Predicting Student Academic Performance Using an Optimised Regression Machine Learning Model

Machine learning has emerged as one transformative tool in predicting student academic performance. This study evaluates machine learning models regression in predicting student academic performance. It can be found optimised Support Vector Regression (SVR) model accurately predicts student academic performance using a benchmark dataset from Kaggle. The approach incorporated Recursive Feature Elimination (RFE) for optimal feature selection while key parameters of the SVR model are tuned through grid search optimisation to enhance model performance. The optimised SVR model achieves exceptional predictive accuracy with an R-squared value of 0.97, Mean Absolute Error of 2.98, Mean Squared Error of 13.28, Root Mean Squared Error of 3.64, Median Absolute Error of 2.65, and Mean Absolute Percentage Error of 0.23. Comparative analysis demonstrates the superior performance of optimised SVR model against Decision Tree, Random Forest, K-Nearest Neighbors, Bayesian Ridge, and Gradient Boosting models. Experimental results demonstrate the validity of robustness and reliability of our approach, offering valuable insights for educational institutions to develop targeted interventions and support systems.