Google reviews for schools are blocked. Why?

Google’s recent policy update saw a major change for schools: no new school reviews. The tech giant has disbaled reviews for all schools, regardless of type, and has also turned off edits or the right to reply leaving a number of schools unhappy with 1-star ratings. 

One frustrated school governor on the Google Help Forum wrote: “We feel stuck in a difficult position with old reviews that can’t be deleted and no new reviews that reflect life at the school now.” 
 

Why did Google disable Google reviews for schools? 

According to Google, the decision to stop reviews was based on the fact that schools are considered “critical services” and, therefore, any review could potentially impact their reputation and ability to provide education to students. In summary, Google does not want to provide a platform for any kind of review that could harm a school’s image and deter students from attending.
 

Is there an alternative to Google Reviews that can help boost a school’s online reputation? 

Yes - School Guide's own parent reviews of schools. Before Google started to promote its own Google Reviews, its go-to source for trusted reviews was always School Guide. School Guide has been offering parents the opportunity to review their child’s school since 2015 and Google was the first platform to show School Guide’s reviews “from the web” on its search engine results pages. 

You can see School Guide’s reviews on the right hand panel on school pages known as the Knowledge Panel. Here’s is an example for Kingswood School in Bath: 
 

How do School Guide’s school reviews work?

Parents register for a free account on School Guide (it takes 2-minutes to sign up) and the first step is School Guide verifies the email address. Once confirmed, the parent can write their review and add a star rating from one (worst) to five (best). The star ratings really make School Guide reviews stand out and they are regularly on Page One of Google. New parent reviews of schools are added daily by School Guide's 10,000 daily users. 

What’s more, all reviews are pre-moderated which means our team of moderators check that the review compiles to our strict review guidelines. 

Victoria Bond, founder and CEO of School Guide says:

“Our TripAdvisor-style reviews of schools are by parents, for parents. They give parents a taste of life at the school gates and answer an important question: what is this school REALLY like for the families who attend? We added reviews to the site in 2015 and have a decade of trusted reviews to help parents make a clear and confident school choice.”