An increasing number of Australian school students are applying for an early offer to university, before they have their exam results back.

Last Thursday, nearly 16,000 students in New South Wales and the Australian Capital Territory got an early offer through the University Admissions Centre, after a 3% growth in applications from last year. This follows a 19% increase^[1] in applications between 2023 and 2024.

But amid some concerns about the popularity of these schemes – what does it do to students’ motivation for their final exams? – there has been little research into who is doing this and why.

In our new report^[2] we survey almost 4,000 Year 12 students about their thoughts on early offers.

Read more: If a Year 12 student gets an early offer for uni, does it mean they stop trying?^[3]

How do early offers work?

Many Australian universities allow Year 12 students to apply for an undergraduate place in a wide range of courses before they finish the school year.

Criteria for entry include a combination of Year 11 results or predicted ATAR, a recommendation from school, personal statements or extracurricular activities.

Typically announced from September, the scheme^[4] allows students to receive early acceptance into university before undertaking their final exams. There may be conditions students still need to meet, such as receiving certain scores and passing Year 12. But some offers are unconditional.

This is in contrast to the main round of offers, which come out in January, after exams are over and results are released.

Our research

In our new report, we analysed data from the GENERATION study, a national survey of young people conducted by the Australian National University. Students were recruited from all Australian states and school sectors. Here, we report findings from 3,821 young people who were completing Year 12 in 2024.

University aspirations were high among these Year 12 students, with 69% reporting they planned to go to university, either immediately after finishing school or sometime in the future.

In this round of data, we looked at which students were also applying for early offers, and their motivations for doing so.

Who applied?

We surveyed students between May and July of 2024. Overall, 46% of all Year 12 students reported they were either planning to apply, were in the process of applying, or had already applied to a university through an early offer scheme.

There were significant differences between states and territories.

For example, 71% of students in New South Wales and the Australian Capital Territory reported planning to apply for an early offer, as most universities in these jurisdictions have early offer schemes and there is a centralised application process.

Fewer students applied for early offers in Victoria (37%) and South Australia (25%). This is likely because two of the largest universities in Victoria did not have an early offer scheme in place, and no universities in South Australia have a scheme.

Female students more likely to apply

Female students were more likely to apply than their male peers (60% compared to 44%). Students from private schools were slightly more likely to apply for an early offer than students from government schools (57% compared to 54%).

We also explored whether educationally disadvantaged students were more or less likely to apply for an early offer.

We already know students from an equity group – those from regional/remote areas and disadvantaged schools and those with a disability or from an Indigenous background – are less likely^[5] to attend university than the general population. The federal government wants to boost^[6] university participation from these underrepresented groups.

Overall, we found the percentage of students who intended to apply for an early offer was lower for equity students (47%) compared to students not in an equity group (59%). However, among students who planned to go to university, the proportions were similar (64% and 69% respectively).

Some students said applying early allowed them to take advantage of equity schemes. As one government school student told us:

Some universities offer equity scholarships for disadvantaged students. I’m a foster kid who left home to escape domestic violence and abuse, so these opportunities are really helpful.

Why are they applying?

Students also reported other reasons for applying for an early offer. This included guaranteeing a place at university. As one student from an ACT government school told us, he wanted to “more effectively plan my future”.

Other students wanted a safety net if other plans did not work out. A Victorian private school student explained, “I want to have as many options as possible for university […].”

Students also told us an early offer could reduce stress in an already stressful year of exams, future planning and decisions. In a previous report^[7], we found 31% of Year 12 students reported significant levels of distress. As one student from a Tasmanian private school told us:

I do get quite anxious and suffer from burnout. [An early offer] gets the stress of applying for uni out of the way early.

Do students slack off?

Some schools have raised concerns^[8] students who get an early offer no longer try as hard with their studies for the remainder of Year 12.

While the timing of our survey means we can’t directly test this hypothesis (students were surveyed before getting offers), we did test whether levels of student engagement in Year 11 were associated with planning or applying for an early offer. We had measured the same students’ engagement levels in an earlier survey in 2023.

We found 67% of highly engaged students – those who reported active participation in class and worked hard to meet teacher expectations – wanted to apply for an early offer. This compares to 54% of students rated as low engaged students in Year 11.

So this does not suggest students applying for an early offers scheme intend to slack off. Rather it suggests highly engaged students are planning to apply, perhaps because they want more certainty and to relieve stress.

The next round of our survey (currently being conducted) will give us more insight, as we track the same group through end of school and beyond.

References

1. ^{^} 19% increase (www.uac.edu.au)
2. ^{^} new report (polis.cass.anu.edu.au)
3. ^{^} If a Year 12 student gets an early offer for uni, does it mean they stop trying? (theconversation.com)
4. ^{^} scheme (www.uac.edu.au)
5. ^{^} less likely (theconversation.com)
6. ^{^} wants to boost (ministers.education.gov.au)
7. ^{^} previous report (theconversation.com)
8. ^{^} raised concerns (www.theaustralian.com.au)