Ad description
A website, www.icce-global.org, promoting the International Certificate of Christian Education (ICCE). A page titled "ICCE and NCSC Graduates in Higher Education" in the "Universities" section contained text that stated "Over the years, graduates of the NCSC and ICCE programmes have gained entry into a wide number of institutions. Each university has its own admissions procedure and assesses each student's application on its own merit taking into consideration all qualifications. The completion of ICCE and NCSC certificates, as with any qualification, does not guarantee a place at any institution. Whilst the universities listed below may not currently regard ICCE as a standard entrance qualification, the list shows universities that have accepted ICCE and NCSC graduates, at the time of their application, without any additional academic qualification". A list of UK universities was featured below the text.
Issue
The complainant, who was a journalist and a campaigner for changes to the ACE curriculum and ICCE qualification, challenged whether the ad misleadingly implied that the institutions listed had accepted ICCE and NCSC graduates without other additional academic qualifications.
Response
International Certificate of Christian Education (ICCE) stated that they refuted the complainant's assertion that the ad was misleading. They stated that the ad made clear that each university had its own admissions procedure and assessed each student's application on its own merits, taking into account all qualifications.
The ICCE also pointed out that the ad specified that the completion of the ICCE and the National Christian Schools' Certificates (NCSC) did not guarantee a place at any institution. They also highlighted the wording in the ad which stated that the universities listed might not regard ICCE as a standard entrance qualification but had accepted ICCE and NCSC graduates without any additional academic qualification at the time of their applications.
ICCE understood that the complaint was brought on the basis of information obtained from Freedom of Information (FOI) requests submitted to the listed institutions, some of which stated that they accepted ICCE graduates on the basis of other qualifications, others stated that they did not hold records of having accepted ICCE or NCSC graduates, that they assessed applications on a case by case basis, or that they did not accept ICCE or NCSC certificate as an entrance qualification.
ICCE stated that they held first-hand information that contradicted the FOI responses provided by some of the institutions. They said that they knew of ICCE or NCSC graduates who did not hold any additional academic qualifications, such as A Levels, and had been accepted into, attended or completed a degree at one of the listed universities.
ICCE submitted a list of ICCE and NSCS graduates, including the relevant subject of their certificate course, who were accepted to the institutions listed in the ad. They also provided email confirmation from a number of ICCE graduates from that list, which contained details such as the institution and degree into which they had been accepted, the status of their degree, the ICCE or NCSC course that they had undertaken and confirmation of any additional academic qualifications, such as GCSEs and A Levels.
Assessment
Upheld
The ASA noted from the FOI data provided by the complainant that some of the institutions listed in the ad accepted ICCE graduates; some only accepted applicants who completed the ICCE or NCSC on the basis of other qualifications; some did not hold records of having accepted ICCE or NCSC graduates or were unable to confirm whether or not they had done so; some stated that they assessed each application based on individual merits; and some did not recognise the ICCE as an entrance qualification or did not have an acceptance policy on the ICCE qualification.
We acknowledged ICCE's comments that the ad stated each university followed its own admissions procedures and assessed each individual application on its merit, taking into account all qualifications, and that the completion of ICCE and NCSC certificates did not guarantee a place at any institution.
However, we noted that the text that referred to the list of institutions stated "Whilst the universities listed below may not currently regard ICCE as a standard entrance qualification, the list shows universities that have accepted ICCE and NCSC graduates, at the time of their application, without any additional academic qualification". We considered that most consumers were likely to understand from this wording that all of the institutions included in the following list, though they might not deem the ICCE and NCSC to be a standard entrance qualification, had accepted ICCE and NCSC graduates who did not hold additional academic qualifications, such as A Levels, at the time of their applications. We did not consider the preceding wording referring to universities' own admissions procedures negated that impression.
Although we considered the email confirmation provided by ICCE and NSCS, we had not seen any further formal confirmation that indicated that the graduates had been accepted to the institutions listed without any other academic qualifications at the time of their applications. Further, we noted that ICCE submitted graduates' confirmation for some of the institutions listed in the ad, but not all.
For these reasons, we did not consider the evidence submitted was adequately robust in substantiating the claim made about the listed institutions in the ad and therefore concluded the ad was misleading.
The ad breached CAP Code (Edition 12) rules 3.1 3.1 Marketing communications must not materially mislead or be likely to do so. (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).
Action
The ad must not appear in its current form again. We told the International Certificate of Christian Education to ensure that future ads did not give the impression that all of the institutions listed accepted ICCE and NCSC graduates who did not hold additional academic qualifications at the time of their applications unless they held sufficiently robust evidence to support the inclusion of an institution in the list.
