New guidance on marketing to students

The ASA has recently issued new guidance aimed at businesses and organisations that advertise or otherwise market to students. It includes reminders of a range of issues and activities covered under the CAP (non-broadcast) and BCAP (broadcast) codes of advertising practice, including:

• Marketing involving the promotion of alcohol which features anyone in a significant role who is or looks under 25 (which CAP notes is likely to include the “vast majority” of students)
• There are equivalent provisions concerning gambling.
• Adverts featuring juvenile or irresponsible behaviour that students might conceivably try to emulate.
• A reminder of the criminal offences in the Skills and Post-16 Education Act 2022 targeted at those providing or advertising “contract cheating services”, also known as “essay mills”.

The latest CAP guidance does not specifically reference marketing of higher education providers and courses to students and prospective students, but it is worth a reminder that:

• The advertising codes will apply to most public facing materials not just obviously marketing materials; so the rules will apply to university websites, prospectuses and anything else put in the public domain aimed at students.
• The ASA has previously provided specific guidance to the sector on comparative advertising.
• Existing consumer law also applies to materials directed at students and prospective students. This includes, for example, prohibition of unfair commercial practices such as misleading actions and omissions, including the provisions introduced last year to tackle fake and misleading reviews and to further strengthen requirements around clear and transparent pricing information. Strong enforcement powers are available to consumer enforcement bodies such as the CMA and Trading Standards, including fines of up to 10% of annual global turnover and in some cases even criminal prosecutions.
• The Office for Students’ regulatory framework includes requirements on registered providers in connection with consumer law through the “C” conditions of registration. It is expected that these will be further strengthened in the autumn through proposed condition of registration C6: treating students fairly, which includes marketing and advertising activities in its scope.
• The OIA is also able to consider student complaints concerning misleading information in advertising material.

Our team is highly experienced in advising education clients on a range of advertising, consumer and regulatory compliance matters; do get in touch with the authors or your usual Mills & Reeve contact if you need help in these or other compliance matters.

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