A NATIONAL STUDY OF STUDENTS' PERFORMANCE AT UNIVERSITY

This paper presents a system-wide, longitudinal examination of the determinants of academic performance for a cohort of first-year university students. It follows students through three years of study, examining the determinants of their performance at university in each year of study and their decision to continue study from one year to the next. It finds that the main determinants of academic performance and university retention are students’ prior academic abilities. Gender and type of attendance at university also influence academic performance and retention at university over the entire university experience. Female students consistently have higher tertiary academic achievements than male students, and students studying part-time consistently have lower achievements than full-time students.