What's Next: Emerging ways to reach under-16s after the ban
When under-16s leave social media in spring 2027, their time will move to four places: games, messaging, AI assistants and the careers platforms they already use in school. Further education providers can have a presence in all four but it might come at a higher cost than self-service digital platforms such as Meta and Snapchat.
This is the third piece in SHC’s series on the ban. The first covered what it does to cost per lead. The second covered the established awareness channels. This one looks further ahead, at what is emerging and how colleges can get involved early.
What Australia has already shown us
Australia's under-16 ban began in December 2025, which gives UK marketers a preview. Teenagers did not go offline. They moved.
On the day the ban started, the three most downloaded alternatives in Australia were Lemon8, a photo and video app built on TikTok's technology, Yope, a private photo-sharing app for friend groups, and Coverstar, which markets itself as a safer TikTok for 9 to 16 year olds.
Two lessons follow. First, attention is displaced, not removed, so there will still be places to reach this audience. Second, the first place it goes is not necessarily where a college should follow. We return to that below.
The more durable shift is towards spaces the UK ban does not cover. Government guidance to date says gaming is not included in the blanket restriction, and messaging services such as WhatsApp are explicitly exempt.
Gaming: the biggest audience colleges are not buying
Gaming is where the largest share of displaced teenage attention is likely to land, and very few colleges advertise there. There are three ways in, in rising order of effort.
In-game advertising. Ads placed inside the game world, on pitch-side boards, billboards and loading screens, bought programmatically like display. It is contextual by nature, needs no personal data, and works as pure awareness.
Esports. Many colleges now run esports courses and teams. Sponsoring or hosting a local schools tournament puts the college in front of Year 10s and 11s through something they chose to attend. It also shows the course instead of describing it.
Branded experiences. A virtual campus or challenge built inside a platform such as Roblox or Fortnite. This is the most expensive route and the hardest to get right, so treat it as a later step.
Gaming carries its own rules. Platforms set their own limits on advertising to younger players, and the government is separately targeting features such as contact with strangers. Buy through reputable partners and keep the creative informational.
Messaging: build an audience you own
Messaging apps are exempt from the ban, which makes opt-in broadcast tools the nearest thing to a social following a college will be able to keep with under-16s.
WhatsApp Channels is the clearest example. A channel is one-way: the college posts, followers read, and nobody can message each other or see who else follows. A prospective student or parent chooses to join, and the college can share open event dates, course spotlights, student stories and deadline reminders.
It is a different model from paid social. Reach is smaller, and every follower has asked to hear from you.
That makes it valuable in the months between first interest and application, when colleges currently rely on retargeting.
Two points of care. Keep it strictly one-way and never move into direct messaging with under-16s. And watch the final regulations, because how broadcast features inside messaging apps are treated has not been spelled out.
AI assistants: the new first search
Teenagers are starting to ask an AI assistant what to do after GCSEs before they ask a search engine or a teacher. Prospects' Early Careers Survey found 18% of UK students and graduates have used ChatGPT or Microsoft Copilot for careers advice, and separate BBC-reported research suggests around two-thirds of 13 to 16 year olds would use AI to help them get a job.
There is no ad to buy here yet. The work is making sure that when a student asks "what can I study near me with grade 4s?" or "is a T Level better than A levels?", the answer includes your college and gets the facts right.
That comes down to the quality of what you publish:
Course pages that state entry requirements, duration, timetable, costs and progression in plain text, not inside images or PDFs
Question-and-answer content written the way a 15 year old would ask it
Consistent, current details on every third-party listing, from course directories to local authority prospectuses
Real outcomes: where last year's students went, in numbers
This is the lowest-cost item in this piece and the one with the longest life. It also improves ordinary search and helps parents, who are asking the same questions.
Careers platforms: already in the classroom
The digital space a Year 11 is most likely to use for this decision is the careers platform their school has chosen. Tools such as Unifrog and Morrisby are where students research options and shortlist providers, during lesson time, with a teacher's encouragement.
No ban touches this, and no algorithm decides who sees you. Yet many colleges treat their presence there as an admin task, with an out-of-date profile and no imagery.
Getting involved is straightforward. Find out which platforms your feeder schools use. Claim and complete the college profile on each. Keep course listings current, and ask what sponsored or featured options exist.
Then give your school liaison team the same campaign messages and assets the paid activity uses, so a student sees one consistent college wherever they look.
A caution: do not chase the loophole apps
Colleges should not follow under-16s onto whichever social app sits just outside the ban. Lemon8, Yope and Coverstar topped the charts in Australia, and something similar will happen here. Three reasons to stay away:
The rules will catch up. Regulators can extend a ban to new platforms, so anything built there may last one term.
It looks wrong. The ban exists to protect children. An education provider seen working around it risks its standing with the parents and schools it depends on.
The test we would apply to any new channel is simple. Would you be comfortable explaining it to a room of Year 11 parents? Games, opt-in channels, AI answers and school careers platforms pass. Loophole apps do not.
How further education providers can get involved
Start with what is cheap and lasting, then test what is paid. None of the first three steps needs new media budget.
Step | What to do | Effort | When |
Audit course pages and third-party listings so AI assistants and search get the facts right | Low | Now | |
Claim and complete profiles on the careers platforms your feeder schools use | Low | Now | |
Launch an opt-in broadcast channel and promote it at open events | Low | This term | |
Test in-game advertising across your catchment | Medium | Before Spring 2027 | |
Sponsor or host a local schools esports event | Medium | Next academic year | |
Consider a branded gaming experience | High | Only once the rest is working |
Run these alongside social while social is still available. Colleges that test this year will know what works in their area before the ban arrives.
If you would like help deciding where to start, talk to the team at SHC on how to surcharge your 27/28 application campaigns to maximise the new world of targeting under 16s.
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