Purpose
The Schools Record is an independent research publication. It does not assess whether a school suits a particular child or predict admission. Outcomes alone do not establish teaching quality, because selection, prior attainment, subject choices and cohort composition matter.
Definitions
Retain each figure’s year, qualification, population, outcome type and limitations when citing it. Subject entries are not pupils; offers are not destinations; an absent value is not zero. A median is never taken across a change of qualification, population or outcome definition; such periods are reported segment by segment.
Public use
You may cite and link to the public pages, including in client advice, with attribution and the material qualifications. Third-party publications and photographs retain their stated rights. Public availability does not transfer those rights. No exclusive right is asserted over public facts. A link to a source is not a statement that every figure in it has been checked; a record says separately when its original publication has been checked for that year and field.
Commissioned reports
A commissioned School Shortlist Evidence Review is agreed in three separate steps: a scope enquiry, which is free and creates no obligation; a written quotation setting out the question, schools, measure, period, deliverables, evidence limitations, permitted use, reviewer, timing, price and whether VAT applies; and your written acceptance of that quotation, which forms the contract. Payment is by invoice against the accepted quotation and is never taken on this website. Work starts when the payment condition stated in the quotation is met.
Permitted use: you may use the issued report, and attributed extracts or the calculation CSV, in the advice for the agreed named client, keeping its qualifications, version and date. The commission does not grant a right to resell the report, to republish source publications in bulk, or a general licence to redistribute the data.
Declined scope, cancellation and corrections
If the published evidence cannot support your question, the scope is declined or narrowed before a quotation is issued; nothing is charged for a scope check. You may cancel an accepted commission before research starts at no charge. After research has started, the fee for work done to that point is due as set out in the quotation, and any material already prepared is handed over. Issued reports keep their dated input snapshot. If an issued report misreads a source, a corrected version is issued at no charge with its reason and effect, and the original is retained. A later change on a school’s website does not alter an issued report. A refund is recorded only when it has actually been paid; a request for one is handled under the quotation’s terms and confirmed in writing.
Who publishes the record
The Schools Record is published by [legal name to be added by the publisher before launch]. Questions about these terms go to hello@theschoolsrecord.co.uk, and a figure that looks wrong to corrections@theschoolsrecord.co.uk. The About page sets out the corrections policy and schools’ right of reply.
Availability
Site access is not guaranteed to be uninterrupted. New evidence and source disagreements are recorded separately from the preserved original collection. The adviser page states whether scope enquiries and commissioning are currently open; no quotation can be accepted while commissioning is closed.