How We Verify

What we mean when we say “sourced” and “verified”.

We represent the family, not the school. That only works if we are straight about how solid each fact is. Here is what stands behind the data on a Boardingly profile — and where we tell you to check for yourself.

Three states, plainly labelled

Sourced

Drawn from a public record — the school’s own website, ISI or Ofsted/Estyn inspection reports, or DfE data. We show it with its source and the month we last updated it. Sourced is not the same as independently confirmed.

Verified

Checked beyond simply reading it. A verified outbound link has been fetched and confirmed to resolve where it should; a school-confirmed fact has been submitted or corrected by the school through our right-of-reply. Where a fact carries no verified marker, treat it as sourced.

Estimated

A Boardingly judgement built from public data — chiefly the Worldly Ranking. It is our opinion, clearly labelled, not a statement of fact about the school.

What we check

Outbound links are tested, not assumed

Social channels are verified before they show: we only display an Instagram, YouTube or Vimeo link a school publishes on its own site, confirmed to resolve to that school. Inspection report links are fetched and dropped if they do not land on a real report. A dead or wrong link is worse than no link.

Schools can correct the record

Every profile carries a right-of-reply. A school can submit or update information, and we never change confirmed data without checking the source first. Corrections are shown openly.

Gaps are shown, not hidden

Where we do not hold a fact, the profile says so — "Contact school for current fees", "Inspection outcome not yet verified" — rather than filling the space with guesswork.

What we don't claim

Fees are from public data and may not reflect the current academic year — always confirm directly with the school.
The editorial summary on each profile is written from the sourced data shown beneath it. Confirm specifics — results, destinations, history — with the school.
The Worldly Ranking is an estimate from public data, not a measure of a school’s worth.
Coverage is not complete. We publish a school only once it clears a minimum data bar; many UK schools are not yet profiled.

No school pays to appear or to influence its ranking. We take no money from schools for placement. Credibility is the product — the day a school could buy its way up the page is the day this stops being worth reading.

Browse the profiles How the Worldly Ranking works