Eligibility Criteria

Some criteria groups are about scoring (higher is better). Others are hard gates — the application either clears the bar or it doesn't. Eligibility criteria are for these gates.

Scoring vs eligibility

For criteria like community impact or project quality, partial credit makes sense. A score of 70 is meaningful.

Eligibility is different. A financial history check is not worth 60 points — either the applicant has three years of certified financials or they don't. For these, you want a clear outcome: pass, flag for review, or fail outright.

The three-path pattern

The standard setup for eligibility is three sub-criteria within a single criteria group, each representing a distinct outcome:

Pass — the application clearly meets the requirement. Sub-criterion score: 100. Eligibility met.
Flag — something is ambiguous or a secondary model is in play. Sub-criterion score: 30–60. Reviewer is alerted but not blocked.
Auto-fail — the application clearly fails. Sub-criterion score: 0–29. Reviewer sees a critical flag.

For example, for a "direct delivery" eligibility check:

Pass: "Organisation delivers the programme directly with its own staff."
Flag: "Claims direct delivery but describes a major partnership arrangement."
Auto-fail: "Applicant explicitly describes a pass-through or re-granting structure."

How the hierarchy method works

By default, a criteria group score is the weighted average of its sub-criteria. Switch the scoring method to Hierarchy and the group score becomes the highest score among all sub-criteria instead.

This is what makes the three-path pattern work: Optible selects whichever sub-criterion applies, and hierarchy picks it as the group score. The other sub-criteria don't pull the score down.

What "eligibility met" means on the dashboard

When an eligibility group scores 100, the dashboard shows it as met. Any score below 100 shows as not met. This is intentional — 90 out of 100 is not eligible for a hard gate. It either passes or it doesn't.

Common pitfall

Avoid having two separate criteria groups checking the same eligibility requirement. If one passes and the other fails, the signal becomes confusing. If the logic is complex (e.g. "3 years of certified records OR 2 years of audited accounts"), model it as sub-criteria within a single group.