Entry qualifications of students as predictors of academic performance in various degree programs in distance education setting in Pakistan

Abstract

Academic performance of students has always been the area of concern for educational institutions as it is a key indicator of institutional quality. In order to have a better quality output the higher education institutions set some admission criteria such as scores on specified international standardized tests, previous academic qualifications, and admission tests of students or a combination of such scores. Virtual University of Pakistan (VU) is a technology-based distance learning institution that facilitates students who are unable to attend traditional institutions of higher education for a variety of reasons. It was of interest to the researchers to study the entry qualifications of students i.e. the admission criteria, as predictor of their academic performance in various degree programs at VU. For that purpose, the data of 5825 graduates in different two years masters programs in 2015-16 were taken as sample. The entry qualifications of students, and cumulative scores of their previous academic qualifications were taken as predictors of their performance i.e. cumulative grade point average (CGPA,) in relevant degree program. Descriptive (range, percentage) and inferential (pearson r, multiple regression) statistics were applied after grouping the students into low, average and high achievers on cumulative scores as well as entry qualification scores. The results showed significant differences in the predictions and their implications are useful for policy makers and relevant departments of the university as well as for other distance learning educational institutions.

Relationship between Entry Grades and Attrition Trends in the Context of Higher Education: Implication for Open Innovation of Education Policy

“…The findings are consistent during the said five-year period. Studies also agreed that there is an association between entry grades and success in higher education [26].…”

“…A large number of researchers and scholars are in agreement with the fact that there is an intricate association between entry grades and success in higher education [26]. With regards to mature vs. young students, there are certain key variations that have been presented by Topham [27] in terms of the challenges they are confronted with.…”

Evaluating Pre-Service Teaching Practice for Online and Distance Education Students in Pakistan

“…The Virtual University of Pakistan is the first and only online university in Pakistan that provides all degree programs, including teacher education, through online technologies. VU offers various HEC-recognized degree programs of Teaching Practice different durations (Abdullah & Mirza, 2018). As per the roadmap for teacher education degree programs by HEC Pakistan, the following TE degree programs are currently offered: (a) BEd ( The present research was undertaken to evaluate teaching practice modules for teacher education programs offered in an online educational setting.…”

Entry Requirements as Predictors of the Academic Performance of Postgraduate Students in Universities in Zimbabwe

“…A number of other studies also found significant relationships between academic performance and admission requirements (Aciro, Onen, Malinga, Ezati & Openjuru, 2021;Adamu, Anza & Hananiya, 2019;Brook & Roberts, 2021;Olubusayo, 2021). A strong relationship between entry requirements and the academic performance of students was also confirmed in studies by Alamoudi et al (2021), Kurlaender and Cohen (2019); Abdullah andMizra (2018), andFerrão andAlmeida (2019), which established that students with, for example, an A grade as either their preuniversity or pre-programme entry qualification had a very high likelihood of not only attaining high grades in their studies but also of completing their studies.…”

“…Studies by Tatar and Düstegör (2020) Shahiri, Husain and Rashid (2017) and Putpuek et al (2018) also established that degree classifications at entry level had a significant influence on the academic performance of students in their enrolled postgraduate programmes. Studies by Alamoudi et al (2021), Kurlaender & Cohen (2019), Abdullah andMizra (2018), andFerrão andAlmeida (2019) further established that students with an A grade as either their preuniversity or pre-programme entry qualification had a very high likelihood of not only attaining high grades in their studies, but also of completing their studies. All these findings demonstrated the significant influence of degree classification on the academic performance of students.…”