How we rank providers
Last updated 29 July 2026
This is the complete ranking policy. It is published because a ranking you cannot inspect is a ranking you cannot trust.
Stage one: who is eligible
Before anything is scored, we rule out providers who cannot actually help. A provider is excluded when any of the following is true, and we record the reason so you and your coordinator can see it:
- They do not deliver the support category you asked for.
- They do not travel to your area, and you did not ask for telehealth only.
- They do not offer support in the way you prefer.
- They do not accept your funding management type.
- You asked for registered providers only and they are not registered.
- They do not hold a qualification you said you require.
- They do not support your age group.
- They are not currently accepting new participants.
- They cannot start within the timeframe you need.
- They do not meet something you told us was a deal-breaker.
- They are suspended from the platform.
- You have blocked them.
These are absolute. A provider that fails any one of them does not appear, no matter how well they would otherwise score.
Stage two: how the remaining providers are scored
Providers who pass every filter are scored out of 100 using the weights below. This is policy version 2026.07.0. Every change to these weights is versioned, dated and recorded, and the version used for your results is stored with them.
| What we score | Weight |
|---|---|
| Service compatibility | 25 |
| Verified current availability | 20 |
| Geographic fit | 15 |
| Relevant provider experience | 10 |
| Language and communication fit | 10 |
| Participant preferences | 8 |
| Provider responsiveness | 5 |
| Continuity history | 4 |
| Verified participant feedback | 3 |
| Total | 100 |
What we never use
The following are excluded from ranking by design. They are not weighted at zero — they are not available to the ranking code at all, and we run automated tests that fail our build if any of them appear:
- Subscription tier
- Subscription plan
- Advertising spend
- Provider revenue
- Founder affiliation
- Any affiliation with My Support Finder
- Ownership relationship
- Sponsored placement
Paying for our provider tools does not move a provider up your results. Neither does any ownership or personal relationship between a provider and the people who run My Support Finder. Where such a relationship exists, we disclose it on the provider's profile.
Availability freshness
Providers are asked to reconfirm their capacity every 7 days. After 14 days without confirmation we mark it as not confirmed recently, lower our confidence in the result, and stop including that provider in “available now” results. We keep their profile visible with a plain warning rather than hiding them, because an out-of-date listing you can see is better than one you cannot.
What a score is not
A match score is a measure of fit against what you told us. It is not clinical advice, not a quality rating, and not a guarantee. It does not mean a provider is safe, suitable or available — it means that on the information we hold, they appear to fit what you asked for. You decide.
Sponsored placement and advertising
If we ever show sponsored placement, it will be visually separated from organic results and clearly labelled as advertising. It will never be mixed into a ranked list. As at the date above, we do not run any sponsored placement.
Manual changes
Platform staff can suspend a provider or apply conditions to their listing, always with a recorded reason and an audit event. Staff cannot manually promote a provider in organic results, and there is no interface that would allow it.