Department for Education Transparency in Advertising resources

The overall aim of this guidance is to ensure that any potential applicant is aware of the official data that Discover Uni provides and can use the data to inform their decision making. We ask providers to use their best efforts to ensure that any signposting of the Discover Uni site is as clear as possible.

View and download the DfE guidance

For all advertising, links to the Discover Uni website should be placed in a prominent position to bring the Discover Uni dataset to the reader’s attention. You may do this in a variety of ways using the assets available in the sections above, which you can download and configure for use in your advertising and marketing campaigns. 

• The Discover Uni widget is the preferred means of signposting to the Discover Uni course page,
• If use of the widget is impractical, a reasonable alternative would be to include the Discover Uni logo with hyperlink to the course page and a strapline which links to Discover Uni through a URL. URLs could be used in social media posts, influencer posts and videos, online brochures and digital media assets which advertise the course.
• QR codes set up for Discover Uni course pages can be used for printed or digital adverts which are displayed in public such as posters, brochures, billboards and leaflets. This allows recipient readers of hard copy advertising to access the most up-to-date datasets on Discover Uni.

Information about how to set up the widget, QR codes and other assets is provided in the sections below.

The widget can be embedded in a web page using the HTML 5 Snippet or IFrame. It can be displayed at fixed dimensions either vertically (this is the default), horizontally or responsive. See the widget user guide for information on how to set up the widget in adverts about individual courses.

To set up a QR code you will need to locate the URL for the specific course page or provider information page on the Discover Uni website.

1. From a Discover Uni course or institution details page, right click on the page and select ‘Create QR code’ in the menu. This can be dropped into the template provided.
2. Alternatively, you can access a free QR code generator such as Adobe Express.
   1. Click on ‘Create your QR code now’
   2. Paste the relevant Discover Uni course page into the URL box provided and select ‘Create QR code.’
   3. You can add the QR code into any of the QR code media assets which have been made available for advertising.
3. You can also create a QR code which can be tailored to include customised colours and design and the Discover Uni logo. You can use platforms such as qrcodemonkey to set this up.
   1. Add the Discover Uni course URL link to ‘Enter content’
   2. You have the option to set the colours, add the logo or customise the design.
   3. Select ‘Create QR code’ which can be downloaded.
   4. Add the QR code into any of the QR code media assets which have been made available for the advertising.

Adverts for an institution or subject taught at the institution should signpost to the Discover Uni website. Signposting should be clear and placed in a prominent position. It should use the Discover Uni logo or one of the logo-based assets with a link to the Discover Uni homepage or the institution details page, along with text or a strapline as suggested in the section above.