How we research and verify listings

Where the facts come from

We start with the programme’s own pages: its website, application page, terms page and published FAQs. Each listing names every page we used and the day we read it, in the box headed "Where this comes from".

When a fact appears only elsewhere, such as on a university page, in a sponsor’s announcement or in a news report, the listing says so through its confidence line, and the source is listed like any other.

We do not publish guesses or figures without a named source. If a programme has not published something, we do not fill the gap.

What "verified" means

A listing’s verified date is the day we last read its sources and confirmed that the listing matched them: the dates, the terms and who can apply.

We re-check every listing each month and update dates and terms as cohorts change. A verified date is a statement about what the programme’s pages said that day, not a promise that nothing has changed since.

The four-month notice

When a listing has not been verified for more than 120 days, it shows this notice: "We last checked this programme's dates more than four months ago; confirm on the programme's site before planning around them."

The notice stays until the listing is checked again. Dates and terms move between cohorts, so we would rather tell you a listing is old than let it look current.

How status and dates are shown

Status labels (open, opening on a stated date, rolling, closed or unknown) are worked out from the programme’s published dates on the day you read the page, not stored by hand. A window shows as open only between its published opening and closing dates.

Dates are written in full ("closes 3 March 2027"). A programme that publishes no dates shows its status as unknown, with its usual timing if it states one.

The data standard

• Every fact comes from your own pages where possible. If you have not published something, the listing says "not published"; we never guess.
• We never round a term you state precisely. Amounts carry their currency and dates are written in full.
• A standard offer is recorded as the standard offer, not as a maximum. Ranges and "up to" figures go in a note.
• Status (open, closed, opening soon) comes from your published dates and updates on the reader's own day, so a listing never says a window is open after it has closed.

Corrections

If a listing is wrong or out of date, email hello@theincubatorpro.com with the programme’s name and a link to the page that states the correct fact. Every listing has a "Report a correction" link that starts the email for you.

We check the source, update the listing and its verified date, and reply to say what changed. We correct only to what a programme’s own pages, or another named source, actually say.

Guides and calculators

Each guide lists its sources with the date each page states and the day we read it. Every figure carries its source and its date, and where a figure is not published we say so.

Each calculator states the assumptions it makes and what it leaves out, and its worked examples are tested against the same maths. Results are illustrations, not financial or legal advice.