In recent decades more and more tertiary institutions around the world have adopted some sort of English proficiency exit requirements. This study explores, from students' perspectives, what washback effects have been brought about by such exit requirements. Extensive questionnaire and interview data were collected from 737 students from 8 tertiary institutions with English proficiency exit requirements and 678 students from 9 institutions without. Results suggest minor differences between the two groups of students in terms of their motivation to learn English, how they prepared for tests, and the time they reputed devoted to their English studies. Implications and directions for further research are suggested.