In force since 30 August 2026. This methodology applies to every course and school in the EduCompass Hub catalogue.
Why we rate courses
Compass Score 🧭 is an editorial rating of a course on a scale from 0 to 10. It has a single purpose: to let you compare programmes from different schools under the same rules rather than by the loudness of their advertising. The score is assigned by the EduCompass Hub editorial team; schools, affiliate networks and advertisers play no part in it. The score does not replace your own judgement — it shows what we looked at and what we found.
Seven criteria and their weights
Each criterion is scored from 0 to 10 and the scores are then combined using fixed weights. The weights are the same for every course:
| Criterion | Weight | What we look at |
|---|---|---|
| Programme quality | 25% | Completeness and currency of the curriculum, module logic, fit with the stated profession or goal, depth of topics, presence of a final project. |
| Practice | 20% | Share of hands-on assignments, portfolio projects, work with real data and tools, assignments reviewed by a person rather than only by an auto-checker. |
| Price / value | 15% | Full price when paid upfront as of the check date, instalment terms, what the plan includes, price relative to volume and outcomes compared with similar programmes. |
| Instructors | 15% | Whether practising professionals teach the course, the authors' public track record, stability of the teaching team, availability of mentors. |
| Support | 10% | Speed and quality of mentor responses, student community, access to materials after completion, refund rules. |
| Career opportunities | 10% | Career centre, help with CV and interviews, internships, real rather than declarative employment terms. |
| Documents and licence | 5% | Educational licence listed in the Rosobrnadzor register, type of document issued (retraining diploma, certificate of advanced training, school certificate) and whether it matches the programme's length. |
The formula
The result is a weighted sum rounded to one decimal place:
Compass Score = 0.25 × Programme + 0.20 × Practice + 0.15 × Price/value + 0.15 × Instructors + 0.10 × Support + 0.10 × Career + 0.05 × Documents
Example: programme 9, practice 8, price 7, instructors 8, support 7, career 6, documents 10 → 0.25·9 + 0.20·8 + 0.15·7 + 0.15·8 + 0.10·7 + 0.10·6 + 0.05·10 = 7.9.
How to read the scale
- 9.0–10 — "EduCompass Choice": the programme stands out on most criteria with almost no reservations.
- 8.5–8.9 — "Excellent course": a strong programme with isolated caveats.
- 8.0–8.4 — "Very good": a confident recommendation with room to grow on one or two criteria.
- 7.0–7.9 — "Good": a solid course worth comparing with alternatives.
- 6.0–6.9 — "Alternatives exist": noticeable weak spots, below the catalogue average.
- Below 6.0 — the course stays in the catalogue for completeness of comparison, but we do not recommend it.
A course without a score is marked with a dash: the editorial review is not yet complete. Such courses are excluded from rankings and collections.
Data sources
For each criterion we rely on verifiable sources, in order of priority:
- Official course and school pages: curriculum, pricing plans, instalment terms, teaching team.
- The school's public offer agreement: refund rules, access to materials, employment terms, liability of the parties.
- The Rosobrnadzor licence register: whether a licence exists, its status and whether it matches the school's tax ID.
- Programmes and demo materials: open lessons, webinars, course excerpts.
- Public graduate reviews on independent platforms — only as an indirect signal, never as the basis for a score.
- Our own tests of trial lessons and trial access whenever the school provides it.
Evidence levels
Every score carries an evidence level that shows what it is based on. The level is displayed on the course page.
- A — verified against documents or trial access. The editorial team reviewed the offer agreement, licence and curriculum and completed trial access or a demo lesson.
- B — verified against the school's public data. The score rests on official course and school pages without trial access.
- C — based on indirect sources. Part of the data comes from public reviews, interviews and third-party materials; the score is preliminary and will be refined.
Update rules
- A score is revisited whenever the programme, price, teaching team, refund terms or licence status changes.
- Scheduled review — at least once a quarter for every course in the catalogue.
- Prices are checked against the school page; the check date is shown on the course page. Between checks the price on the school's site may differ.
- If the methodology itself changes (weights or criteria), all scores are recalculated at the same time and the change is described on this page.
Score change log
Every change to a Compass Score is recorded in the log on the course page: date, previous and new value, and reason (for example "school updated the programme", "price changed", "trial access obtained, evidence level B → A"). Log entries are never deleted or edited retroactively.
What happens when a partnership appears
Nothing. If a school joins an affiliate programme or changes its commission rate, the score, ranking positions and review texts stay the same. Commission is not part of the formula and does not affect any of the seven criteria. The default sort order in comparison tables is by price or by Compass Score, and it is identical for partner and non-partner schools. See the Affiliate Links page for details.
How a school can correct a factual error
If a course card shows an outdated price, a wrong duration, the wrong type of document or an error in the programme description, the school can notify the editorial team via the Contacts page. We verify the data against the primary source and correct it within five business days; the correction is recorded in the change log.
A score cannot be bought, "improved in exchange for placement" or changed by arrangement. We do not offer paid reviews, sponsored ranking positions, and we accept no payment for changing a score. Requests of this kind are declined.
What the score does not promise
- It does not guarantee employment, income or a specific learning outcome — those depend on you, the market and the school.
- It is not a formal assessment of educational quality in the legal sense: we are not an accreditation body.
- It does not account for your individual circumstances: your level, budget and available time. A course rated 7.5 may suit you better than one rated 9.0.
- It does not represent the school's opinion and is not agreed with the school.
- It is not advertising: the score is editorial, and advertising materials on the site are labelled separately.
Questions about the methodology — via the editorial contacts. See also our Editorial Policy.