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First year students' academic performance in three life sciences courses (Botany, Zoology and Bioscience) was compared. Pass rates, as well as the means and distributions of final marks were analysed. Of the three components (coursework, practical and theory examinations) contributing to the final mark of each course, students performed best in the coursework. Subcomponents of the theory examinations of each subject showed students performed more poorly in the essay section. As the highest frequency of students achieved a final mark in the 50-60 per cent category for all three subjects, it is clear that the weighting of the examinations to the final mark should not be increased as this would lower students overall performance and decrease pass rates dramatically. It appears that improvement of appropriate assessment tasks linked to learning outcomes, and appropriate development of learning opportunities need to be ongoing in both coursework and examinations for the three courses.

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University students experience varying forms of vulnerability, which could have negative consequences for fulfilling their academic potential. The voices of these vulnerable students have not been adequately captured in existing research and can be best sought through qualitative research which targets the very students experiencing such vulnerabilities. This article, framed within the conceptual theory of vulnerability, uses Narrative Theory as a methodological approach to explore how university students experience the phenomenon of being at risk; how they cope with it; and how their narratives of vulnerability can inform student retention and support in higher education institutions (HEIs). Being at risk is a multidimensional concept, which is dealt with inadequately in institutional ethics policy and practice. The preliminary findings suggested that students at risk feel marginalised [from] mainstream support services. Further, the evidence suggested that doctoral students' training reproduces the marginalisation of vulnerability through inadequately addressing ways of researching with vulnerable people.

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It is common knowledge that students, staff and government are all embroiled in a struggle to transform South Africa's institutions of higher education, and that these struggles are simultaneously historical and contemporary, practical and ideological. Set in universities, the focus of this study asked: Who succeeds, who does not? And is therefore intentionally student-centred. It aimed to follow a cohort of students from eight universities in their journey through university, and asked what obstacles these students encountered, and what they, along with their institutions are doing about these problems. As we entered the third year of the study in 2015, we encountered the beginning of the national student protests that brought national attention to many of the stories we had already heard from the students involved in this study. In the subsequent years of the study we heard from students who were actively involved in these transformation struggles as well as those who sat on the side-lines.

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A concerted institutional approach to improving student outcomes resulted in a faculty-based, student-focussed model for student success at the University of Pretoria (UP). The student academic development and excellence model (SADEM), developed by a steering committee for student success, employs developmental research and systems theory and targets all years of undergraduate study while prioritising the first year. Underpinned by a systemic metric framework and continuous improvement, interventions comprise institutional and faculty-based projects that target high impact modules and diverse students to improve retention, pass, and throughput rates. Though context specific, it offers solutions to international concerns - lack of a systemic approach; initiatives located in peripheral units; initiatives located outside academic disciplines and lack of participation by academic staff; and a focus on retention of limited student subgroups instead of retention, pass, graduation and throughput rates of all students. The circumstances that led to its development, its key features and application at the UP, ways it can be adapted to other contexts, as well as its limitations and possible future directions, are presented.

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The aim of this study was to identify whether social support, academic fit, the psychological conditions of meaningfulness and availability, and engagement can predict first-year students' intention to stay on at an educational institution. A quantitative, cross-sectional design was used to achieve the specific research objectives, making use of a convenience sample (n=304). The measuring instruments were based on the Multidimensional Scale of Perceived Social Support, the Psychological Conditions Scale, the Academic Fit Scale, the Work Engagement Scale, and the Intention to Leave Scale. The results indicated that social support had direct and indirect effects (via academic fit) on students' intention to stay, as did academic fit, the psychological conditions of meaningfulness and availability, and engagement.

The findings of the study emphasise the importance of helping students to fit into the academic environment; choose the right career; and receive sufficient social support to ensure that they stay on at an academic institution and complete their studies.

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While the role of financial considerations in higher education [HE] student dropout is being recognized increasingly, the dominant international literature fails to reflect the extent of socio-economic deprivation among students in countries where many people live below the poverty datum line. This article draws on a study of student retention and graduate destination at seven HE institutions in South Africa, focusing on the University of the Western Cape which caters for a large proportion of impoverished students. The study found many students left before completing a qualification because they were too poor to stay. A model of student departure is presented which draws on the very influential work of Vincent Tinto but also allows for greater emphasis than he did on students' ability to pay (real or perceptual) and demarcates the times in the academic calendar when finances present their greatest challenge to retention. The model also invites consideration of the national and international factors which impact on the social/economic/political milieu in which students' persist-or-depart decisions are made.

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This paper discusses the successes of, but also the criticisms against, the South African higher education system. While South Africa has the best higher education system in Africa, inefficiencies in the undergraduate system, participation, attrition and inequality are issues of concern. The author argues that the South African undergraduate system is a morally indefensible system and it contributes to inequality by having the highest private returns to higher education in the world. If allowed to continue, it will also undermine the best postgraduate system in Africa. The students are right, it has to change, but wrong that the solution is free higher education, because that will only lead to greater inefficiencies and greater inequality.

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The academic and social integration of ‘new’ students in higher education settings seems crucial for study commitment, study success and preventing early student departure. It has been well documented that the level of student integration has a major influence on both the commitment of students to their studies and the contribution towards study success. Moreover, authors have pointed to the close relationship between first-year integration and student motivation. There is, however, a complex relationship among personal, academic and social factors (Terenzini et al. 1996) that makes any simplified explanation of student persistence and study success problematic, proving an holistic perspective valuable. The article compares findings from a three-tiered survey for the three first-year groups at one university and discusses their implications for student integration and potential study success against a framework provided by Louw (2005) and others. It points to the potential value of such surveys for feedback in terms of projected study success, lecturers’ teaching and support strategies as well as the support roles of academic services.

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In this case study research, the effectiveness of psychological support services rendered to students at a Technical and Vocational Education and Training (TVET) college in South Africa is explored. Using the systems theory of psychology, the article postulates that students at TVET colleges encounter a myriad of psychological challenges, which can adversely affect their academic success. From an interpretivist paradigmatic standpoint, a sample of 30 students was purposively selected to participate in focus group interviews. It was found out that psychological support services improved students' academic performances, attendance, retention, and also enhanced college certification rate. It is recommended that institutions need to establish linkages with key stakeholders such as the Departments of Higher Education and Training and Health, psychological professional bodies, and other TVET colleges in order to create a platform for sharing vital information on psychological support to students.

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This paper reports on a six-year study (2005-2010) tracking a cohort of students from Grade 12 into and through the South African higher education (HE) system. The study sought to ascertain how the pathways of students from different socioeconomic backgrounds differed. Key findings were that socioeconomic status is a differentiating feature in student progression through and retention within HE and in completion of HE programmes. Confirming UK and US findings, the study simultaneously points up the need for further research locating student progression and performance within a broader developmental context that takes account of learning pathways from pre-school into HE.

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