Background
THIS ADJUDICATION REPLACES THAT PUBLISHED ON 20 FEBRUARY 2013. THE WORDING HAS BEEN CHANGED BUT THE 'NOT UPHELD' DECISION REMAINS THE SAME.Ad description
The British Wheel of Yoga Qualifications (BWYQ) website, www.bwyq.org.uk, included a page headed "ABOUT THE BWYQ" which stated "BWYQ is an autonomous awarding organisation, approved by Ofqual, which currently offers qualifications in Yoga. We work in partnership with a variety of organisations, including Sector Skills Councils, on the design and development of Yoga qualifications and plan to extend our provision in future. Our mission is to provide Yoga teachers and practitioners with qualifications which are relevant and fit for purpose through a quality assured and cost-effective qualification awarding service The Ofqual seal of regulatory approval means that our centres can have every confidence in the robustness of the arrangements and procedures that underpin BWYQ qualification design and delivery. In line with our parent organisation, The British Wheel of Yoga, we are committed to promoting a greater understanding of Yoga through our work as an awarding body. We aim to do this through working towards: Offering the best Yoga qualifications in the UK. Setting and maintaining the qualification standards in Yoga in the UK".
Issue
Yoga Community Interest Company, who believed that BWYQ did not set standards but promoted the competencies and standards set by other organisations, challenged whether the claim "Setting and maintaining the qualification standards in Yoga" was misleading.
Response
British Wheel of Yoga t/a The British Wheel of Yoga Qualifications (BWYQ) said they were recognised by Ofqual as an Awarding Organisation. They said this recognition was achieved subsequent to a rigorous application process and was subject to an ongoing regulatory framework. They said they had developed, and were in the process of developing, qualifications which were nationally recognised throughout the education sector. They funded the commissioning and development of some of the qualifications within their portfolio. They therefore believed that because the BWYQ actively developed qualifications which were nationally recognised at different levels, this contributed to the setting of a range of standards relating to the teaching of yoga and complementary areas of study. They said they were also developing an expanding portfolio of qualifications, which included the promotion of competencies and standards set by other organisations.
Assessment
Not upheld
The ASA considered that the claim "Setting and maintaining the qualification standards in Yoga in the UK", in the context of the web page, would be understood by consumers to mean that BWYQ set and maintained standards in yoga qualifications in line with Ofqual's requirements for such qualifications. BWYQ had developed some of the qualifications that they offered and we considered it was therefore reasonable for them to claim that they set and maintained standards in yoga. While we acknowledged that the advertiser recognised that the claim should not refer to the UK but to England and Northern Ireland, and had withdrawn the UK reference, we concluded that otherwise the claim had been substantiated and was not misleading.
We investigated the ad under CAP Code (Edition 12) rules
3.1
3.1
Marketing communications must not materially mislead or be likely to do so.
and
3.3
3.3
Marketing communications must not mislead the consumer by omitting material information. They must not mislead by hiding material information or presenting it in an unclear, unintelligible, ambiguous or untimely manner.
Material information is information that the consumer needs to make informed decisions in relation to a product. Whether the omission or presentation of material information is likely to mislead the consumer depends on the context, the medium and, if the medium of the marketing communication is constrained by time or space, the measures that the marketer takes to make that information available to the consumer by other means.
(Misleading advertising) and
3.7
3.7
Before distributing or submitting a marketing communication for publication, marketers must hold documentary evidence to prove claims that consumers are likely to regard as objective and that are capable of objective substantiation. The ASA may regard claims as misleading in the absence of adequate substantiation.
(Substantiation) but did not find it in breach.
Action
No further action necessary.
