Thank you for your interest in the American Community School of Abu Dhabi.
Please read the sections below to answer your application questions.
Applying for 2024-25
Please read the following sections of our website before you begin the application:
- Frequently Asked Questions
- Important Admissions Dates
- Preparing Documents for the Application
- Application Forms
For KG1, KG2 and Grade 1, your child must meet the age requirement in order to apply. No exceptions will be made.
- Please complete ALL sections of the application form. We want to get to know you and your child(ren) so we can make informed admissions decisions.
- ACS Admissions only reviews completed applications. If there are "required" sections highlighted in orange in your application checklist, these must be completed before we can review the application.
Admission Priority Categories
ACS was founded to serve the needs of American children residing in Abu Dhabi, and as such priority for admission is given to American students. We are, however, delighted to have students from 65 countries in our learning community.
Enrollment is open to any student who meets our admissions requirements, provided space is available. Enrollment decisions are made by the school’s Division-Level Admissions Committees.
The American Community School of Abu Dhabi admits students of any race, ethnicity, nationality, to all the rights, privileges, programs, and activities generally accorded or made available to students at the school. ACS does not discriminate on the basis of race in administration of its educational policies, admissions policies, athletic or other school-administered programs.
As required by the ACS policy, the Board of Trustees has established the following priorities for admission to the American Community School of Abu Dhabi:
- Children of ACS Faculty members
- Students bearing American passports or with a parent or legal guardian who bears an American passport, in the following priority order:
a. Children of employees of the American Embassy Abu Dhabi
b. Children of employees of ACS Corporate Sponsors (PALs)
c. Siblings of current ACS students
d. all other such children - Non-American students who are children of employees of ACS Corporate Sponsors (PALs)
- Non-American siblings of current ACS students
- Former ACS students and children of former ACS students
- Non-American students transferring directly from an American curriculum school abroad or in the United States
- All other students meeting admission requirements
If you are not sure if your company is a PAL/Corporate Sponsor of ACS then please call us before starting an application to confirm whether your company has made this arrangement with us.
Important Admissions Dates
| November 1, 2024 | Families may begin applying to ACS for the 2025-2026 school year; Admissions Portal opens. |
| Mid February 2025 | Application Deadline for first wave of seats |
| Late February 2025 | Families receive admissions decisions |
Note: We recognize that not all moves overseas align precisely with these dates and encourage you to reach out if the timing above proves challenging. We admit students after this first wave of seats as space allows.
Application Procedures & Requirements
Admission to ACS is based upon the student's application, previous school records, teacher, principal and/or counselor confidential assessments, work habits, and, in some cases, an admissions assessment and/or interview.
Applications are reviewed throughout the year; therefore we do not have an application deadline. However, if you would like your student to enroll at the beginning of the academic year, in August, we strongly suggest that you submit a complete application before February 1 in order to finish the review process before the initial cycle of seats is released.
Preparing Documents Required for the Application
Please prepare an electronic folder for each of your applicants with the following files and note that:
- All documents must be submitted in English
- Report Cards that are written in another language must be officially translated to English (not by parent)
- Birth Certificates in Arabic are an exception to this rule
- File size 10 MB or less
- Files cannot be password protected or have a digital signature
Official/Identity Documents
Applicant
- Applicant’s Birth Certificate (PDF)
- English or Arabic only
- US citizens born abroad can use a Consular Certificate of Birth Abroad
- Applicant’s Immunization Record (PDF)
- Scan as one document and make sure student’s name is visible
- English only (Please provide official translation if the original is not in English)
- Applicant’s Passport Information Page (PDF)
- Applicant Photo (JPEG)
- Passport-sized photo
- Full-face view directly facing the camera
- Equal to or less than 120 x 160 pixels in dimension
- Preferably with white or off-white background
- Scanned at a resolution of 300 pixels per inch (12 pixels per millimeter)
- Equal to or less than 2 MB in size
- Please upload so photo is centered and the appropriate size in your Admissions Portal as this is what appears in our student database.
- Applicant’s UAE Residence Visa (PDF)
- If already living in UAE, otherwise we collect it at enrollment
- Applicant's Emirates ID Card (PDF)
- If already living in UAE, otherwise we collect it at enrollment
Parents
- Sponsoring Parent’s Passport Information Page (PDF)
- Sponsoring Parent’s UAE Residence Visa (PDF) if already living in UAE, otherwise submit a Letter of Employment or Letter of Offer (PDF) from UAE employer on letterhead (not an email.)
- Other Parent’s Passport Information Page (PDF)
Academic Documents
- Student’s School Reports for the last two complete years plus any progress reports for this academic year (PDF)
- This is required of all applicants, including those applying for KG1 and KG2 if they are currently enrolled in preschool or nursery school.
- Student’s Standardized Test Scores (PDF)
- Any that are available are helpful
- MAP, SAT, PSAT, US State Testing, IGCSE
- High School Transcript (PDF)
- Applicants to grades 10-12 only, whenever available
Other Application Items
- Confidential Assessment Forms
- Shared with teachers, counselors and principals via email from the application checklist
- It is the parents' responsibility to ensure that Confidential Assessment forms are completed by the current school.
- Please have the following ready:
- KG1-KG2 Applicants
- Current teacher’s name and school email address (preschool, nursery, Pre-K or reception)
- Grade 1- 5 Applicants
- Current teacher’s name and school email address
- Grade 6-12 Applicants
- English teacher’s name and school email address
- Math teacher’s name and school email address
- Principal or Counselor’s name and school email address
- KG1-KG2 Applicants
- Application Fee
- Payable by cash, credit card, UAE or USA check or wire transfer (please see details on Application Forms page)
Where applicable, we require the following additional information to assist us in the application review process. Failure to submit these documents at the time of the application is grounds for ACS to withdraw a student’s offer of enrollment.
- Individualized Education Plans (IEPs)
- Academic Program Accommodations (504 plans)
- Behavior Modification Plans
- Psychological/Educational Evaluations
- Please submit any of the above as PDFs in the Additional Documents section