Determinants of Academic Performance of University Students

In the present study, factors such as academic competence, test competence, time management, strategic studying, and test anxiety were studied as determinants of academic performance, i.e., Grade Point Average. In addition, these factors may help in identifying high as well as low academic achievers. A sample of 199 undergraduate and graduate university students from Rawalpindi and Islamabad received a survey with the modified version of the Study Management and Academic Results Test (Topman, Kleijn, Ploeg, & Masset, 1992) and the Test Anxiety Inventory (Sarason, 1980). The results indicated that academic competence, test competence, time management, and test anxiety were significantly related to student's academic performance. Results also showed that test competence, academic competence, and test anxiety being the major discriminators among low and high GPA achievers. Developing strategies that help students cope with the rigors of academic life, understand how to study efficiently for exams, and helping them reduce their level of anxiety associated with taking a test would help improve their future performance, these benefits would be seen specifically for students who have a low GPA.