CAA Accreditation

Heriot-Watt University Dubai has been granted Initial Institutional Licensure by the UAE’s Ministry of Education through the Commission for Academic Accreditation (CAA), which recognizes the high quality of our academic provision. Being granted the License means that our campus is now federally recognised and that we can proceed to accrediting our programmes.

This is a two-stage process. The first is securing the Initial Institutional Licensure – which we have achieved. The second and final stage is the actual process of accrediting programmes, which is now underway.

It is important to understand that our programmes are therefore in the process of being accredited by the CAA and will receive Initial Programme Accreditation throughout 2024.

Students who were enrolled at the point that the License was granted in January 2023 will be eligible to apply to have their degree certificate attested by the Ministry of Education once their programme has been accredited by the CAA. This will apply even if the student has graduated before accreditation has been completed. We will contact all relevant alumni as programmes become accredited to let them know.

For prospective undergraduate students, this means that by the time you graduate, most programmes will have been through the accreditation process.

For prospective postgraduate students, this could mean that (depending on what you study and for how long), your programme may not have completed the accreditation process by the time you graduate. You will, however, be eligible to get your degree certificate attested once programme accreditation has been completed.

You can check the list to see which programmes will not be accredited (programmes that will not be accredited are those not being actively recruited to).

As a long-standing campus in UAE (17 years and counting), we are delighted to be working with the CAA to support the country’s mission to become an international educational hub. The globally connected nature of Heriot-Watt University fits squarely with this vision of the future and we look forward to using these synergies to further develop and expand our horizons.

Heriot-Watt University Dubai, located in the Emirate of Dubai, is officially Licensed until 5th January 2026 by the Ministry of Education of the United Arab Emirates to award degrees/qualifications in higher education.