RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN
SECONDARY AND HIGHER
EDUCATION
Younas Alam Chowdhry & Usman Riaz Warraich
Imperial College of Business Studies, Lahore.
CONTENTS
1
• Introduction
2
• Literature Review
3
• Theoretical Framework
4
• Methodology
5
• Discussions and Recommendations
6
• Limitations of the study
7
• Recommendations for future study
8
• References
INTRODUCTION
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Many studies have been conducted to discern the
influence of secondary education on the learning
abilities and performance of students pursuing higher
education.
Some studies have compared local secondary education
systems with internationally competitive systems.
In Pakistan much of the research conducted on
Secondary education highlights the need to upgrade
the curricula and make it globally competitive.
INTRODUCTION (CONTD.)
In Pakistan there are predominantly two secondary education systems
1.
2.

Local or intermediate education system
General Certificate of Secondary Education (GCSE), also known as the
Cambridge Examination system.
The former’s examination is certified by the local education board whereas
the latter is an internationally recognized examination board.
The aim of this study was:

To find out if the type of secondary educational route is a predictor of
academic performance of BBA students at business schools of Lahore.
LITERATURE REVIEW
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A lot of research in the field of educational
psychology has been conducted to understand the
myriad predictors of academic success in higher
education.
One such area of interest is “Secondary Education”
Usher(2008) reports that secondary academic
achievement had a strong association with
participation in bachelors level study.
LITERATURE REVIEW(CONTD.)
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Huws & Taylor (2009), found that students with A
levels background tended to demonstrate higher
academic performance as compared to those with a
national diploma.
Peers & Johnston (1994) discovered that there
was a small but significant relationship between A
level education and university performance.
Reddy & Talcot (2006), Concluded that secondary
education wasn’t a predictor of university
performance
LITERATURE REVIEW (CONTD.)
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Muhammad (2007) Compared A levels curriculum with
FSC (Science). It was concluded that the subjects aren’t
competitive with the global education system and need
to be upgraded according to the current global
standards.
Amin Rehmani (2003), reports that that intermediate
examination is seen as burdensome by students.
In most of the researches, dealing with higher academic
performance, the CGPA is used as a measure of success
(J Brumbaugh et al, 2007). The present research also
used CGPA as a measure of academic success
LITERATURE REVIEW (CONTD.)
Other studies have considered a variety of
variables as predictors of higher academic success:
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SAT scores (Kruck, S. E. and Lending, Diane, 2003),
Self-efficacy (Bandura,1997; Multon, Brown, & Lent, 1991),
Intrinsic motivation (Schunk, 1994; Zimmerman, 1994)
Self-regulation (Schunk, 1994; Zimmerman, 1994)
Social support (Cutrona, et al, 1994).
THEORETICAL FRAMEWORK
Independent Variable:
Secondary Education
type
(Intermediate or GCSE)
Intervening Variables:
(Self efficacy, social support, intrinsic
motivation, assignments, attendance,
class participation ,exams etc.)
Dependent Variable
Higher Education
Performance
(CGPA SCORE)
Hypothesis
Null hypothesis: Ho:
The A-levels and intermediate backgrounds do not
have any relationship with academic performance
of BBA students.
 Alternative Hypothesis Ha:
A levels students have a relatively higher academic
performance compared to intermediate students, in a
BBA programme.
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METHODOLOGY
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Sample size: 192 BBA students from 3 business schools of Lahore.
64 from each school (equal number of GSCE and Inter students).
Sampling method: Simple random sampling
Schools selected: ICBS, COMSATS and University of Lahore.
Institutional codes: ABC, XYZ and DEF for I.C.B.S, COMSATS and
UNIVERSITY OF LAHORE, respectively.
Instrument: Questionnaire
Instrument reliability: Test-Retest method with 100% score.
Instrument validity: Content Validity method was used.
Data analysis technique: Independent t-test was used to compare
mean CGPA scores.
Data software used: SPSS
Nature of study: This was a cross-sectional research.
Questionnaire
Institution:
ABC
Q1. What is your degree program?
BBA(honors)
BBA
Q2. What type of secondary education did you undertake?
Intermediate
GSCE (Alevels)
Q3. Were your final secondary exams administered by the board of secondary education or The British Council?
British Council
Secondary Board.
Q4. What is your current CGPA? (On a four point scale)
__________
RESULTS
GSCE
Intermediate
Mean CGPA Score
3.42
3.01
Standard deviation
.351
.449
T-test score: Independent t-test score with a 95% confidence interval showed a
statically significant difference of 6.766.
DISCUSSION & RECOMMENDATION
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The null hypothesis is rejected and the alternative
hypothesis is accepted.
Our study shows that, on average, students with GCSE
background performed better than students with
intermediate background, while studying in BBA
programs at the three business schools of Lahore.
It is recommended that business institutions introduce
measures that may eliminate this apparent disparity
caused by the educational background of the students.
LIMITATIONS OF THE STUDY
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This study was focused on BBA students studying at
business schools of Lahore only. The results might not
be applicable to the students enrolled in other
disciplines and studying in other cities.
Academic records of the participants were
inaccessible, so there was no way to cross-check and
verify their CGPA scores.
It was a cross-sectional study that spanned three
months. A longitudinal study might produce different
results.
RECOMMENDATIONS: FUTURE
STUDIES

