Almost half of sixth-formers want government control over the number of unconditional offers handed out by universities, Tes can reveal. 

According to a survey carried out by The Student Room - and shared exclusively with Tes - pupils worry that accepting an unconditional offer could reduce their motivation to revise for their exams. 

The Student Room polled 557 pupils in Year 13 studying A-levels, who are currently in the university recruitment process and planning to begin a full-time undergraduate degree in September 2019.

According to their research, 46 per cent of respondents thought the government should regulate how many unconditional offers were made by universities. 

A further 22 per cent were unsure, and 33 per cent did not think this should be regulated. 

While 70 per cent of respondents said they were or would be happy or extremely happy to receive an unconditional offer, the over-use of unconditional offers was found likely to damage a university’s reputation.

More than half of respondents (59 per cent) said their opinion of a university’s reputation would be quite or extremely negative if they found out that it had made a lot of unconditional offers.

Fewer than one in five (18 per cent) said that accepting an unconditional offer would have no impact on their school work, while 39 per cent said they would feel less motivated to revise for their exams.

Students taking part in the survey voiced concerns that universities offering unconditional offers just wanted to fill places on their courses, and that the practice exploited students’ insecurities. 

“Personally, I believe they are handed out too freely,” said one student. ”[Four out of five] of my offers state that they will be unconditional if I put them as my firm, which makes me believe that the universities do not actually care if I get the grade, instead, they just care about how many places that they fill, and want to guarantee as many as possible with the appeal of an unconditional offer.”

Another student commented: “I think they can prey on the insecurities of strong students who could do better but are scared of missing a conditional offer.”

Hannah Morrish, higher education lead at The Student Room, said: “The applying to uni journey can be a highly vulnerable time for young adults who are making a huge life decision feeling a lot of pressure to get it right.

“It’s extremely worrying that unconditional offers are influencing applicants to re-think their choice and ultimately make the wrong decision for them based on the fear that they won’t achieve their desired grades.”

According to figures from Ucas, more than a third of 18-year-olds applying to university in 2018 received a form of unconditional offer before completing their qualifications.

School and university leaders have called for unconditional offers to be reformed to cut their number and to stop students being “disadvantaged”.