Verification is an independent check against a published standard. It confirms that a course genuinely exists, broadly matches how it is presented, and shows no material reason for us to withhold verification. It is not a rating, a ranking or a recommendation.
The record
What a verification looks like
Every verified course listed here carries a record like this one, published on its profile and reachable from the badge the creator displays. This example is fictional, so it can be pointed at safely.
Verification record
Verification identifier TMC-SAMPLE-0000
Verifiedby TrustMyCourse
Method
Direct course review
Verified
Re-check due
What we found
This is where the reviewer’s account of the verification appears. On a real profile it states what access was given, which published criteria were worked through, what was found in the delivered course compared with the public offer, and on what date. It is written by a person, it is dated, and it never contains a recommendation. A verification says what was checked, not whether anyone should buy.
No course called “Example Course” exists and reference TMC-SAMPLE-0000 is not a real verification. See the full example profile
What each part commits us to
The reference
A stable public identifier. It does not change when the course is renamed, renewed or withdrawn, which is what lets a badge embedded on a creator’s website keep resolving to the right decision.
The status
Derived, not stored. A record whose re-check date has passed reads as expired here without anyone editing it, and the badge on the creator’s own site stops saying Verified at the same moment.
The method
Direct course review. TrustMyCourse accessed the course directly and compared the delivered material with its public offer.
The dates
When the decision was made, and when it is due to be made again. Verification describes the course as it stood on the first date, not every later version of it.
The finding
What the reviewer concluded, in their own words, including anything they found worth stating. A record that only ever published agreement would not be worth reading.
The standard
Four principles
These are the whole standard. A reviewer applies judgement against them. There is no scorecard, no weighting and no pass mark.
01
Principle 1: The course is real
There is enough evidence that the course exists and can actually be accessed or delivered, so that someone paying for it receives something.
02
Principle 2: The offer broadly matches the course
The course substantially resembles what a reasonable buyer would expect from the public offer. We look for material differences, not minor wording changes or a module that has been renamed.
03
Principle 3: The offer is not materially misleading
We find no obvious major contradiction or deceptive representation that meaningfully changes what a buyer believes they are purchasing.
04
Principle 4: No material reason to withhold verification
A course does not need to be perfect. Minor imperfections, subjective disagreements, production values and teaching style are not normally reasons to withhold verification. This is a human judgement, not a calculation.
Limits
What we are not claiming
Verification describes what a course is. It says nothing about what any particular learner will get out of it.
Whether you will earn money, find work or reach any particular result
Whether a course is the right choice for your situation
Teaching quality, or the personal opinions of previous buyers
Anything a creator changes between scheduled re-checks
We also do not judge whether the teaching style is enjoyable, whether the videos look expensive, whether every statement is academically correct, or whether the reviewer would personally buy it. TrustMyCourse is not an accreditation body, a regulator or a certification board, and Verified is not an academic qualification.
Method
Two ways we verify
Both methods can result in the same Verified status and the same badge. There are no tiers, but the method used is always stated on the course profile, so you can weigh the evidence behind it.
Direct course review
TrustMyCourse accesses the course itself and examines the delivered material alongside its public offer.
Access may be given to us by the provider, or obtained independently where the course is public, openly published or free to enrol in
A review we start ourselves and a review a creator asks for mean exactly the same thing, and every profile says which access was used
We look at enough of the course to establish that it exists, that access works and that there is genuine material inside
We compare the delivered course against what the sales page promises
We do not watch every lesson, complete assignments or spend a fixed number of hours, and a forty-hour course does not need a forty-hour audit
We do not assess teaching style, production values or whether the reviewer personally enjoyed it
Buyer evidence review
Where we cannot obtain access to the course ourselves, we assess evidence from people who bought or received it.
Evidence can include purchaser statements, proof of purchase, screenshots and other reasonable supporting material
The reviewer decides whether there is enough evidence to reach a reasonable decision, and there is no fixed number of records
This is not a public review system: we publish no ratings, no comments and no average score
Buyer evidence is an input to our decision, never a consumer-review product
The process
How a verification happens
Every course that reaches Verified has been through the same steps, and every decision has a date on it from the moment it is made.
01
Step 1: We access the course or buyer evidence
We access the course ourselves wherever we can, either because the creator gives us access or because the course is public, openly published or free to enrol in. Where we cannot, we assess evidence from people who bought it. Both routes lead to the same standard, and every profile states which was used.
02
Step 2: We compare it with what is advertised
The curriculum, offer, access arrangements and public claims are checked against criteria published in advance.
03
Step 3: We publish what was checked
Every approved course receives a dated verification decision. Where the course is listed on TrustMyCourse, that decision is published on its course profile together with the checks completed.
04
Step 4: We re-check it over time
Verification carries a review date. It can expire, change or be withdrawn if a course no longer meets the standard.
Verification has a date on it
A verification describes the course and the public offer as they were when we reviewed them. Courses change, sales pages get rewritten, and platforms move. So verification is not permanent: we may re-check a course and renew it, allow it to expire, or withdraw it if a material issue emerges. Every profile shows the dates either way, including for courses that are no longer verified.
