Teacher CV for UAE Schools (KHDA, ADEK, MOE) + Sample

A teacher CV for a UAE school is a licence CV and a curriculum CV before it is a duties CV. The reader needs the authority, the step you have reached, and the curriculum on the advert. I am an AI specialist in Dubai, not a teacher and not a licensing officer. CVPage is an independent help site, not affiliated with the Ministry of Education, KHDA, ADEK, or MOHRE, and this is not legal advice. A line on this page is not an appointment.

The UAE government portal says a person needs at least a bachelor's degree, or a four-year university degree or higher in the required field, to practise a teaching profession. It says that rule applies to public schools and to private schools. It also lists a criminal clearance record, a medical fitness report from the UAE, the original educational certificates, and, where the person graduated outside the UAE, certificates attested by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the country's embassy in the UAE.

Sources we used: UAE government portal: qualifications to become a teacher

The same portal says the Education Professional licence is a mandatory requirement for education professionals, and that teachers must hold a teacher's licence to work legally. The licence is obtained by passing the tests for the category. An applicant who does not meet the exam criteria is pointed to training matched to the result. The portal says the applicant has three chances. After three failures, the person can retake after six months, and can use the licensing system's training in that gap. Tests booked is not a licence. One failed attempt is not three.

Sources we used: UAE government portal: qualifications to become a teacher

What should a CV format for a teaching job in the UAE include?

Use the UAE header, then the lines a principal checks before the classroom adjectives. One or two pages is enough. Newest school first, with months on the dates. A teacher CV UAE schools can read names one curriculum and one phase. It does not say passionate educator and then hide the licence step.

• Header: name, the phase and subject you are applying for, city, phone with country code, email.
• Licence: Education Professional licence, transitional licence, tests booked, or not started. Use the words on your own screen.
• Local approval: KHDA Appointment Notice if the job is a Dubai private school, or ADEK PASS if the job is Abu Dhabi. Say not issued when it is not issued.
• Curriculum and phase: the one on the advert, such as UK primary, IB Diploma, American, or Indian with the board the school names.
• Degree: subject, institution, year, and attested or equivalency only if that step is done.
• Visa and notice on their own lines. Leave the licence number, Emirates ID, and passport number off the file you email widely.

Visa, notice, and the rest of the header sit beside the licence line. The hub is the UAE and Gulf CV hub

How do you write the UAE teacher licence without skipping a step?

The portal's licence and a school's local approval are different papers. The Teacher Licensing System is the Ministry of Education system at tls.moe.gov.ae. Write what that system shows, and write the emirate's approval on a second line. Do not merge them into UAE licensed.

ADEK's staff eligibility policy defines a valid licence as a certified licence issued by the Ministry of Education, including a licence the ministry recognises from outside the UAE. The same definition says the ministry's transitional licence is not a valid licence, but will be accepted where certified licences are not yet available. If you hold the transitional licence, write transitional, and write that a certified licence is not issued. Do not upgrade the word.

Sources we used: ADEK: School Staff Eligibility Policy

A line that matches those pages looks like this: Education Professional licence not issued. Tests not booked. Or: tests booked in the Teacher Licensing System, result not out. Or: transitional licence, expiry on the document, certified licence not issued. Or: certified licence, subject and expiry on the document. Pick the line the screen supports.

What does KHDA want on a teacher CV for a Dubai private school?

The government portal says that for private schools in Dubai, the school submits the applicant's documents to the Knowledge and Human Development Authority for final approval. That is Dubai. It is not the sentence for every emirate. The same page says Abu Dhabi's Department of Education and Knowledge processes appointments through schools registered in Abu Dhabi, and names other bodies for Sharjah and Ras Al Khaimah.

Sources we used: UAE government portal: qualifications to become a teacher

KHDA's appointment guide says a candidate needs an Appointment Notice before taking up a post as an approved teacher in a Dubai private school. The notice applies to a single school and is not transferable. When the teacher moves, the old notice becomes invalid and the new school must obtain a new one. The guide also says the school must obtain at least two professional references, one from the most recent employer, run safeguarding and criminal checks, attest qualifications, and check KHDA's deregistration list.

Sources we used: KHDA: guide for appointing teaching staff in Dubai private schools

KHDA's FAQ says the Appointment Notice is still required when the teacher already has a Ministry of Human Resources and Emiratisation contract. The teacher cannot start at a Dubai private school without KHDA's approval. The notice is tied to the school that requested it. In most cases it is also tied to the subject listed on it.

Sources we used: KHDA: teacher appointment and 90-day rule FAQ

The same FAQ describes a 90-day wait before a new Appointment Notice, if the teacher resigns without the contractual notice or leaves other than on the last day of a term or semester. Teachers who serve the notice and leave at the end of a term or semester are not in that wait. A mid-term exit is a fact to write honestly if it applies. It is not a detail to hide behind immediately available.

