Overview
Outschool values authentic feedback from families. Reviews help parents make informed enrollment decisions and provide teachers with valuable feedback about their classes. To maintain a trusted review system, reviews generally remain on the platform unless they clearly meet one of the limited criteria outlined in this policy.
Review Integrity
Teachers may not attempt to influence or manipulate the review system. This includes:
Offering refunds, discounts, free classes, or other incentives in exchange for a positive or changed review
Enrolling friends or family members to leave reviews
Removing learners from classes to prevent future reviews
Pressuring parents to remove or change a review
Teachers may ask respectful questions to understand a family’s experience, but may not pressure or incentivize the family to change or remove the review. Attempts to manipulate the review system may result in account restrictions or removal from the platform.
Responding to reviews
Teachers may post a public response to a written review to thank the family or provide additional context.
Teachers may send the parent a private message to better understand their experience.
Teachers may politely ask a parent to update a review if the parent has indicated that the concern described in the review has been resolved or that their opinion has changed.
Getting the Most Out of Reviews
Reviews can help you improve your classes and grow your business. We encourage teachers to:
Read feedback objectively
Reflect on constructive comments
Review class recordings when appropriate
Identify changes that could improve future classes
Remember that not every class will be the right fit for every learner
Use review feedback to better communicate what families can expect from your classes
Reviews That Generally Remain
Reviews expressing a family’s opinion about the classroom experience generally remain unless they clearly meet one of the removal or editing criteria in this policy. Outschool does not determine whether a subjective opinion is correct. We evaluate whether the review meets a specific removal or editing criterion.
The following are examples of subjective opinions that generally remain on the platform. They are not removed simply because a teacher disagrees with them, unless the review separately meets one of the removal or editing criteria in this policy.
Teaching style
Class pacing
Communication
Organization or preparedness
Learner engagement
Whether the class was the right fit for their learner
Decisions left to the teacher's discretion, including refunds, scheduling, cancellations, and optional access to recordings
Star-Only Reviews
Reviews without text generally remain because there is no written content to evaluate. They may be eligible for removal in limited circumstances, such as when the learner did not participate in the class.
When a Review May Be Eligible for Removal or Editing
Reviews may be removed or edited only when they clearly meet one of the following criteria:
The learner did not attend the class
A review may be eligible for removal if attendance records confirm that the learner did not attend any portion of the class and the teacher held the class as scheduled.
Reviews generally are not removed when the teacher canceled the meeting, did not attend, ended the meeting before the learner could participate, or otherwise made the scheduled class unavailable.
For self-paced classes, a review may be eligible for removal if the learner did not access any lessons in the classroom.
The review relates only to Outschool product functionality or a confirmed platform issue
A review may be eligible for removal when the complaint concerns only Outschool product functionality and does not address the teacher or class experience.
A review may also be eligible for removal if Outschool confirms that the complaint resulted from a platform outage, bug, or other technical issue caused by Outschool.
The review resulted from required policy enforcement
A review may be eligible for removal when a teacher:
Followed a required Outschool safety or platform policy
Declined a request that would violate Outschool policy
This criterion applies only when the teacher was required to take or decline the action under Outschool policy. It does not apply to decisions left to the teacher's discretion.
The review concerns an objective instructional requirement provided before enrollment
A review may be eligible for removal if the complaint directly results from an objective instructional requirement that was provided before enrollment.
Examples include:
A required class prerequisite
Required materials or supplies
Required preparation before class
This does not generally apply to reviews expressing opinions about teaching style, class pacing, learner engagement, classroom management decisions, refunds, scheduling, or other aspects of the classroom experience.
The review contains policy-violating content
A review may be eligible for removal or minimally edited if it contains:
Personal or private information
Threats of harm or other threatening statements
Repeated targeted abuse or harassment
Discriminatory language directed at a person’s identity or protected characteristics
Personal attacks, insults, or unsupported accusations about the teacher's character, motives, identity, or qualifications that are not feedback about the class experience
Identifying or disparaging information about other learners
Outschool generally avoids editing reviews. A minor edit may be made when policy-violating content can be removed without changing the substance or overall meaning of the review. If that is not possible, the full review may be removed.
How to Dispute a Review
If you believe a review meets one of the criteria above:
Complete the Review Dispute Form within 30 days of the review being posted
Identify the specific part of the review you are disputing
Explain which removal criterion applies
Include any relevant supporting information or documentation
Our Support team will review the dispute and notify you of the outcome.
We aim to resolve disputes within two weeks. To allow time for a complete investigation, please do not submit duplicate requests or follow up unless more than two weeks have passed or you have new information that directly relates to a removal or editing criterion.
Note: Reports involving personal or private information may be reviewed regardless of when the review was posted.