support arrangements belong on the written quote as included, mandatory extra, optional extra or not applicable. No assumed amounts are added here.

Which payments are credited or refundable?

A credited payment reduces tuition still due; refundability concerns what happens if the child does not attend or leaves. A registration payment can be credited against tuition while still having conditional refund terms.

Source: withlida.com, 15 October 2026, from Westfield's terms, Al Fajr's schedule, Bloom's nursery-specific page and its general school fee page.

For example, if Bloom confirms its nursery-specific 10% policy for the annual AED 42,000 five-day, 8am-to-2pm option, the calculated credited registration is AED 4,200: 42,000 × 10%. The calculated remaining tuition is AED 37,800: 42,000 - 4,200. The credit is part of tuition, not an additional tuition charge; the application fee remains separate. This illustration uses the operator pages checked 15 October 2026 and is conditional on the written nursery offer resolving the policy difference.

Bloom's nursery-specific page says registration is due within seven business days of the offer of acceptance. It describes that payment as non-refundable if the reserved place is not taken, with exceptions for employment relocation outside the UAE or employment termination causing departure from the UAE, supported by evidence. It excludes homeschooling from refund eligibility. Those are Bloom's published nursery-page terms as of October 2026, not a universal nursery refund rule.

Westfield's published withdrawal terms, checked 15 October 2026, provide a full term-fee refund before the term begins, 70% within the first week and 50% within the first two weeks. They state no refund after three weeks of attending. The wording does not clearly settle every intervening boundary, so the withdrawal date and applicable band need written confirmation. The registration fee remains separately non-refundable. Absences, public holidays and personal travel do not receive refunds or compensation under its published terms.

For Westfield's monthly payments, both conditions apply: the child must not attend beyond the tenth day of the calendar month, and withdrawal notice must arrive by that tenth day. An eligible refund is capped at 50% of the monthly fee paid. This is a calendar-date test, not a statement that a child may attend any ten days. The operator's terms are the source, as of October 2026.

How do I check the exact centre or branch?

The quote needs to name the same centre and location as the education-directory record. The KHDA Early Childhood Centres directory identifies the following entries, checked 15 October 2026. An early childhood centre is a nursery or early-learning setting; directory presence does not establish an inspection grade or available seat.

Source: withlida.com, 15 October 2026, from the KHDA ECC directory. Branch labels also follow Green Grass's fee-card page.

Bloom's on-campus nursery is presented through Bloom World Academy L.L.C's KHDA school record, which includes early-childhood grades and lists al barsha second. It should not be silently substituted for a similarly named standalone ECC entry. This guide uses the operator's annual nursery attendance table for prices; it assigns no nursery inspection grade.

What should a written nursery quote include?

A useful quote describes the child's actual week and the dates the family needs covered. The housing decision belongs beside it: the route from home to nursery, then work, and back for collection has to fit the chosen session.

1. Match the child and branch

   Record the centre's full directory name, branch, child's accepted age group, academic year, joining date and the operator's written offer. A published fee does not confirm admission or an available place.

2. Fix the attendance and holiday calendar

   List actual weekdays, drop-off and pickup times, term dates, public-holiday treatment and every camp week required. Ask whether camp places and the same hours are included, and whether summer or August needs a separate quote.

3. Separate the money

   Request base tuition by billing period, registration and application charges, credited amounts, refundable deposits, books and other mandatory extras. Put optional extended care, activities and camps on separate lines. Ask which amounts include VAT and attach the conditions for any discount.

4. Test the home-to-pickup routine

   Check the actual nursery entrance from each shortlisted home at the intended drop-off and collection times. Record the onward work trip, collection handover and backup adult. Compare the quoted nursery package alongside the home's rent and household costs, without assuming a commute time or transport price.

5. Keep the withdrawal terms with the offer

   Ask when notice is received, how attendance dates affect a refund, whether joining-month proration applies, which payments are credited and when refunds are processed. Confirm those points in the signed nursery agreement; a school's general policy does not by itself settle a nursery contract.

How much are nursery fees for a two-year-old in Dubai?

Age alone does not determine the fee. In Bloom's annual AY2026/27 nursery table, five days from 8am to 2pm is AED 42,000; Westfield's five-day 7:30am-to-2pm row has separately priced terms and a monthly option. These operator schedules were checked 15 October 2026. The quote must confirm that the child is accepted into the relevant age group and session.

How much is a full day of nursery?

The actual hours define it. Westfield's five-day 7:30am-to-4pm monthly base fee is AED 4,890 for September to June, including specified camps; Bloom's five-day 8am-to-5pm nursery option is AED 48,000 annually for AY2026/27. Sources and full attendance tables appear above, verified 15 October 2026. They are different packages and periods.

Do I have to pay for a three-year-old to go to nursery?

The selected operators publish tuition charges rather than an age-based fee waiver. A written offer needs the child's age group, attendance package and any applicable funding or discount conditions. This guide makes no claim about a universal funded entitlement; the operator schedules were checked 15 October 2026.

Is nursery the same as daycare?

Those labels alone do not establish the hours or holiday service being purchased. For fee comparisons, the written attendance calendar matters: Westfield explicitly includes half-term, winter and spring camps in its monthly package, while holiday cover is not established by the Al Fajr and Bloom tuition tables quoted here. Checked 15 October 2026 against the linked operator pages.

This guide reports published education fees and operator terms. Current attendance, camp coverage, credits and withdrawal treatment need confirmation with the named nursery in the written agreement; KHDA's directory is the official identity check.

Checked by the publication's independent check, 15 October 2026.

CHANGE LOG: 2026-10-15 · first published · 2026/27 operator schedules, registration wording and KHDA centre identities checked.