How many IB schools in Doha
Doha currently lists eleven authorised IB World Schools across the Primary Years, Middle Years and Diploma Programme. The cluster is smaller than Dubai or Singapore, but it is unusually deep for a city of two million, thanks to the Qatar Foundation Education City campus that anchors IB delivery in the country.
Of those eleven, around seven schools offer the full Diploma Programme at sixth form. The rest run PYP or MYP only, with secondary cohorts moving onto IGCSE or American high school tracks. Families committed to a continuous IB pathway from age three to eighteen typically focus on Qatar Academy Doha, Compass International, ACS Doha and a handful of community-curriculum schools that have added the Diploma in recent years.
The provision is mature. Qatar Academy has been delivering the Diploma since 2007, and several Indian-curriculum schools have layered the IB on top of their CBSE or ICSE foundation, giving Doha one of the most curriculum-blended IB markets in the Gulf.
Fees and the Doha tiers
IB tuition in Doha falls into three rough bands. The premium tier, running from roughly USD 24,000 to USD 30,200 per year for secondary, captures Qatar Academy and ACS Doha. The mid tier sits at USD 18,000 to USD 23,000 and includes Compass International. The value tier, USD 6,000 to USD 11,000, is dominated by Indian-curriculum schools that have layered IB onto a more affordable base structure.
Headline fees rarely tell the whole story in Qatar. Most expat families on relocation packages have schooling paid by the employer, often capped at a specific QAR or USD ceiling. The choice is therefore not about absolute cost but about whether your allowance covers the school you want, and how much sits in the registration, transport and capital fees that fall outside tuition. Our Doha fees guide walks through the full cost-of-place arithmetic in detail.
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Illustrative example schools
The schools below are illustrative, not a ranking. Each holds full IB authorisation, has a track record stretching back at least seven years, and a clearly defined position in the market.
Qatar Academy Doha, in Education City, is the flagship. Founded by Her Highness Sheikha Moza in 1996, it now runs the full PYP, MYP and Diploma Programme alongside an Arabic-rich bilingual track. Diploma cohorts have averaged in the mid-thirties for the past five years.
ACS Doha International School, near Al Oyoun Street, runs both a US high school diploma and the IB Diploma in parallel. It is the strongest dual-pathway school in the city and a natural fit for families moving between American and international curricula.
Compass International School Doha, with campuses at Madinat Khalifa and Rayyan, delivers PYP at primary and the Diploma at sixth form, with IGCSE bridging the middle years. Owned by Nord Anglia, it benefits from the group's global IB resourcing.
Where IB families live in Doha
IB families in Doha cluster around four districts. Education City and the wider Al Rayyan municipality, for proximity to Qatar Academy and the university campuses. West Bay and the diplomatic district, for shorter commutes to ACS Doha and the corporate towers along the Corniche. The Pearl and Lusail, the newer residential developments to the north, increasingly popular with European and East Asian families who value the marina lifestyle. Al Waab and Aspire Zone, long the preferred quarter for British and Australian families because Doha College and the older Compass campus sit nearby.
IB tends to attract internationally mobile families on shorter assignments who value curriculum portability when the next posting could be Geneva, Singapore or Houston. For UK-bound families specifically, our British curriculum hub covers the IGCSE and A Level cluster that often sits as a parallel choice.
Admissions calendar
Applications for the September 2026 academic year opened across Doha IB schools between October and December 2025. The tier 1 schools, Qatar Academy and ACS Doha, close their main intake for Year 7 and Year 12 by late January, with assessments running through February. Offers land between March and April, with deposit deadlines typically two weeks after the offer letter.
Compass and the community-curriculum IB schools accept rolling applications throughout the year, subject to capacity. Movement is most common between November and February, which is when corporate rotations to Qatar concentrate. Families relocating mid-year should plan on a four to six week lead time from application to a confirmed place, longer if a sibling priority is being claimed.
How many IB schools are there in Doha?
Doha has roughly eleven authorised IB World Schools as of 2026. Around seven of those offer the full IB Diploma at sixth form, while the others run PYP or MYP only and transition students onto alternative pathways for secondary.
What is the average IB Diploma score in Doha?
The Doha average across reporting schools sat near 33 points in the May 2025 session, a touch above the global IB average of 30.3. Qatar Academy and ACS Doha consistently average above 35.
How much do IB schools in Doha cost?
Tuition for the IB Diploma at Doha schools ranges from about USD 6,000 at Indian-curriculum hybrid schools to USD 30,200 at the premium end. The median secondary fee at the international IB schools sits near USD 22,000, before transport and capital levies that add roughly 12 to 18 percent.
Can you transfer into an IB Doha school mid-year?
Most IB schools in Doha accept mid-year transfers when places exist, particularly in Years 4 to 9. Diploma Programme transfers after October of the first year are difficult because subject choices and internal assessments are already in progress.
Is IB recognised by Qatari universities?
Yes. Qatar's Supreme Education Council and the universities of Education City all recognise the IB Diploma for entry, including Hamad Bin Khalifa University, Georgetown Qatar and Carnegie Mellon Qatar. Most IB graduates from Doha continue on to universities outside Qatar.
