School principals want universities to stop offering places to students before they sit the HSC, saying it is an "appalling practice" that encourages pupils to slacken off during their exams and drags their classmates down with them.
Thousands of students were offered places at universities such as Macquarie, Notre Dame and Wollongong before they began their HSC last week. But other organisations, such as the Universities Admissions Centre, refuse to send out offers before exams due to concerns from schools.
School principals are concerned pre-HSC offers will cause students to slacken off and bring down their peers.
Secondary Principals Council acting president Craig Petersen said pre-exam offers were an "appalling practice" and "we don't support it at all". While they might reduce students' stress, he said, they also caused some of them to lose focus.
"One of the things people don't realise is that your [individual] HSC results are affected by the whole cohort," he said.
"If some students pull up stumps in term three because they have their uni place, the pool of marks is affected. We need all students in every class to do as well as we can to maximise their outcomes."
Complacency during the HSC could also limit the student's own options if they changed their mind. And if four or five students with early offers take the exams less seriously, it could affect the motivation of the rest of the class, Mr Petersen said.
"[Universities] want to get the best students as quickly as they can, so they'll make the early offer to secure the enrolments," he said. "We've got no issue with early entry processes. What we don't want them doing is notifying the students until after the HSC exams."
Peter Fowler, the chair of the NSW Association of Heads of Independent Schools, agreed. He supports alternative tertiary entry pathways, but is concerned about pre-HSC offers.
"It can certainly have a negative impact on the cohort if they put their feet up," he said. "This effect is further exacerbated if there are a number of students within a cohort group who have received pre-HSC uni or Defence Force Academy offers."
But Greg Whitby, head of the Catholic Education Diocese of Parramatta, said early offers were a practical way to relieve the pressure of exams, and were evidence of the "redundancy" of the ATAR.
"The ridiculous hype that comes with the HSC process is one of the most compelling reasons for reform," he said. "An offer of early entry to university means that these students go into the exam process keen to do their best but knowing that they already have some options."
The ATAR is a tertiary entrance rank based on students' results in the HSC. It came under fire last week, with the Gonski Institute for Education calling for it to be overhauled and NSW Education Minister Sarah Mitchell saying she was willing to discuss changes.
But others point out many universities are bypassing the ATAR anyway, and warned that broadening the scope to include non-academic factors risked advantaging wealthy students.
Macquarie University is one of those using non-ATAR entry. It begins making offers in August under its Leaders and Achievers scheme, which looks at co-curricular achievements such as community service and academic performance at school.
The only condition is that students "must complete their HSC to the best of their ability."
Pro Vice-Chancellor of Programs and Pathways Professor Sean Brawley said the university's research showed the early admissions students performed as well as, and often better than, ATAR cohorts once at university.
"Anecdotal evidence from students and their parents is that having an unconditional offer helps reduce the stress and anxiety related to HSC performance, which is a positive outcome and students feel that they perform better," he said.
Macquarie includes all degrees in its early admissions program except actuarial studies (due to high maths requirements), accounting and clinical science. Teaching applicants also need to complete a survey before an offer is made.
Wollongong University made offers under its early admission program this month after students sat for an interview. The Australian Catholic University also makes an early-offer program, which is conditional on students meeting an ATAR requirement.
The UAC does not hold data on the number of pre-HSC offers, but said around 27 per cent of all university offers made to year 12 applicants are based on criteria other than ATAR, such as portfolio or interview.
At most universities offering early admission, some degrees are excluded. Western Sydney University, for example, which makes offers based on HSC results rather than ATAR in December, does not include medicine in its program.
A University of Wollongong spokesman said students receiving early offers had to finish their HSC, achieve an ATAR and meet minimum standards in prerequisite subjects. The admissions process examined student performance in year 11 and 12, including the trial HSC, and looked at their resume and personal attributes.
"UOW considers it beneficial for the welfare of HSC students to be able to offer the security of a place in university as they enter their final exams," the spokesman said.
Catholic Learning Community Stanhope student, Isabella Peralta, already has three-pre HSC offers to study nursing
LIsabella Peralta, from St Mark's Catholic College in Stanhope Gardens, has already been offered a science degree at Macquarie University and places in nursing degrees by Notre Dame and the Australian Catholic University. She plans to choose Notre Dame.
She has studied as hard as she would have without the offers. "It definitely does take the pressure off you," she said. "But I would still try, because I still believe that the HSC and the ATAR matter."