Leeds Beckett University - City Campus,
Woodhouse Lane,
LS1 3HE
Money’s too tight to mention – but not for students getting financial rewards for good grades!
Students from London and the North West are most likely to get a financial reward whereas those from Yorkshire and the East of England are out of luck, with the least chance of being offered this incentive.
The independent survey questioned 1,070 A Level, Advanced Higher and BTEC students from across the country about the run up and aftermath of exam results day.
When it comes to rewards for good exam results, males lead the way with 51.9% being offered an incentive for passing their exams compared to 43.3% of females, and again males led the way for the average amount of money they are offered for an A* grade in A Levels - £448 compared to £259 for females.
Further survey results also seem to suggest that the British economy is on the up. Compared to in 2015, students are nearly four times more likely to be given a laptop and over three times more likely to receive a smartphone, which is good news as phones and laptops are the most important items most students will take with them to university, with photos of loved ones in third place.
The top five incentives offered for good grades are:
- Money – 58.6%
- Laptop – 20.1%
- Meal – 19.8%
- Holiday – 14.1%
- Mobile phone / Smartphone – 13.2%
Commenting on the psychology behind students receiving incentives, Leeds Beckett University expert in Behavioural Change, Dr Divine Charura, said: “From the moment we are born our behaviour is conditioned by incentives. Incentive psychology theory suggests that behaviour is motivated by a desire for reinforcement or incentives. Behaviour is motivated by an attraction to external goals, such as rewards, money or recognition.”
Despite the incentives, students from the North East (59.5%) are the least confident about their exam results whilst those in Northern Ireland are the most confident (88%). The results also showed that males are generally more confident about their exam results than females.
When it comes to getting to university, the top concern that students have is budgeting, although, compared to two years ago, the number of those worried has dropped considerably to 19.6% from 33%. Students in the East of England and Yorkshire are the most worried about budgeting whilst at university.
Making friends is the next concern on the list, with those in Scotland most worried about it. However, making friends is also on the list of things students are most looking forward to along with studying a subject they’re passionate about and progressing career aspirations. Surprisingly, despite their reputation for partying, only 9% of students surveyed chose nightlife as the thing they were most looking forward to about going to university.
One thing remains consistent through the years though: Mums are still the first person most students call (57%) after they get their exam results. They’re also the person that most students ask for advice about university (22.3%) and which career path to choose (21.2%). Dads are the least likely to be asked, beaten into third place by teachers.
When it comes to who they’re going to miss when they come to university, it’s good news for both parents but bad news for siblings – 49.1% will miss their parents most but only 9% chose their siblings.
Leeds Beckett has created a dedicated microsite for clearing which offers prospective students lots of advice on how to make the correct decision, particularly when their results are not what they were expecting – www.leedsbeckett.ac.uk/clearing