It is recommended that for future studies:
1. A longitudinal research should be carried out to
check how CGPA scores vary over time in both
groups.
2. Assess if the results are similar for other disciplines
3. Assess if the results are similar for masters level
students.
REFERENCES
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Amin Rehmani (2003) Impact of public examination system on teaching and learning in Pakistan. ANTRIEP Journal: New Delhi Vol. 8, No 1.
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Bandura, A. (1997). Self-efficacy: The exercise of control. New York: W. H. Freeman.
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Cutrona, C. E., Cole, V., Colangelo, N., Assouline, S. G., & Russell, D. W. (1994). Perceived parental social support and academic achievement: An
attachment theory perspective. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 66, 369–378.
Huws, N., Reddy, P., & Talcott, J. (2006). Predicting university success in psychology: are subject-specific skills important? Psychology Learning and
Teaching, 5, 35 -42.
Jessah Brumbaugh, Rebecca Lepsik, & Chace Olinger (2007). The Relationship between GPA and Perfectionism (Huntington University). Undergraduate
Research Journal for the Human Sciences Volume 6 –2007
Kruck, S. E. and Lending, Diane. (2003). Predicting Academic Performance in an Introductory College-Level IS Course. Information Technology,
Learning, and Performance Journal, 21 (2), 9-15.
Multon, K. D., Brown, S. D., & Lent, R. W. (1991). Relation of self-efficacy beliefs to academic outcomes: A Meta-analytic investigation. Journal of
Counseling Psychology, 38, 30–38.
Naeem Ullah, Muhammad (2007). Comparative study of curricula, teaching methodology and examination system of GCE (A-level) andF.SC. level in
basic sciences. PhD thesis, University of Arid Agriculture, Rawalpindi.
Nia Huws and Liz Taylor (2009).University performance of learners from vocational versus traditional backgrounds in Equine and Animal Studies.
Nottingham Trent University.
Peers, I. S., & Johnston, M. (1994). Influence of learning context on the relationship between A level attainment and final degree performance: a meta
– analytical review. British Journal of Educational Psychology, 64, 1-18.
Schunk, D. H. (1994). Self-regulation of self-efficacy and attributions in academic settings. In D. H. Schunk & B. J. Zimmerman (Eds.), Self-regulation of
learning and performance: Issues and educational applications (pp. 75–99). Hillside, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates.
Scott Ussher (2008) Post-school choices: How well does academic achievement predict the tertiary education choices of school leavers? Available online
at http://www.educationcounts.govt.nz/publications/schooling/23103
Zimmerman, B. J. (1994). Dimensions of academic self-regulation: A conceptual framework for education. In D. H. Schunk & B. J. Zimmerman (Eds.), Selfregulation of learning and performance: Issues and educational applications (pp. 3–21). Hillside, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates.