What each verification badge means

The 1 checks that are in operation

These are the badges that can appear on a profile today. Each one names the single thing it checked, and nothing beyond it.

Email verifiedIn operation

We sent a link to this email address and it was opened.

• A one-time link sent to the address was followed within 24 hours.

It is automatic. It confirms that somebody could open a link sent to that address. That is all it confirms, and it is worth being blunt about how little that is: it says nothing about who the person is, or what they are able to teach.

The 4 that are not, and never appear

These 4 are defined but not running, and they are listed here precisely because they are missing. A reader who has never seen one of them should know that this is a rule and not a judgement about the person they are reading about.

Phone verifiedNot in operation

We sent a code to this mobile number and it was entered correctly.

• We show this badge on no profile, because the check behind it is not running.

Identity reviewedNot in operation

Someone on our team checked a government photo ID against this profile.

• We show this badge on no profile, because the check behind it is not running.

Qualifications reviewedNot in operation

Someone on our team checked the submitted qualification documents.

• We show this badge on no profile, because the check behind it is not running.

Institute verifiedNot in operation

We confirmed this institute exists at the address shown.

• We show this badge on no profile, because the check behind it is not running.

The interface enforces it rather than trusting anybody to remember: the badge component is given the definition along with the badge, and when the definition says the check is not in operation it draws nothing at all — not a greyed-out badge, not a pending state, nothing. Switching a check on is an operations decision recorded against the definition, and until it is taken there is no way to display one of these by mistake.

Each of the 4 would be a person reading a document rather than a machine sending a code. Who that person is, what they check the document against, how long they take and what happens when a review fails are all undecided, and they are set out as open decisions on What we check, and what we do not.

What no badge at all means

No badge means no check of that kind has been completed. It is the ordinary state, not a mark against anybody, and there is no badge that says "not verified" — a badge announcing an absence would be a punishment dressed as information, and it would push people to collect ticks rather than to teach.

So the only thing a badge tells you is that the check it names was done. Everything you cannot see, you should assume was not.

What a badge is not

• Not a rating. There are no ratings and no reviews on this site, and no badge is a score.
• Not a recommendation. A badge never means we suggest one person over another.
• Not a general tick. There is no single "verified" mark here, because a single mark always ends up meaning whatever the reader hopes it means.
• Not a safety guarantee. What is and is not covered is set out on Safety.
• Not the same as selection. Coming through the selection process is a separate thing with its own page: How tutors are selected.

The full policy — what a badge is meant to mean, and what we never claim — is on What we check, and what we do not.