PREPSIGNAL

Data note

Two-Week Review Recheck: 2 of 12 Verified Listings Moved, 3 of 15 Could Not Be Matched

Direct answer

Two-Week Review Recheck: 2 of 12 Verified Listings Moved, 3 of 15 Could Not Be Matched

12 of 15 listings matched the stored record; 3 did not.

Comparable evidence

Evidence mapped to this question

Key figures

  • 12 of 15 listings matched the stored record; 3 did not.
  • Combined review sample across the 12 matched listings: 485 → 533 (+48, +9.9%).
  • All 48 additional reviews came from 2 listings: Royal IB +39, Ann Arbor Academy +9.

Commentary

Hakwon Scale rechecked Google Maps ratings and review counts for 15 academies on August 3, 2026, against a baseline collected July 16–18 and published July 18. Only ratings and counts were re-read; review text was not collected. Twelve listings resolved to the same record already on file. Royal IB moved from 24 to 63 reviews with its 5.0 rating unchanged, and Ann Arbor Academy moved from 43 to 52 reviews with its rating moving from 4.3 to 4.5.

Ten of the twelve matched listings were unchanged on both rating and count. No listing in the matched set lost reviews, and none showed a closure or temporary-suspension marker. Across roughly two weeks, the combined sample of the 12 matched listings rose from 485 to 533.

Three listings were excluded because search returned a record that is not the one on file. One resolved to a separate campus of a similarly named operator in a different district. One returned two centres at adjacent addresses, leaving the stored figure unattributable to either. One returned an unrelated academy for the stored area name. Stored values for these three were left unchanged, and PrepSignal has not updated them.

Source grade & source class

How the evidence is classified

Note evidence grade
DATA NOTE
Source classes used
Independent reporting · Official primary source
  • Hakwon Scale — Independent reporting · Claim IDs: claim.hagwonscale.review-recheck.2026-08 · The dated listing-match and review-count recheck. Limitation: Review counts are sample sizes, not demand, growth, quality or outcomes.
  • Hakwon Scale — Official primary source · Claim IDs: claim.hagwonscale.review-recheck.2026-08 · The dated listing-match and review-count recheck. Limitation: Review counts are sample sizes, not demand, growth, quality or outcomes.

Denominator · period · campus

Scope of the comparison

  • The recheck covered 15 frequently-viewed Korean SAT and IB academy listings on August 3, 2026 against a baseline collected July 16–18 and published July 18.
  • The comparison includes the 12 listings that resolved to the stored record; 3 unmatched listings were excluded and retained their stored values.
  • Only ratings and review counts were re-read; review text was not collected.

Establishes · does not establish

What the evidence can and cannot support

What it establishes

12 of 15 listings matched the stored record; 3 did not.

What it does not establish

  • A verified match is a precondition, not a formality. Three of fifteen searches returned the wrong record — a rating you find by name search may belong to a campus your student will never attend. Confirm the branch address before reading its reviews.
  • Review counts are a sample size, not a growth rate. A +9.9% two-week move concentrated entirely in 2 listings says more about those 2 listings than about the market, and a count taken on a single day cannot be read as scale or demand.
  • Grade requirements are met by evidence, not by count alone. Both listings that gained reviews crossed a numeric threshold this cycle, and neither changed grade, because the accompanying evidence condition was not met.

Last verified · original sources

Verification date and source links

Final verification: .

Source: Hakwon Scale report, August 3, 2026 — https://hagwonscale.com/news/review-snapshot-2026-08

Underlying dataset: https://hagwonscale.com/data/academies.json

  1. Two-week review snapshot recheckHakwon Scale · Independent reporting · published 2026-08-03 · accessed 2026-08-03 · story key hagwonscale-review-snapshot-2026-08Evidence Registry: source.hagwonscale.review-recheck · claim.hagwonscale.review-recheck.2026-08The dated listing-match and review-count recheck. Limitation: Review counts are sample sizes, not demand, growth, quality or outcomes.
  2. Hakwon Scale academy datasetHakwon Scale · Official primary source · published date not stated · accessed 2026-08-03 · story key hagwonscale-academies-datasetEvidence Registry: source.hagwonscale.academies-data · claim.hagwonscale.review-recheck.2026-08The dated listing-match and review-count recheck. Limitation: Review counts are sample sizes, not demand, growth, quality or outcomes.