EDUCATION - Many universities 'breach consumer law', says Which?

Three-quarters of UK universities surveyed breach consumer law by failing to provide vital information to students, Which? consumer group says

             In September, researchers compared the websites of 50 universities offering psychology courses.

Of these, 38 did not give all the details required under consumer law, including fees, contact hours, workload and teaching staff, says Which?

But university think tank million+ said websites were only part of the picture.

In March, the Competition and Market's Authority (CMA) set out how universities should comply with consumer law, including providing information to allow students to compare courses.

Which? looked at the websites of 28 higher education institutions selected at random, plus 22 others whose practices had been highlighted as "unlawful" in a2014 study by the consumer group.

They assessed information including:

• entry requirements
• core modules
• contact hours and workload
• staff qualifications
• assessment method
• course location and length
• fees and additional costs

Which? claims institutions, including Canterbury Christ Church University and Glasgow Caledonian University, failed to provide some 30% of the information required.

'Defamatory'

Glasgow Caledonian University said it was "committed to providing the best possible service to students and potential applicants and would like to reassure them that we endeavour at all times to present information in the clearest and fairest manner."

Canterbury Christ Church University said it had taken immediate action to address the issues highlighted in the report, "which are extremely important to us".

A spokeswoman said the university was committed to meeting the guidelines and had taken steps to update and display all data, including all fees and costs, directly on its own course web pages,

None of those studied had consistently provided good practice across all areas, the researchers said, but Leeds Trinity University and the University of Greenwich had demonstrated good practice across a number of areas.

Which? executive director Richard Lloyd said it was "disappointing to find that a large number of universities are still breaching consumer law".

"We now need all universities to make better information easily available and accessible for prospective students," he added.... taken from bbcnews