Ad description

A website for a personal statement writing service, Oxbridge Personal Statements, www.oxbridgepersonalstatements.com, seen in July 2018, included text on the home page which stated “We write and edit custom personal statements for students applying to all universities, including Oxford and Cambridge, as well as for professionals seeking specialist application support ... UCAS Applicants We custom write and edit personal statements to all 106 UK Universities … Our expert writing and editing team provide an ideal way to perfect your personal statement without losing the element that will make it most special: you! We will help you find your unique voice whilst highlighting your strengths and abilities …”.

A page headed “UCAS Applicants” included text which stated “Industry Leaders Our team consists of the finest writers, many of whom work within the industry as tutors or lecturers. Simply put: if you place an order with Oxbridge Personal Statements, your personal statement will be crafted by an academic ranked within the top 0.1% of the world’s university system … Full of personality Our writers have the tools you need to make your statement shine - without losing sight of the most important element: your personality. Our bespoke statements are written with your talents and character firmly in mind, ensuring that your statement sells your skills in a uniquely personal manner … What is included? Our UCAS personal statements package offers: A coherent yet succinct structure A clear explanation of why you wish to study your chosen course - and why you are qualified to do so. Detailed overview of your skills and achievements. Stylish, precise prose, with faultless spelling, grammar and formatting. A full word and character-count, as dictated by UCAS. Swift turnaround time to ensure any deadlines are met”.

Issue

The complainant challenged whether the ad misleadingly implied that students could submit the personal statement they bought as their own.

Response

Your Choice Personal Statements Ltd t/a Oxbridge Personal Statements said that consumers who used their service were not allowed to submit the work they purchased directly to universities. The work was intended to be used as a model on which to base their own work. They said that the intention was for consumers to understand what universities would expect for an application for their particular subject or academic level. They explained that had always been the case and provided an example of a LiveChat they had had with a consumer in which they explained that the work could not be submitted as their own. They further explained that the terms and conditions had previously referenced a clause which stated that the work was to be used as a model answer only. They said that it was an error that it had been missing from the website at the time of the complaint and it had since been added back in.

Assessment

Upheld

The home page of the website included a number of claims including “Your personal statement, written by professionals”, “Our expert writing and editing team provide an ideal way to perfect your personal statement without losing the element that will make it most special: you!”, and “Our bespoke statements are written with your talents and character firmly in mind, ensuring that your statement sells your skills in a uniquely personal manner”. The page also included information about additional services available from Oxbridge Personal Statements including CV editing, cover letters, professional personal statements and career questions. The page also featured three “Place an order” buttons.

The ASA considered that the overall impression of the home page was that consumers would be able to submit the purchased personal statements as their own, particularly because of the claims that the work would be personalised and show off the candidate’s unique experiences, qualifications and skills, and be tailored to the course of their choice. We considered that this impression was further emphasised by the claims on the website which described how the statement would highlight the candidate’s personal qualities.

At the time the ad was seen there was no information on the website which made explicitly clear that the work purchased was to be used as a model answer. We acknowledged that when consumers asked the company if they could submit the work as their own they were told that they could not, but we noted that consumers could go through the purchase process without speaking to a member of staff. We further understood that Oxbridge Personal Statements intended to amend their terms and conditions to include a clause which would make it clear that the work was only to be used as a model answer. However, we considered that this would not be sufficient to counteract the overall impression created by the home page and the rest of the website.

Because we considered consumers would expect from the ad that they could submit the purchased personal statements as their own without risks, which was not the case, we concluded that 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.    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 3.9 (Qualification).

Action

The ad must not appear again in its current form. We told Your Choice Personal Statements t/a Oxbridge Personal Statements to ensure that their website did not misleadingly imply that students could submit purchased personal statements as their own without risks.

CAP Code (Edition 12)

3.1     3.11     3.3     3.7    


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