1.6M Students Start School Year in Riyadh Region

More than 1.6 million students returned to public schools across the Riyadh Region on Sunday, 23 August 2026, marking the first day of the 2026/2027 academic year. The intake was distributed across 8,652 schools, where teaching and administrative teams were deployed for the start of the school calendar.

The Riyadh Region cohort forms part of a wider national return of more than 6 million students to public schools across Saudi Arabia this year. Classes in the Riyadh Region began on 23 August, while students in Makkah, Madinah, Jeddah, and Taif were scheduled to start one week later, on 30 August 2026, under a two-phase reopening plan.

The 2026/2027 academic year runs from 23 August 2026 to 24 June 2027. It maintains a two-semester structure with roughly 180 instructional days spread over about 38 weeks for public schools, including those in the Riyadh Region.

What families should know

Public schools in the Riyadh Region operate under the state-funded education system and do not charge per-student tuition fees. Student registration and school assignment are handled through Ministry of Education online systems and platforms integrated with national digital services, including unified national access and education portals.

Parents are typically required to submit civil ID or iqama details, vaccination records where applicable, and proof of residence. These channels provide electronic issuance of enrollment confirmations, with validity tied to the 2026/2027 academic year.

The smooth reopening across thousands of schools reflects the scale of public education in the capital region and underscores the importance of completing registration steps early through the official electronic channels ahead of each school year.

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