# How reviews work

How parent reviews on Toddly are checked before they are published, our review guidelines, and how we show Google ratings.

Updated 12 November 2026. Page: https://toddly.co.uk/how-reviews-work

Parents rightly want to know what other families think. We show two kinds of rating, always side by side and never averaged together.

## Google ratings

Where a nursery has a Google Maps listing we show its star rating, the number of reviews and the date we read them, with a link to Google so you can read the reviews yourself. We do not publish the text of Google reviews. We use it only to pick out common themes, such as “friendly staff” or “communication”, shown without quotes and without names.

## Our own parent reviews

Parents and carers can review a nursery their child attends or attended, from the "Write a review" link on its page. This is how it works:

- **Who can review:** one review per person per nursery, from an account confirmed by a link sent to their email. Nursery staff cannot review their own nursery.
- **Checks before publishing:** a person reads every review before it goes live, usually within two working days, and we email you when it is published. We decline reviews that break the guidelines below.
- **No selection by score:** we do not hold back reviews because they are negative, and nurseries cannot choose which appear.
- **Order:** most recent first. We do not reorder reviews for payment.
- **Replies:** a nursery that has claimed its page can reply publicly once to each review.
- **No incentives:** we do not offer rewards for reviews and nurseries must not offer them either.

## Review guidelines

- Write about your own experience at the nursery, as a parent or carer.
- Be specific and fair: what was good, what could be better.
- Do not name staff, children or other parents, and do not include contact details.
- No abuse, discrimination, or claims you cannot back up. Report safeguarding concerns to the nursery, your council or Ofsted, not in a review.
- No reviews in exchange for discounts, gifts or anything else.

Our own ratings appear only once a nursery has published reviews. Until then its page invites the first parent to write one. Ofsted results are shown separately and are never part of any rating.

Questions or concerns about a review: [contact us](/contact).

## Frequently asked questions

### Can a nursery pay to remove a bad review?

No. Payment never affects which reviews are shown or how they are ordered.

### Why don't you show Google review text?

The text belongs to the people who wrote it and to Google. We show the rating and count and link to Google, and summarise common themes without quoting anyone.

### Is the Ofsted result a review?

No. Ofsted inspections are shown separately, in Ofsted's own words, and are never combined with ratings from parents.