Higher education providers: short guide to consumer protection law
How consumer protection law applies to higher education providers, and how to comply with it.
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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 summary sets out how consumer protection law applies to higher education providers with advice on how to comply.
Longer advice for providers is also available.