Investors and lenders
Examining a founder narrative, an earnings narrative or an investment thesis against published criteria.
EYQA establishes and governs the Standard for Narrative Defensibility.
EYQA is an independent standards body. The Narrative Defensibility Standard provides common criteria for evaluating whether an organisation's claims about its strategy, products, governance, people, operations or impact withstand scrutiny. It is published, versioned and governed.
- 6
- dimensions
- 3
- stages, from validation to governance
- 27
- published instruments
- 100%
- of ratings issued after human review
The problem
Narrative fragility. Organisations commit to narratives without ever testing them. Claims without evidence collapse when investors, regulators, customers or employees push back, and evidence without a coherent argument does not earn trust.
When a narrative fails under scrutiny, four outcomes are exposed. Their initials give EYQA its name:
- Experience
- How customers, employees and other stakeholders actually encounter what the narrative promised.
- Yield
- What the organisation earns from being believed: revenue, funding, retention and reputation.
- Quality
- Whether what the organisation delivers, runs and reports matches what the narrative claimed.
- Agility
- How well the organisation can change course when evidence or scrutiny shifts, without the narrative breaking.
Different stakeholders evaluate organisational claims using different expectations and methods. Without common evaluation criteria, the same narrative can receive substantially different assessments, with no consistent basis for comparison. The Standard establishes a shared basis for examining evidence, reasoning, context and risk.
Who relies on a rating
A Defensibility Rating gives those who must rely on organisational claims a common, independently assessed basis for examining their defensibility, rather than relying solely on the organisation's own assurances.
Procurement teams and customers
Checking a vendor's product, sales or partnership claims before committing.
Regulators, auditors and assurance teams
Examining ESG, controls, certification and AI capability claims against a published evaluation standard. EYQA assesses the defensibility of the claims, not the underlying systems or regulatory compliance.
Donors and public bodies
Checking that a mission or impact narrative survives outcome-attribution challenge.
Organisations being assessed use the same Standard to find and address weak points before these audiences do. A rating does not imply endorsement by any regulator, auditor, investor or public body.
The Standard
The Narrative Defensibility Standard establishes six common dimensions and their evaluation criteria. Through 27 instruments across ten narrative environments, it evaluates the evidence, reasoning, context and practical implications of organisational narratives. The Standard is versioned and revised through the Council's governance process.
- Evidence What can actually be established?
- Logic Does the reasoning hold together?
- Perspective How might different stakeholders interpret it?
- Risk Awareness What assumptions, dependencies and failure conditions could weaken it?
- Contextual Fit Does it remain appropriate for its audience and environment?
- Actionability What can the organisation do with what the assessment reveals?
Version 1.0
How it works: three stages
The same three stages are defined at standards.eyqa.org. Each stage has defined entry conditions and a distinct output. A diagnostic is not a Defensibility Rating. Governance operates as the final control point for authorised deployment, while independent oversight applies across all three stages.
Stage I · Open, free access
Validation
Start with the free diagnostic on the Stress-Test Hub. Validation establishes the evidentiary baseline and shows where the narrative is exposed. Output: the documented evidentiary record.
Stage II · Requires Stage I for a Rating
Scrutiny
A licensed Narrative Assessor tests the narrative under adversarial review against documented criteria. Output: a Defensibility Profile and, where earned, a Defensibility Rating.
Stage III · Requires Stage II
Governance
The assessment outcome proceeds through the applicable governance controls to determine whether deployment may be authorised and, if so, within what scope. Output: Deployment Authorisation.
- Defensibility Profile
- The findings produced through Scrutiny: Survives, Conditional, Vulnerable or Unresolved.
- Defensibility Rating
- The assessed level of conformance, Bronze, Silver or Gold, against the applicable criteria of the Standard.
- Deployment Authorisation
- The permitted scope of deployment associated with the applicable rating and governance requirements.
A Defensibility Rating is a conformance statement recording the outcome of an assessment against the applicable criteria of the Narrative Defensibility Standard. It is not a certification or an audit opinion. It does not guarantee compliance, funding, partnerships, commercial success or future performance, and it does not verify every claim underlying a narrative. No automated system issues ratings, and AI-assisted previews do not replace independent human assessment.
Who does what
EYQA sets and governs the Standard. Responsibilities are kept separate so that those who apply the criteria do not set them.
The Council and the Standard
The Council is responsible for the Narrative Defensibility Standard and its revisions. The Hub cannot change the criteria.
standards.eyqa.orgLicensed Narrative Assessors
Assessors conduct assessments independently against the published criteria and are bound by the Code of Practice.
Code of PracticeThe Stress-Test Hub
The Hub provides assessment infrastructure and delivery: a free diagnostic, expert review and AI-assisted preview. A preview does not replace independent human assessment.
elevateyourqa.comThe Public Registry
The Registry records and verifies published outcomes: which narratives hold a Rating, from which assessor, under which version of the Standard.
Request Registry VerificationThe Narrative Defensibility Standard is EYQA's own published standard. It is not a national or international standard.
Governance and safeguards
The Council sets and revises the criteria, the Code of Practice and the Independence Charter, and receives complaints. EYQA's commercial and Hub staff have no vote and no veto.
Assessor firewall
Licensed Narrative Assessors who rate a narrative may not coach the same client on that narrative.
Hub staff firewall
Hub commercial and sales staff have no role in rating decisions or in setting criteria. The Hub cannot change the Standard.
Council declarations
Independence declarations are published with each member's name and declared interests.
Complaints and appeals
Send complaints and appeals to governance@eyqa.org, addressed to the Council Chair. The Governance Charter and Code of Practice are published in full.
Consistent application. Licensed Narrative Assessors are bound by the published Code of Practice, which sets requirements for competence, impartiality, evidence handling and record-keeping. Findings must be traceable to the evidence relied upon, and each rating is recorded against the version of the Standard under which it was issued.
Funding
What EYQA earns from, and what it will never do. Payment does not influence assessment outcomes. A Defensibility Rating cannot be purchased or guaranteed.
What we do not do
- Advise on messaging
- Accept payment contingent on a favourable rating, or charge success fees
- Let the same assessor both rate and coach a client on the same narrative
- Accept undisclosed sponsorship from assessed entities
What we earn from
The standards body
- Narrative Assessor licensing and renewal
- Conformance assessment fees, charged for the process irrespective of outcome
- Registry access: free verification; paid API, bulk access and monitoring alerts
- Academic and institutional licences
The Stress-Test Hub
Assessment delivery, expert review and simulation. Hub fees are never contingent on a rating outcome.
Commercial revenue supports the operation of the assessment infrastructure. It does not purchase a favourable assessment outcome.
Registry
The Public Registry maintains the official record of published Defensibility Ratings and Deployment Authorisations. Verification is free. Submit the narrative's name and the organisation that published it, and the Registry team will confirm its recorded status.
Registry Verification
Requests are handled by email, and no account is needed.
Contact
Choose the address that matches your enquiry.
General enquiriescontact@eyqa.org
Governance, complaints and appealsgovernance@eyqa.org
Conformance and registryconformance@eyqa.org
Narrative assessor licensingassessor@eyqa.org
Academicacademic@eyqa.org
Presspress@eyqa.org
Stage-specific enquiries (validation@eyqa.org and scrutiny@eyqa.org) are listed on the stage pages of the Hub.
