Assessing the Academic Performance of Undergraduate Students with Special Entry Qualifications in a University in Jamaica

The main aim of this study was to assess how well the students who enrolled through the special entry request performed in the Bachelor of Arts and the Bachelor of Education programmes at an institution in Jamaica.Two research questions guided the study, and these questions were answered using an ex post facto research design.The data for 171 in two academic programmes were purposefully identified and included in the study because they were admitted through special entry requirements.Data collection included students' documents (admissions records, personal profiles, & academic performance records) and existing literature.The results revealed that nine students were admitted through special entry, and all passed the Oral Communication course with a GPA ranging from 2.67 to 4. For the B.Ed. students, 21 were admitted through special entry; however, 13 students passed the Introduction to Financial Accounting course, with their GPAs ranging from 0.0 to 3.67.The results also showed no difference in the performance of those with and those without the required CSEC grades I to III in Mathematics and English on the two courses (Oral Communication & Introduction to Financial Accounting).The GPAs of B.Ed. students with the required grades in the CSEC Mathematics and English and those without were compared.The Mann-Whitney U test also indicated that there was no difference.This may be due to several factors not considered in this study.Recommendation included not making CSEC Mathematics (Grades I to III) compulsory for the B.A. students, but for the B.Ed. students.