How we rank trading schools: the 2027 methodology
The ranking scores each school on 25 public criteria, grouped into five weighted pillars. Here are the entry conditions, the scale for each criterion, its sources and how the score is calculated.
2027 edition · updated October 28, 2026 · next updates planned for December 2026 and January 2027 · Ranking methodology
Principles
- A score comes from a scale, never from an opinion. Every criterion has written levels: two people rating the same school reach the same score.
- Every score carries its evidence. Every score is taken from a public source, with its address and date. The value recorded, the source and the date it was read are published on each school's listing in the schools directory.
- Not applicable (n/a). A criterion that does not apply to a school is left out of its pillar.
- Missing data is never guessed. The criterion gets the lowest score (1) for as long as the data cannot be found, unless its scale provides for “n/a”.
- Not rated. A criterion not yet assessed for this edition is left out of the calculation; the school's sheet shows it as “not rated”.
- What never enters into a score: the country, Tradoshi partner status, any payment.
The four entry conditions
A school that does not meet all four is not ranked, and it is not named.
- A trading or financial markets program described publicly.
- Its own active website (an HTTPS response without error). A school whose website is hosted by Tradoshi counts as having a website.
- No warning against the school itself for fraud or a clone website, nor from the regulator of its home country. A warning from a foreign regulator solely for lack of a licence in that country does not exclude the school: it is shown on its sheet and lowers its criterion 1.
- No report of the website as dangerous (phishing, malware).
Every school that meets the four conditions is rated, and each one has its listing in the schools directory, with its rating and its international and continental rank. The ranking publishes the top 50 in the world and on each continent. A country has its own ranking, and its schools a national rank, only from 10 rated schools: below that, the sample is too small for a place to mean anything.
A school without an active website (condition 2) can keep a “listed, not ranked” entry in the schools directory.
The five pillars and the score
| Pillar | Weight | Criteria | Weight per criterion |
|---|---|---|---|
| Trust | 30 % | 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7 | 4.3 % |
| Teaching | 20 % | 8, 9, 10, 11 | 5 % |
| Student reviews | 20 % | 13, 14, 15, 16 | 5 % |
| Recognition and employability | 20 % | 12, 18, 25, 17, 19, 20 | 3.3 % |
| Visibility | 10 % | 21, 22, 23, 24 | 2.5 % |
Overall score out of 100 = sum of the pillar scores multiplied by their weights, × 20. A pillar with no rated criterion is left out, and the other pillars' weights are scaled back to 100%.
Example: Samuel & Co Trading, ranked #1. (4.29 × 30 + 3.67 × 20 + 4.67 × 20 + 2.67 × 20 + 2.00 × 10) / 100 × 20 = 73.7 out of 100.
The 25 criteria and their scales
Each criterion is scored from 5 (the best level) to 1. A level missing from a scale is not used for that criterion.
Trust · 30 %
1. Regulator warnings
| 5 | Absent from every list consulted |
|---|---|
| 2 | A related entity (same director, same group) is listed, or the school is named by a foreign regulator solely for lack of a licence in that country (warning shown on its sheet) |
Source: AMF, FCA, FINMA, CySEC, ASIC, CNMV, CONSOB, AMF-UMOA, COSUMAF, FSCA, SEC Nigeria, CMA Kenya, CVM, IOSCO I-SCAN.
2. Registered company and age
| 5 | Listed in the register for 10 years or more |
|---|---|
| 4 | 5 to 9 years |
| 3 | 2 to 4 years |
| 2 | Under 2 years |
| 1 | No company named on the website |
Source: The country's company register when it offers an open search (France: SIRENE; United Kingdom: Companies House; Brazil: CNPJ), otherwise GLEIF (LEI), otherwise Wikidata (founding date, only for an entity whose official website is the school's: universities, grandes écoles). n/a when the entity is named but its country's register cannot be searched freely and no other source finds it: the country never enters into a score. A company struck off, missing from the register consulted or at a different address is checked by hand before any score.
3. Transparency: price, refunds, legal notice, contact
| 5 | All 4 points |
|---|---|
| 4 | 3 points |
| 3 | 2 points |
| 2 | 1 point |
| 1 | None |
Source: The school's website. Points: price shown, refund terms, legal notice (company name and address), contact (email or phone).
4. Named, verifiable instructors
| 5 | All named, verifiable background |
|---|---|
| 4 | Named, background only stated |
| 3 | Only one named |
| 2 | First name or pseudonym |
| 1 | None |
Source: The school's website, LinkedIn, publications.
