Method
How we list, and what we will not do.
A directory is only as good as its sources and its honesty. Here is exactly where our data comes from, how we check it, and the lines we do not cross.
A student directory is easy to fake. Scrape a map, pad the count, sell the top slot. We have built this one the slow way instead, because the only thing a directory has to sell is whether you can trust it. Of 8,465 businesses we list, 6,302 carry a verified website link and 6,002 are independent or owner-run.
Where the base data comes from
Listings for cafés, restaurants, pubs and bars, gyms, supermarkets, barbers, banks, insurers and lettings agents are seeded from OpenStreetMap, the open geographic database, used under its Open Database Licence (ODbL). OpenStreetMap is mapped and maintained by a global community of contributors, which makes it the honest, licence-clean foundation for a public directory. We attribute it on our open data page.
From that seed we add and refine by hand: matching a place to the right city, confirming the category, tidying names, and adding a website where we can verify one. We do not lift Google photos, we do not copy review text, and we do not republish anything we have no right to use.
How a listing is checked
- Every entry is matched to a real, locatable business before it is shown.
- We confirm the category, so a café is not filed as a bar.
- A website link is added only when we can verify it points to that business.
- If a detail cannot be confirmed, the field stays blank rather than guessed.
Owners can claim and correct
The people who know a business best are the people who run it. Any complementary business can claim its listing free, fix the details, add opening hours and a student discount, link its own website and upload its own photos. Claimed listings carry a verified-owner badge. This is how the directory stays current without us inventing anything.
Independents first
When two listings are equal on the facts, the independent ranks above the chain. We do this on purpose. Owner-run places are harder to find, easier to overlook and more useful to recommend. Chains and groups are still listed, and marked as what they are, but they do not get a head start.
What ranking is, and what it is not
Order is decided on merit: verified data, completeness and whether a listing is independent. A paid Featured placement can lift a business within its own city and category, but it is labelled as featured and it never pushes a stronger listing below a weaker one. We do not sell the top of a list. Money buys a clearer presence, never a dishonest position.
The lines we do not cross
- We never fabricate a business, a detail or a count.
- We never present a guess as a fact.
- We never let payment outrank merit.
- We never republish content we are not licensed to use.
The one thing Everything Student sells itself, student storage and moving through UniMove, is set out openly on our disclosure so you always know which hat we are wearing.
Do you scrape Google or copy reviews?
No. Base details are seeded from OpenStreetMap, which is open data under the ODbL licence. We do not lift Google photos or review text, and we do not republish content we have no right to.
What does a blank field mean?
It means we have not confirmed that detail, not that we have guessed it. We would rather show less and be right than fill a gap with a guess. A blank field is the owner's cue to claim the listing and add it, free.
How do you decide what is independent?
Owner-run cafés, bars, gyms, shops and lettings agents, and small local groups, are independents. Where a listing belongs to a national chain or a larger group, we mark it as such. Independents come first when listings are otherwise equal.
Can I get my business removed or corrected?
Yes. Email [email protected] and we will correct or remove a listing. Claiming a listing is the fastest way to keep its details right.
Run a business students use?
Claim your listing free and keep your details right.