How we order schools

The default order

Schools are placed in four levels according to how complete their information is, counted over the 15 items listed below: 12 items or more is level 1, 9 to 11 is level 2, 6 to 8 is level 3, and fewer is level 4.

Within a level, the order changes every day. Schools of the same level take turns at the top, so no school is always first because of its name.

When you type a search, the schools that best match your words come first, and the levels decide the order between equally good matches.

The 15 items

1. 1School name
2. 2Logo
3. 3A description of the school
4. 4Email address
5. 5Phone number
6. 6At least one programme
7. 7At least three photos
8. 8A main photo
9. 9Website
10. 10Education levels offered
11. 11Fee range
12. 12Founding year
13. 13Languages of instruction
14. 14Facilities
15. 15Admissions information

Five of them — the logo, the photos, the main photo, the facilities and the admissions information — can only be added by the school itself, with a school account. School accounts come with a paid plan, so a school that has taken over and completed its page tends to sit higher. That is the only way a plan affects the order.

What a school can pay for

Two things, both marked as advertising, both bought by the week. A Boost in the directory: a separate advertisement above the results, marked “Ad”, shown only to families whose search the school already matches. Each week a region has one to three places, depending on how many schools it lists, and when several advertised schools match a search they take turns. And a place in the paid section of the home page, also marked “Ad”: one large card (one school a week) and up to three smaller cards, shown to every visitor. When nobody has bought a week, the section is not shown.

Neither changes the order of the list. An advertised school also keeps its normal place in it.

What payment never changes

• The order of the list
• Reviews and ratings
• The badges shown on school cards
• Which schools receive your enquiry

Sorting it yourself

If you sort by name, fees, age, founding year or number of students, that order is used exactly as chosen. The only link to the default order is that schools tied on your criterion keep their default order.

What we do not use yet

Family reviews and how often families contact a school would make the order more useful. There are not yet enough of them to use them fairly for every school. We will add them once there are, and this page will say so.

Something looks wrong?

If a listing or its position looks wrong to you, tell us and we will look into it.