Gloucestershire Uni has QR code wristband for prospectus

Students will be handed out a recyclable paper wristband filled with wildflower seeds

A university has ditched its traditional printed prospectus in favour of wristbands printed with QR codes which link to information online.

The paper wristbands, also filled with a pouch of wildflower seeds, has been launched by Gloucestershire University.

Vice-Chancellor Stephen Marston said it was a "further step" to increase sustainability at the university.

Research by the university estimates more than 2.5 million prospectuses are printed by UK universities each year.

The move towards using a digital prospectus will also rely on using the university's Instagram account.

A Gloucestershire University spokesperson said: "We didn't do this with the intention to save money, but any money saved will be redirected into the Instagram account."

'Right direction'

The university normally prints about 15,000 copies every year for prospective undergraduate students.

It added it was "widely accepted" that only a handful of pages were read and many ended up in the bin as students ended up looking online for the specific information they wanted.

Gemma Mainwaring, the university's students' union welfare officer, welcomed the move.

She said: "A digital university prospectus makes sense.

"As a community, we're all so much more aware of reducing waste, so retiring the printed prospectus is definitely a move in the right direction.

"Students want their concerns on issues like sustainability heard and I think the university is responding to these concerns well."

The QR code printed on the wristband links to the digital prospectus