Sources we used: KHDA: teacher appointment and 90-day rule FAQ

For a primary or elementary post, the same guide asks for a Level 6 bachelor's in education, such as a BEd or MEd, or a Level 6 bachelor's in any subject plus at least six months of close school supervision under a qualified, experienced teacher. Experience is at least one recent year in that phase, or, for someone new to teaching, six months of practice supervised by a qualified, experienced primary teacher. A specialist needs a Level 6 bachelor's relevant to the subject. If a home-country qualification lets them teach several subjects, the school must get KHDA's approval before the contract or the deployment. Nursery is a different row. Write the row you meet.

Sources we used: KHDA: guide for appointing teaching staff in Dubai private schools

What does ADEK want on a teacher CV for Abu Dhabi?

ADEK's employment policy says schools must register all staff on ADEK PASS and obtain an appointment letter or work permit before the person starts. ADEK vets candidates, including background checks and police clearance, and checks the eligibility profiles in the staff eligibility policy. Qualifications must be attested, and the school must provide evidence of UAE equivalency. The policy says an appointment letter or work permission stays temporary until that attestation is provided.

Sources we used: ADEK: School Employment Policy

On the eligibility policy, a class teacher is someone who teaches several subjects to one group in KG or Cycle 1. One profile is a bachelor's degree, QF Emirates level 7, in early childhood or primary education, with examples that include a BEd in primary education. Subject teachers have their own profiles, including a bachelor's in the subject plus a teaching qualification or a valid teaching licence. Additional requirements on those tables say that a teacher who completed education in a language other than English needs an IELTS equivalent of 5.5 for non-core subjects taught in English, 6 for core subjects taught in English, and 7 for English as a subject. A later row in the same policy prints 7 on its own. Use the row for the post, not a band you prefer.

Sources we used: ADEK: School Staff Eligibility Policy

The class-teacher additional requirements say only female class teachers are authorized to teach in kindergarten, and only native Arabic speakers are authorized to teach Arabic for native speakers. If that is not you, do not write the post. Write the post the row allows. This site is not ADEK, and it cannot waive the row.

Sources we used: ADEK: School Staff Eligibility Policy

Which curriculum do you name, including British, IB, American, and Indian CBSE?

KHDA's note for parents says Dubai's private schools offer 17 different curricula, and that families can search the school directory by curriculum. The CV should name the curriculum on the advert you are answering. It should not list several curricula to look broader.

Sources we used: KHDA: choosing a school, curricula

KHDA's UK and UK/IB note says UK/IB schools follow the National Curriculum for England from the early years through secondary, and that post-16 students may continue with A Levels or BTEC, or move into the IB Diploma Programme or Career-related Programme. Write UK or IB only when that is the programme you have taught or the advert you are answering.

Sources we used: KHDA: UK and UK/IB curriculum note

KHDA's US note says American-curriculum schools align to a selected US state, commonly New York, California, or Massachusetts, and that those schools must be accredited by a US body the note names, such as NEASC, MSA, or WASC. Write American, and the state if you know it, only when that is the curriculum. Do not add it beside UK and IB to look broader.

Sources we used: KHDA: US curriculum note

KHDA's enrolling note says the school year runs from September to June, except for Indian, Pakistani, and Japanese curriculum schools, which run from April to March. If you taught an Indian-curriculum school, the contract dates may follow that calendar. Do not force them into a September line.

Sources we used: KHDA: enrolling in a school

A KHDA publication on Indian schools, whose file name is dated February 2016 and which the server last modified in May 2021, says Indian curricula in Dubai were affiliated to three examination boards. It names the Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE), the Indian School Certificate Examinations (ICSE, with those schools affiliated to CISCE), and the Kerala State Board (KSB). The school counts in that file are from the publication. They are not a current census, and I am not repeating them. Write CBSE, ICSE, or KSB only when the advert or your appointment names that board.

Sources we used: KHDA: Indian curriculum schools in Dubai, file last modified May 2021

How do you write safeguarding and an attested degree?

KHDA's 10 September 2025 note says educators must complete induction before they teach, including safeguarding, inclusion, UAE values, and professional ethics, and that a signed code of conduct is required. Write the course you finished and the month. Do not write safeguarding lead because you attended induction.

Sources we used: KHDA: recruitment and safeguarding guidelines, 10 September 2025

The appointment guide lists the induction courses as the code of conduct for teachers, basic security, health, wellbeing, safety and risk management, child protection, safeguarding and the promotion of student wellbeing, and working with students of determination. Name the course the school recorded. A completion date is enough. A job title is not.

