Public methodology · last revised August 2026
How we score, what counts as proof, and who pays us.
A review is only worth something if you can check the reviewer. This page is the whole rubric — the weightings, the evidence bar, the funding, and how to get us corrected when we're wrong.
1. The rubric
Five sub-scores, each 0–100, combined at the weights below into a single score. Every sub-score is published with its reasoning on the audit page — we never show a total without showing the parts.
Hours of original material, specificity, and whether the teaching goes beyond what is freely available on YouTube or in a $20 book.
Every income figure, testimonial and credential in the marketing is traced to a primary source. Anything untraceable is marked unproven, not true.
Interviews and follow-ups with buyers at 6 and 12 months. We record what actually happened, including the people who quit.
Response times, whether the named instructor actually teaches, community quality and how long access lasts.
Price against comparable programs and against the realistic value delivered — not against the seller's promised upside.
2. Verdict thresholds
75–100
Verified
Delivers what it advertises. Safe to recommend at its price.
45–74
Mixed
Real content, but material gaps, overstated claims or a hard-to-justify price.
0–44
Avoid
Claims fail verification, outcomes don't materialise, or the price is indefensible.
3. What counts as evidence
Claim checks use a four-tier evidence bar. A claim is only marked verified on primary or corroborated evidence.
Primary source
Bank statements, platform dashboards, filings, contracts or a live screen-share we witness.
Corroborated
Two or more independent people or documents that agree, none of them supplied by the seller.
Seller-supplied
Material the seller provided that we could not independently confirm. Logged, never scored as proof.
Unverifiable
Screenshots, edited clips or anonymous testimonials with no traceable origin.
4. How an audit runs
- 01
Purchase anonymously
We buy the program with an unaffiliated card and identity so we get the standard customer experience, not a reviewer's.
- 02
Log the marketing
Every public claim is archived with a timestamp and a source link before we start, so later edits to the sales page can't rewrite history.
- 03
Complete the material
An auditor works through the full curriculum, times the content, and records what is delivered versus promised.
- 04
Talk to buyers
We contact past students independently of the seller, and follow up at 6 and 12 months on real outcomes.
- 05
Right of reply
Before publishing, the seller receives the findings and has 10 business days to respond. Their reply is published alongside the audit.
- 06
Publish and date it
Every audit shows its last-audited date. Programs change; a stale audit is relabelled or re-run.
5. Independence & funding
Scores are not for sale. A seller cannot buy a review, a score, a verdict, a re-review or a position in the directory ranking. Money never changes what an audit says.
Sponsored slots are separate and labelled. A seller may pay to appear in the sponsored section only after their program has been independently audited, published, and scored 75 or higher with a "verified value" verdict. Every sponsored card carries a "Sponsored" label, and sponsorship is switched off automatically if a later audit drops the program below that bar.
Referral earnings, if any, are disclosed. If we ever earn a commission on a sale we sent to a seller, it is disclosed on the program page and has no effect on its score or its placement in the directory.
We pay full price. Free review copies, comped seats and discount codes are declined. If a program can only be accessed by application, we disclose that on the audit.
Conflicts are disclosed. If an auditor has any prior relationship with a seller, they don't run the audit, and the relationship is disclosed on the page.
6. Corrections & right of reply
We publish mistakes rather than quietly edit them. Every substantive change to an audit is stamped with a new last-audited date and a note describing what changed. Sellers who believe a finding is wrong can send evidence; if it meets the bar above, we re-score and say so publicly. Buyers can flag an audit as outdated directly from the audit page.
CourseIQ publishes opinion and analysis based on the evidence described above. Prices and program contents change; always check the seller's current sales page before buying.