Study highlights unconditional offer-dropout rate link

Research in the United Kingdom shows that students who are given unconditional offers are more likely to drop out of university than those who are forced to earn their place with grades, writes Camilla Turner for The Telegraph.

The drop-out is 10% higher among undergraduates who were handed university places regardless of their A-level results than it would have been if they had been given ordinary conditional offers, according to a new analysis by the Office for Students.

A quarter of students now receive at least one unconditional offer, the latest figures show, despite government pressure on universities to crack down on the practice. Fierce competition between universities to attract students has seen the number of unconditional offers surge from 2,985 in 2013 to 75,845 this year, up by more than 2,440%. In the past year alone, there has been a 12% rise.
Full report on The Telegraph site