5. Honest marketing, no promise of profit
| 5 | Visible risk warning, no promise |
|---|---|
| 4 | Neither promise nor warning |
| 3 | Profit testimonials without a warning |
| 2 | Implied promise (“financial freedom”, suggested income) |
| 1 | Stated or guaranteed profit, signals sold as sure gains |
Source: The school's website, exact quotation and date.
6. Secure website
| 5 | No alert, certificate valid for more than 14 days |
|---|---|
| 3 | Certificate expiring within 14 days |
| 1 | Invalid certificate |
Source: Technical check, public phishing and malware lists.
7. Protected domain (SPF, DMARC, headers)
| 5 | 5 points out of 5 |
|---|---|
| 4 | 4 |
| 3 | 3 |
| 2 | 2 |
| 1 | 0 or 1 |
Source: DNS and headers. Points: SPF, DMARC present, DMARC set to quarantine or reject, HSTS, at least two other security headers. n/a for a school whose website is hosted by Tradoshi.
Teaching · 20 %
8. Curriculum coverage
| 5 | 6 areas out of 6 |
|---|---|
| 4 | 5 |
| 3 | 3 or 4 |
| 2 | 2 |
| 1 | 0 or 1 |
Source: Published curriculum. Areas: technical analysis, fundamental and macro analysis, risk management, psychology, trading plan and journal, products and regulation.
9. Real practice
| 5 | Supervised live account or live trading, plus a simulator |
|---|---|
| 4 | Simulator or trading room, plus live sessions |
| 3 | Live sessions only |
| 2 | Exercises, case studies |
| 1 | Videos only |
Source: Published curriculum.
10. Mentoring and support
| 5 | Named mentor, trade reviews and an active community |
|---|---|
| 4 | 2 of the 3 |
| 3 | 1 of the 3 |
| 2 | Occasional group Q&A |
| 1 | None |
Source: Published curriculum.
11. Cost per training hour
| 5 | Free, or under €20 |
|---|---|
| 4 | €20 to €39 |
| 3 | €40 to €79 |
| 2 | €80 to €149 |
| 1 | €150 or more |
Source: Main program: published price and number of hours. n/a possible when the number of hours is not published.
Student reviews · 20 %
Reviews come from Trustpilot (each profile's public page) and Google (the official Google Places API). When a school has both, the rating is the average of the two, weighted by their number of reviews. Trustpilot's “suspicious reviews” alert is taken into account. The 12-month trend cannot be measured without review dates: this criterion is reserved and is not rated in 2027.
13. Student rating (Trustpilot and Google)
| 5 | 4.6 and above |
|---|---|
| 4 | 4.3 to 4.5 |
| 3 | 4.0 to 4.2 |
| 2 | 3.5 to 3.9 |
| 1 | Below 3.5 |
Source: Trustpilot and Google average weighted by each one's number of reviews, then a Bayesian average: adjusted rating = (v / (v + 20)) × R + (20 / (v + 20)) × C, where v is the total number of reviews, R the weighted rating and C the average of all rated schools. n/a under 5 reviews in total.
14. Number of reviews
| 5 | 500 or more |
|---|---|
| 4 | 200 to 499 |
| 3 | 50 to 199 |
| 2 | 10 to 49 |
| 1 | Fewer than 10 |
Source: Trustpilot and Google total. n/a for a school with no listing at all.
15. Suspicious review warning
| 5 | No Trustpilot alert on the profile |
|---|---|
| 1 | Trustpilot shows an alert about suspicious reviews or misuse |
Source: Trustpilot profile. n/a without a Trustpilot profile.
16. 12-month trend
Source: Reserved: not rated in 2027 (n/a for every school), since review dates are not available.
Recognition and employability · 20 %
This pillar follows three questions, in this order: does the program lead to a qualification? Is that qualification recognized, by a state or by the profession? Does it lead to a job? Then come the institution, its labels and its partners. Employability (criterion 25) weighs only 3.3% of the score: in trading, what counts first is being profitable.
12. Degree-granting program
| 5 | State degree (bachelor's, master's, MSc, MBA awarded by an accredited institution) |
|---|---|
| 4 | Qualification registered by a state (RNCP, RS or a foreign equivalent) |
| 3 | School certificate, with an exam |
| 2 | Certificate of attendance |
| 1 | Nothing |
Source: Published curriculum, registers.
