Consumer law advice for higher education providers
Find out your consumer law responsibilities as a higher education provider.
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This guidance was published prior to the unfair commercial practices provisions of the Digital Markets, Competition and Consumers Act 2024 (DMCC Act) coming into force on 6 April 2025. These provisions contain broadly similar prohibitions against unfair and misleading commercial practices as under the previous legislation, the Consumer Protection from Unfair Trading Regulations 2008 (CPRs).
More detail on the legislative differences between the DMCC Act and the CPRs is available in the technical note.
For further guidance, read Unfair commercial practices.
Students have consumer rights. Universities and other higher education providers that don’t meet their obligations to undergraduate students may be in breach of consumer protection law.
This advice sets out how consumer protection law applies to higher education providers. It also includes the Competition and Markets Authority’s (CMA) views on how consumer protection law applies to the higher education sector.
A short guide to consumer protection law for higher education providers is also available.
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Updated guidance published
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First published.