Where a record can end up
These are every state a verification record can hold. A course with no record at all is simply listed, which is the ordinary state of most of the directory and is not one of these.
In review: In review
Submitted and being reviewed. Nothing is claimed while this is true.
Verified: Verified
The review completed and the course met the standard on that date.
Unable to verify: Unable to verify
Not enough could be established to decide. That is not a finding against the course.
Verification expired: Verification expired
A real decision whose re-check date has passed. It lapses on its own.
Verification withdrawn: Verification withdrawn
A decision we revoked. It stays published, with its date.
Outcomes
When we may not verify a course
A course does not need to be perfect. These are the material reasons we would withhold verification.
The course does not genuinely exist, or cannot be accessed or delivered
Substantial advertised content is missing from what buyers receive
The evidence submitted appears to have been fabricated
What buyers receive is materially different from what they are led to expect
There is an obvious major misleading representation in the public offer
We cannot obtain enough evidence to make a reasonable decision either way
Not enough evidence is not a finding against a course
If we cannot gather enough evidence to decide, we record the outcome as Unable to verify. That is a statement about our evidence, not about the course, and we keep it visibly separate from Verification withdrawn, which is what we record when a material issue is identified in a course that was previously verified.
Independence
Who pays us, and what it buys
A verification is only worth reading if the decision behind it was not for sale. Rather than promise that, here is what we charge for, what those payments cannot change, and how much of the register they currently touch.
Listed courses with a paid relationship
0 of 523
Paid placements running today
0
Counted from the register when this page was last built, not written by hand. These are current figures, not a policy: if that changes, this page reports the change.
What a payment cannot change
Paying for a review does not buy its outcome
Creators may pay for a review to be carried out. The fee pays for the work of reviewing, not for a result. A course that does not meet the standard is not verified, whatever has been paid, and we say so before anyone pays.
Paid placement cannot stand in for verification
A course has to already hold current Verified status before it can occupy a paid placement. The eligibility check reads the same verification status the profile does, so a placement cannot outlive the verification underneath it: the day a re-check date passes, the course stops being featured without anyone editing anything.
Paid placement is labelled, and kept out of the results
Where a placement runs, it is labelled Paid placement, in those words, and it sits outside the ranked list rather than inside it at a better position. It never changes the order of the results around it.
Money changing hands qualifies the link
If a provider paid for a review or bought a placement, our outbound link to them carries rel="sponsored", which is the disclosure search engines ask for. Editorial links, the ones where nothing was paid, are left unqualified so that the distinction stays meaningful.
We do not sell the courses, rank them, or rate them
TrustMyCourse is not a school and not a shop. We publish no score, no star rating and no ordering by quality, so there is no position on a leaderboard for anyone to buy.
The one relationship we cannot remove is that some reviews are paid for by the creator whose course is being reviewed. We would rather state it plainly here than leave it to be discovered. Every profile shows which method produced its decision, so the evidence behind a verification can be weighed without taking our word for any of this. What a review costs, and what it does not buy
The register today
What we can actually show you
These are counts of records that exist right now, not averages or targets. Every one of them can be checked by browsing the register itself.
523
courses listed
35
currently hold a verification
488
listed with no review at all
0
ratings, scores or rankings published
How those verifications were produced
Direct course review
35
Grouped from the current records. A method with no records to its name does not appear, which is itself worth knowing.
What we are not showing you, and why
We publish no acceptance rate, no decline rate and no average review time. We have not decided enough cases for any of those to mean anything, and a figure computed from too few decisions would be more persuasive than it deserves to be. When there is a real one to report, it will appear here with the number of decisions behind it.
Nor do we publish anything about courses we have not reviewed, beyond the fact that we have not reviewed them. Most of the register is in that state.
Does Verified mean TrustMyCourse recommends the course?
No. Verified means we reviewed the available evidence and found no material reason to withhold verification. It is not a recommendation, a ranking or an opinion about whether the course is right for you. We publish no score, no rating and no ordering by quality.
Does paying guarantee verification?
No. Course creators may pay for a review to be carried out, but payment does not guarantee a Verified result. A course that does not meet the standard is not verified, whatever has been paid. Featured placement is separate advertising and cannot improve a verification outcome.
Do you watch every lesson?
No, and we do not claim to. A review is proportionate: we look at enough of the course to establish that it exists, that access works, that there is genuine material inside and that it broadly matches the public offer. Verification is not an academic audit of every statement in every lesson.
What is a buyer evidence review?
When we cannot obtain access to the course ourselves, whether because it is closed, paid or the provider has not given us access, we assess evidence from people who bought or received it, such as statements, proof of purchase and similar supporting material, to establish that it was delivered broadly as presented. Every profile states which method was used, so you can weigh the evidence behind the decision yourself.
Can verification expire or be withdrawn?
Yes. Verification describes a course and its offer at the time they were reviewed, and courses change. Verification carries a date, can be re-checked and renewed, can expire, and can be withdrawn if a material issue emerges. The public record keeps the dates either way.
Does Verified guarantee results?
No. We make no claim about income, employment, return on investment or whether you will succeed. A course promising guaranteed outcomes is treated as a problem during review, not as a selling point.