FundingAtlas

Editorial

Methodology

How we source, verify, classify and maintain UK business funding information.

1. How grants are sourced

Every programme on FundingAtlas originates from an identifiable official source: a UK government department, devolved administration, public agency, accredited delivery partner, or named programme owner. We do not list programmes from intermediaries, brokers or referral networks unless we can trace funding back to the underlying public source.

New programmes are added by editors after the source page is read in full and the funding instrument, eligibility, value range and application route are confirmed against that page. Each grant record stores a source_url linking back to the official page so any claim on FundingAtlas can be independently verified.

2. Verification process

  • The official source URL must be live and operated by the funder (or a named delivery partner).
  • Funding type, business stage and amount range are taken directly from the source, not inferred.
  • Eligibility text is paraphrased — never copied — and reviewed for accuracy against the source.
  • Where a programme has multiple strands, each strand is captured separately when it materially differs.
  • Closed, paused or replaced programmes are unpublished rather than left in catalogue.

3. Classification methodology

Each programme is tagged against four controlled taxonomies: funding type (grant, loan, equity, tax incentive, voucher, prize, support), business stage (idea through established), industry (SIC-aligned categories) and region (UK nations and English regions). A separate objective taxonomy captures what funders are trying to achieve — R&D, exports, net zero, jobs, productivity and so on.

Taxonomies are deliberately stable and limited in size so that classifications remain comparable across providers. We do not auto-tag from text; tags are applied by editors and reviewed when programmes are re-checked.

4. Review cadence

  • Advisor-reviewed grants are read end-to-end by a domain editor and carry a last_editorial_review_at timestamp. These are the programmes most users will encounter first in pathways, comparisons and decision guides.
  • Standard listings are catalogue-quality entries verified at publication and re-checked on a rolling cadence — at minimum when a competition window opens or closes.
  • Source change events (changes detected on the official source URL) are logged and trigger an editor review.

5. Data limitations

FundingAtlas is a guide, not an application portal. Funder rules, deadlines, eligibility and amounts can change without notice; always confirm the current position on the official source before applying. We list programmes we can trace to a public source — bilateral, invitation-only or unpublished funding is out of scope. Statistics elsewhere on the site are computed live from the published catalogue and reflect programmes we have catalogued, not the entirety of UK public funding.

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