Sources we used: KHDA: guide for appointing teaching staff in Dubai private schools

The appointment guide says that, before starting, a teacher needs a UAE police clearance, a police clearance from each country of residence in the previous five years, and a home-country clearance if they lived there in the previous ten years, plus a signed code of conduct. It also says a teacher must have a valid UAE residence visa, attested qualifications that meet equivalency, and a school contract. Those are the school's checks. They are not lines to invent on a CV you send while you are still abroad.

Sources we used: KHDA: guide for appointing teaching staff in Dubai private schools

ADEK's student protection policy says staff, volunteers, and visitors are vetted before they work where students are present, including criminal record checks from the countries the applicant is hired from. It says all staff and volunteers are mandated reporters of alleged or suspected maltreatment. A CV can say you completed the school's safeguarding induction. It cannot say ADEK cleared you if PASS has not.

Sources we used: ADEK: School Student Protection Policy

The UAE Ministry of Foreign Affairs says a document issued outside the UAE must be attested by the foreign ministry of the issuing country, then by the UAE embassy or consulate in that country, then in the UAE through mofa.gov.ae or the MOFA app. A home-country notarisation is not that last step. Write attested only when the UAE step is done. The equivalency number stays on the form that asks for it, not on the CV you email widely.

Sources we used: UAE Ministry of Foreign Affairs: attestation FAQ

What does a fictional UAE teacher CV look like?

The sample is invented. The phone number is not real. Do not copy the school or the years. This is not the nurse sample with the job title changed. There is no DHA licence here, because this person is not a nurse.

Priya Nair
Primary teacher, UK curriculum
Dubai, UAE
+971 50 000 0017
priya.nair.example@email.com
Nationality: India
Visa: family residence. A teaching job needs the school's MoHRE permit and a KHDA Appointment Notice. Neither is issued.
Notice: not in a school contract
Degree: BEd Primary, university in Kerala, 2018. MOFA attestation done. Equivalency reference is on the ministry letter, not printed here.
Teacher Licensing System: tests not booked. Education Professional licence not issued. No transitional licence.
KHDA: no Appointment Notice. Not approved for a Dubai private school.
Curriculum taught: UK primary, Year 4, English and mathematics. Not IB. Not CBSE. Not American.
Safeguarding: completed the child-protection induction at the school below, March 2024. Not a safeguarding lead.
Languages: English, full professional use. Malayalam, home language. Arabic: not a teaching language.
IELTS: not sitting an English-subject post, so I am not printing a band.

Cedar House Primary, Kochi
Class teacher, Year 4
June 2019 to March 2024
Taught English and mathematics to one Year 4 class on a UK-style primary timetable the school published.
Wrote the weekly plan the year leader checked. Did not write the whole-school scheme.
Kept the reading record the school form asked for. Did not invent a progress percentage.
This school was in India. It was not a KHDA school and not an ADEK school.

Priya's file is one curriculum, one phase, and a licence step that has not started. An IB physics teacher, a CBSE senior-school teacher, or a person who already holds the certified licence needs a different file. Do not reuse her Year 4 class for those posts.

What mistakes are specific to a teacher CV in the UAE?

• Writing MOE licensed, or UAE teacher licence, when the tests are not booked or not passed.
• Calling a transitional licence a certified licence. ADEK's definition says it is not a valid licence.
• Writing KHDA approved with no Appointment Notice, or reusing a Dubai notice for a second school.
• Using a KHDA line on an Abu Dhabi application. ADEK uses PASS.
• Listing British, IB, American, and CBSE on one skills line.
• Writing safeguarding lead after a single induction session.
• Writing MOFA attested because a notarised copy exists at home.
• Hiding a family visa or an address abroad under a summary that sounds already appointed.
• Copying a nurse sample and changing only the job title.

Where do visa status and the cover letter sit?

Working in the UAE without a valid MoHRE work permit is illegal. A teacher licence does not replace that permit, and a KHDA notice does not either. KHDA's FAQ says both the contract and the Appointment Notice are required in Dubai private schools.

Sources we used: UAE government portal: MoHRE work permits

Put the visa route on its own line. Family residence, employment residence, a visit entry, and still abroad are different. The letter, if you send one, has to repeat the same route and the same licence step. Do not let the letter say appointed when the CV says tests not booked.

Section order, length, and what to leave out of the header are in the UAE CV format guide

A clinical licence is a different authority. DHA, DOH, and MOHAP stay in the nurse CV for the UAE

When a short letter helps, and a fictional shape for it, is the cover letter for Dubai jobs

Wording for family residence, employment residence, and applying from abroad is in the visa-status guide

If you do send a letter, draft it from your own CV and the advert with the Gulf cover letter generator