Visit Scotland | Alba

How do we determine your Star rating?

The Quality Assurance Grading Visit comprises of an assessment of the quality of the entire visitor experience. It takes into account every point of interaction visitors will have when engaging with your business.  

Please note, this is a quality based scheme and there are no facility requirements within the scheme.

In this article:

1. What do the Star ratings mean?

Our Star ratings are represented by 1 to 5 stars

  • 5 Star - reflects an exceptional standard, with an overall percentage score of 85% to 100%
  • 4 Star - reflects an excellent standard, with an overall percentage score of 78% to 84% 
  • 3 Star - reflects a very good standard, with an overall percentage score of 71% to 77% 
  • 2 Star - reflects a good standard, with an overall percentage score of 64% to 70% 
  • 1 Star - reflects an acceptable standard, with an overall percentage score of 55% to 63%

2. How we score quality

A potential 47 different elements across the following nine areas are assessed depending on the nature of the business.

Scores from 0 to 10 are awarded for all the elements assessed. This will result in an overall percentage score that will place your establishment within one of five grading bands.

However, it is not simply the overall percentage score that determines the final award.

If any of the 47 potential elements assessed scores zero this will result in no award being confirmed. Please note, where any element is not applicable, no assessment will be made and there will be no penalty for not providing any of these facilities or services.

In addition, for an award to be confirmed, a visitor attraction must score a minimum of seven for any element relating to cleanliness.

3. Areas and elements scored