Advertising Unlocked FAQs

The IPA have approximately 300 member advertising, media and marketing communications agencies around the UK and each one of them has been asked if they would like to host a school group from their local area. Only schools within 10 miles of a member agency have been contacted, so there is an agency in your local area.

We will be matching schools to agencies in the coming weeks and will then be in touch with further details and confirmation of the agency that your school has been paired with.

In the run up to the event, you will have direct communications with your nominated agency, so you can finalise details directly – to make sure everything suits you.

We’re asking schools to bring at least 20 students, but the maximum number will depend on the agency you’re paired with. As our member agencies vary in size quite considerably, this will come down to how much space they have!

That being said, if you already know you’d like to bring more students, please let us know and we’ll take that into consideration when matching you with an agency. Likewise, if you know you will not be able to bring as many as 20 students, please let us know that too – we may have a smaller agency that would be happy to host a smaller group.

We want you and your students to come away inspired by the idea of advertising as a potential career path, so we will be working with agency leaders to develop a structure for the day that’s full of interesting, engaging and fun activities. But, as each agency is different, they will also have the freedom to tailor the content to demonstrate what they do – and make the day as interesting as possible for your students.

We have not set start and end times; you will be free to agree this directly with your agency, once you’ve been paired. However, we’re suggesting a ‘half-day’s’ worth of activities, from mid-morning to mid-afternoon, meaning you’ll have enough time to travel to your agency in the morning and the day should not finish considerably (if any) later than a regular school day.

No – Advertising Unlocked is a free event to attend; funded by the IPA and our member agencies.

Yes, you are responsible for organising and funding your own transport on the day of the event. We will only match you with an agency that is within your local area (within 10 miles of your school).

We’re encouraging our member agencies to maintain contact and build relationships with you – their local school. We hope this will lead to a closer relationship between schools and the creative industries and lead to expanding career opportunities within advertising, media and marketing communications, for all students. Something, which the IPA is passionate about supporting.