Verification Standard

PathAbroad's promise is “We don't offer these opportunities. We check them.” This page sets out exactly what that means: what we check, who decides, what we keep as evidence, and where our checks stop.

1. What “checked” means

When we list an opportunity, we have checked, on the organisation's own website, that:

the website really belongs to the organisation offering it;
the page describes this opportunity;
it is accepting applications now, or recruits all year round;
nobody is asking applicants to pay for a guaranteed result.

“Checked” does not mean we offer the opportunity, can influence the decision, or have confirmed that you are eligible. The organisation decides everything, and its own website is always the final word.

2. Official sources only

Every listing links to the organisation's own website or its own hiring system: universities, governments, UN and international agencies, foundations, employers' careers pages and the official application systems employers use (such as Workday or Greenhouse).

We never use as a source: scholarship blogs, opportunity aggregators, job boards, recruitment agencies, social media, messaging groups or video channels. If we found an opportunity through one of these, we list it only if we can confirm it on the official site, and we link to the official site, not to them.

3. How a listing gets on PathAbroad

FoundAn automatic search looks for opportunities on official websites: jobs and internships every Monday, scholarships and fellowships every Thursday, and less-searched sources (university departments, foundations, sports, faith, creative and skilled-trade bodies) every day.
Automatic checksEach one is tested: the link must open, the page must name the organisation and the opportunity, the deadline must be stated on the page and at least five days away, the page must not say applications are closed, it must not ask for money or promise a visa or job, the site must be on our list of trusted official domains, and it must not already be listed. Listings that pass every test go live.
AI reviewAnything that fails a test is read in full by an AI reviewer, twice a day. It opens the official page, searches to confirm the website belongs to the organisation, and decides: approve, reject, or “unsure”. It may only approve if every check passes. It saves the page's own words as evidence for its decision.
A person decides when neededThese always wait for a person (Wilberforce K. Osei, who runs PathAbroad): anything the AI is unsure about; the first listing from any new sports, faith or skilled-trade website; and anything genuine whose applications haven't opened yet. Listings added by hand are checked on the official page by a person before they go live.

The AI never has the last word over a person. If the AI later thinks a listing a person checked has closed, it can't close it on its own. The listing goes back to “Not yet confirmed” until a person looks again.

4. What the labels mean

Each listing shows what kind of opportunity it is:

Applications open: A specific opportunity with a fixed deadline, open now.
Open · apply any time: Recruits all year round, or has no single deadline.
Check current vacancies: An employer's careers page. It isn't one job: it's where that employer posts its current vacancies. These are kept out of our “open opportunities” count.
Ongoing government pathway: A legal work or visa route run by a government, with its own conditions. It is not a job offer.
Not yet confirmed: We found it on an official source but haven't yet confirmed it is accepting applications, or something needs a person to look again. Check the official page carefully before you apply.
Closed: The deadline has passed, or the official page says applications are closed. We keep the page so you can check for the next round.

Each listing page also says how it was checked, with dates:

✓ Checked by PathAbroad when listed: A person checked it on the official page before it went live.
Applications confirmed open on the official page: [date]: On that date, the official page was read in full and showed it accepting applications.
Previously confirmed open … (due for a recheck): It was confirmed open, but more than 30 days ago. It is waiting for its next full check.
Official link working: [date]: On that date, the official link opened. This only shows the page exists; on its own it doesn't prove applications are still open.

5. How often we check again

Every day: every official link is tested. A broken link hides the listing straight away.
Every Wednesday and Saturday: the AI reads up to 12 official pages in full each time, to confirm they are still accepting applications. It takes, in this order: listings not yet confirmed; listings closing within three weeks that haven't been confirmed in the past seven days; then any listing not confirmed in the past 30 days.
Employer careers pages and government routes rely mainly on the daily link test, because they are open all year. Their pages are re-read when a person or a report flags a change.

6. When a listing is closed

The deadline passes. When the official page gives a closing time and time zone (for example "16:00 CET"), we record that exact moment and the listing closes then, wherever you are: every page checks it as it opens, and the database closes it within the hour. When only a date is given, the listing is hidden as soon as that day is over.
The official page says it's closed, even if the deadline we recorded is still in the future.
The official page disappears or the link stops working.
A money red flag appears (see below): the listing is removed at once.
It's a duplicate of a listing we already have.

Every page also asks our database, as it opens, which listings are still open. So a listing that closes early or is withdrawn disappears straight away, without waiting for the site to be rebuilt.

7. Fees and money

PathAbroad is free and never asks you for money. We authorise nobody to collect money on our behalf.

Some genuine applications have a fee paid to the organisation itself, such as a university application fee or a government visa fee. That is not a red flag, and we note it where we see it. These are red flags, and we never list an opportunity that has them:

a fee paid to anyone other than the organisation (an agent, a “processing” service, a private account);
registration, placement, training or “trial” fees to be considered;
any promise of a guaranteed scholarship, job or visa.

8. The evidence we keep

Since 25 October 2026, every check is written to a permanent check log. For each check it records:

the date and time, the kind of check, and who made it (a person, the AI reviewer and its model version, or the automatic link test);
the official address that was checked;
the outcome: open, closed or unsure, and the reason in plain words;
the page's own words that support the decision, and where on the page they appear;
the deadline exactly as written, including the time and time zone if given;
any fee mentioned, and whether it is paid to the organisation itself or to someone else;
a fingerprint of the page that was read, so we can tell later if the page changed.

The log can only be added to. Nobody, not even PathAbroad, can edit or delete a past entry. If an entry turns out to be wrong, a separate correction is added beside it, saying who made it and why. A newer check never erases an older one.

AI decisions made before 25 October 2026 (245 of them) are kept, but are marked “evidence not available”, because the page wording wasn't saved at the time.

9. Who can apply

The “Who can apply” text on each listing is a short summary of the official requirements, such as nationality, degree level or experience. We flag listings that are realistically closed to most African applicants, for example those limited to citizens of one country.

We do not yet confirm each requirement one by one, and a summary can miss a detail. Always read the official eligibility rules in full. The Application Assistant can help you compare your profile with them, but its check is a guide, not a decision.

10. What our checks can't do

An AI reviewer can misread a page. That's why it must save the page's own words, why it can't override a person, and why uncertain listings say “Not yet confirmed”.
We fully re-read up to 24 official pages a week. A listing can change between checks, especially if the organisation closes it early.
When the official page gives only a date, with no time, we treat the deadline as the end of that day. If the organisation actually closes earlier that day, check its page: on the last day, apply as early as you can.
We can't see private emails, application portals behind a login, or decisions made by the organisation.

11. Mistakes and reports

If a listing is closed, wrong, broken or suspicious, report it here. Every listing has a “Report a problem” link. We aim to review reports within five working days, and reports of suspected scams are prioritised. Until a report has been reviewed, don't pay anyone or share personal documents because of a listing you're unsure about: check the organisation's own website directly.

When we correct a listing, the correction is added to the check log; the original record stays.

Version 1.1 · 26 October 2026 (exact closing times added). When these rules change, we update this page and its version number.