The Impact of Past Education Performance on Grade Point Average: in the Faculty of Social Sciences, University of Kelaniya, Sri Lanka

Abstract

As a performance indicator, it is important to study the impact of past education performance on students’ GPA, since the GPA pays a key role in the university system in Sri Lanka. The primary objective of the study is to identify whether there is an impact of students’ past performances on GPA. A sample of 274 units from the Faculty of Social Sciences was selected using the random sampling method and a well-structured questionnaire was used to collect data. A descriptive analysis was conducted to identify the patterns of the data and the association of variables with the GPA. Mann Whitney U test and Spearman rank correlation test were used in the analysis. The results revealed that except Grade 5 examination results, both the results of the GCE O/L and A/L have a positive relationship with students’ performance at the university. The students who have passed O/L in their second attempt and the A/L in their third attempt have obtained a higher average of GPA.