Study of performance of first year USP students with respect to their form seven marks

Abstract

To see if there is a significant difference between the performance of the first year (100 level) students at the University of the South Pacific (USP) having different Form Seven marks, a statistical analysis is carried out using their Cumulative Grade Point Averages (CGPA). For this analysis, relevant data was obtained for the years 1997-2001 and the Form Seven marks (Total of English and best 3 subjects) were divided into the classes 250 – 259, 260 – 269, and ≥ 270. Results indicate that there is a significant difference between the CGPA of these three classes. A further analysis is then carried out by using the CGPA of only the first two classes 250 – 259 and 260 – 269 in order to determine if an increase in the entry requirements from 250 to 260 will be justified. Under its current admission regulations, USP accepts into its degree programmes all students who have passed the seventh form examination with an aggregate of at least 250 marks out of 400 with a minimum of 50% in English. The results of our analysis indicate that the minimum entry requirement could be increased to 260 if USP feels that the level of significance (Type 1 Error) is more than 3.17 percent. However, the minimum entry level should remain as 250 if the significance level is at most 3.17 percent.