4 Million Students Return to Class on Aug. 23

More than four million male and female students across all three K–12 levels are set to return to classrooms in most regions of Saudi Arabia on Sunday, 23 August 2026, marking the start of the 1448H / 2026–2027 academic year.

23 August 2026 (10 Rabiʿ I 1448H) is the first school day for students in all regions except Makkah, Madinah, Jeddah, and Taif. In those four western areas, teachers report on the same date for preparation, while students begin classes one week later, on Sunday, 30 August 2026 (17 Rabiʿ I 1448H).

The public school system is operating at a large scale this year, with around 6.7 million students enrolled in public education and roughly 32,000 schools prepared to receive them across the Kingdom. The 2026–2027 school year runs from 23 August 2026 to late June 2027 in most regions, with term breaks and the National Day holiday embedded in the Ministry of Education calendar.

For parents and students, the key step is physical attendance at the assigned public or private school on the stated start date. There is no new national-level online registration or platform fee tied specifically to the 23 August return. Enrollment, transfers, and student data updates continue to be handled through the Ministry of Education's digital education systems and regional education directorates.

There is also no published requirement for returning students to use national digital services such as أبشر, مقيم, ناجز, or نفاذ specifically for the 2026 return. Likewise, no new or changed tuition or bus-transport fee structures have been published tied uniquely to this mass return; such fees continue to depend on each private school or operator's own schedule and tariff.

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