Revisiting the Determinants of Student Performance in an Undergraduate Accountancy Degree Programme in Singapore

The current study investigates the association of prior academic achievement, admission interview, critical thinking, mathematical aptitude and gender with successful academic performance in an undergraduate accountancy degree programme at a Singapore university. The purpose of revisiting the determinants of academic performance in the Singapore context is twofold. First, university accounting education in Singapore has changed greatly since Koh and Koh’s earlier study (1999); the current study examines if determinants previously identified as significant continue to be so in the new setting. Second, the study tests the usefulness of admission interview in identifying applicants who achieve subsequent academic success. Data on students’ performance throughout the whole accountancy degree programme are obtained from the university students’ records database. The current study shows that prior academic performance, mathematical aptitude and gender continue to be significantly associated with successful academic performance in the new style of accountancy degree programme; admission interview and critical thinking are also significant determinants of subsequent academic success. The results imply that university administrators may efficiently shortlist applicants based on prior academic performance, but should employ wider selection criteria including interviews and measures of critical thinking