This study investigates the beliefs and attitudes about group work of students entering their first year of university and beginning a training program based on cooperative learning activities. Its objective is to determine the extent to which these beliefs and attitudes depend on students’ prior experience with group work, their motivation for studying, and their approach to learning. The study is based on the responses of 172 first-year university students to a questionnaire combining closed- and open-ended questions. The study shows that most students had a positive perception of group work, but did not spontaneously mention as benefits knowledge learning or the development of some crosscutting skills put forward by research on cooperative learning. It was found that the degree of reluctance towards group work is related to a low perception of its learning gains and the idea that it faces organisational constraints. The results also offer new insights into the origins of these beliefs and attitudes. The frequency of prior experience of group works is positively correlated with the perceived learning gains and negatively correlated with reluctance to work in groups. When considering motivation and deep approach to learning and their sub-dimensions, reflective approach to learning was found to be the main factor determining the perceived learning gains. These results suggest two avenues for teaching based on cooperative learning: discuss and clarify with students the mechanisms of cooperative learning, and structure the teaching to engage them in discussions to collectively self-regulate their activities.