18. Degree recognized by a state or the profession
| 5 | Recognized by a state and by the profession (for example a master's affiliated with the CFA Institute, or a program recognized by the CMT Association or IFTA) |
|---|---|
| 4 | Recognized by a state (national degree, RNCP, RS, state accreditation abroad), or by a professional body (CFA Institute, CMT Association, IFTA, AMF certification) |
| 3 | Only the provider is certified, not the qualification (Qualiopi, eduQua, ISO 9001) |
| 2 | Local approval, or recognition claimed but not found at the body cited |
| 1 | None |
Source: Official registers (RNCP, ministries, state accreditors) and professional bodies' lists; the school's own word is not enough.
25. Employability and career outcomes
| 5 | Employment rate published by an official source or an independent audit, 85% or more in work |
|---|---|
| 4 | Same source, 70 to 84%; or a rate published by the school with its method (cohort, number of respondents, time frame) |
| 3 | Verifiable outcomes: mandatory internship or work-study, or named and confirmed recruiters (banks, asset managers, prop firms, regulated brokers) |
| 2 | Outcomes only stated, with no figure or verifiable recruiter |
| 1 | No information on outcomes |
Source: InserSup (France, master's degrees), Graduate Outcomes and Discover Uni (United Kingdom), College Scorecard (United States), the school's website. A prop firm funded account is not a job. Counted for every school, including personal trading courses.
17. Institutional accreditation
| 5 | Triple (AACSB, EQUIS, AMBA) |
|---|---|
| 4 | Double |
| 3 | One international |
| 2 | National only (master's degree status, CTI, Swiss accreditation…) |
| 1 | None |
Source: Accrediting bodies. n/a for specialist schools and training providers.
19. Labels and awards
| 5 | Award from a recognized independent body, within the last 3 years |
|---|---|
| 4 | Listed in a recognized third-party ranking |
| 3 | Industry label |
| 2 | Unverifiable award |
| 1 | None |
Source: The awarding body.
20. Official partners
| 5 | Exchange, regulator or university, confirmed by the partner |
|---|---|
| 4 | Regulated broker, confirmed by the partner |
| 3 | Partner shown, not confirmed |
| 2 | Unregulated partner |
| 1 | None |
Source: The partner's website.
Visibility · 10 %
21. Domain age
| 5 | 15 years or more |
|---|---|
| 4 | 10 to 14 years |
| 3 | 5 to 9 years |
| 2 | 2 to 4 years |
| 1 | Under 2 years |
Source: Domain register (RDAP), otherwise the first Wayback Machine capture. n/a for a school whose website is hosted by Tradoshi.
22. Websites linking to it
| 5 | Among the 10,000 most linked domains on the web |
|---|---|
| 4 | Among the top 100,000 |
| 3 | Among the top million |
| 2 | Among the top 10 million |
| 1 | Beyond that, or absent |
Source: Common Crawl's public domain graph (harmonic centrality rank, open data), as an absolute rank. A school hosted on a platform (blogspot.com…) does not take the platform's rank. No commercial score (Semrush, Ahrefs) is used.
23. Press mentions, Wikipedia page
| 5 | A Wikipedia page, and 20 or more mentions over 12 months |
|---|---|
| 4 | 20 or more mentions |
| 3 | 5 to 19 |
| 2 | 1 to 4 |
| 1 | None |
Source: GDELT (press), Wikipedia and Wikidata.
24. Social media audience
| 5 | 500,000 or more followers on its main network |
|---|---|
| 4 | 100,000 to 499,999 |
| 3 | 20,000 to 99,999 |
| 2 | 2,000 to 19,999 |
| 1 | Fewer than 2,000 |
Source: Public counters (YouTube, Instagram, X, LinkedIn, Facebook).
How the data is collected
- Official public data: criterion 25 when the program appears in InserSup, Graduate Outcomes or College Scorecard.
- Automated checks: criteria 6, 7 and 21 (certificate, DNS, headers, domain register), 22 (Common Crawl), 23 (GDELT, Wikipedia), and entry condition 2 (active website).
- Regulators' official lists: criterion 1 and entry conditions 3 and 4.
- Reading the school's website, with evidence: criteria 3, 4, 5, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 17, 18, 19, 20 and 25.
- Company registers: criterion 2.
- Review platforms: criteria 13 to 15 (Trustpilot and Google); criterion 16 is reserved.
- Public counters: criterion 24.
Re-evaluation and independence
A school can request the re-evaluation of a criterion, with a fact and evidence, at contact@tradoshi.com; every correction is dated.
The ranking cannot be bought: neither Tradoshi partner status nor any payment enters into a score.