15th November 2017 1:00
By Blue Tutors
With a country full of A Level students frantically researching, applying to and interviewing for universities at this time of year, the current news headlines about misrepresentation are worth keeping an eye on.
Six British universities have been warned to temper the claims made in their promotional booklets and videos, as they have been deemed misleading and inaccurate by the Advertising Standards Authority (ASA). We are all familiar with a little figure manipulation, and who better to make otherwise meaningless numbers seem enticing than these hubs of intellect - but that's just the problem; the numbers are indeed meaningless.
One university boldly made the claim that they were in the top 1% of universities in the world. Several news agencies have subsequently come forward to say, quite rightly, that the world is a rather big place and that to be in the top 1% isn’t all that much of a claim. Guy Parker, the ASA’s Chief Executive has said that it is necessary to provide ‘good evidence’ to prospective students, and that ‘misleading students is not only unfair, but it can lead them to make the wrong decisions for them’.
As a result, universities will be required to follow guidelines about making their claims, to ensure they are 'robust, truthful and useful.' Although many of the universities under investigation have disagreed with the findings, though they have all released statements saying they will conform to the new guidelines.
To flip the argument, however, it has also been said that it is productive to see universities telling applicants more than ever before - so it boils down to this; whether you’re looking for yourself, for your tutee or for your child, take the figures with a pinch of salt. Choose the course you love, rather than the shiniest open day booklet.
Quotations are taken from the BBC website.