Section 01
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.
Section 02
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.
Section 03
How to read these numbers
- 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.
Source record
Source
Source: Hakwon Scale report, August 3, 2026 — https://hagwonscale.com/news/review-snapshot-2026-08 Underlying dataset: https://hagwonscale.com/data/academies.json