Age Requirements & Grade Placement

Begin your child's journey

GEMS Dubai American Academy follows the KHDA age requirement for students entering KG1 - Grade 1*.  A student must be 4 years of age by August 31st of the academic year to be eligible for our KG1 program. All other students must have turned the age listed next to the grade level for the Academic Year and have a corresponding Transfer Certificate. To assist those coming from a non-American curriculum, please refer to the table below as a guideline for which grade to apply to. Further clarification will be done by the Admission team, and educational governing body.

*Applicable for all new KG – Grade 1 students enrolling from September 2023.

Comparison of Ages & Names Across Different Curriculums

 

Dubai American Academy

North America

England

Australia/ NZ

South Africa

Singapore

France

Entry Age by August 31st

Grade

Grade

Year

Year

Year

Year

Class

3 years old

__

--

FS1 (Nursery)

--

--

Pre-School

PS

4 years old

KG1*

PreK

FS2 (Reception)

KG

--

Pre-School

MS

5 years old

KG2*

KG

1

Prep

Reception

Pre-School

GS

6 years old

1*

1

2

1

1

P1

CP

7 years old

2

2

3

2

2

P2

CE1

8 years old

3

3

4

3

3

P3

CE2

9 years old

4

4

5

4

4

P4

CM1

10 years old

5

5

6

5

5

P5

CM2

11 years old

6

6

7

6

6

P6

Sixieme

12 years old

7

7

8

7

7

S1

Cinquieme

13 years old

8

8

9

8

8

S2

Quatrieme

14 years old

9

9

10

9

9

S3

Triosieme

15 years old

10

10

11

10

10

S4

Seconde

16 years old

11

11

12

11

11

 

Premiere

17 years old

12

12

13

12

12

 

Terminale

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