The Performance of GNVQ Entrants on Undergraduate Business Courses

abstract

The academic achievement, failure rates and withdrawal rates of 125 GNVQ entrants on the first year of full‐time undergraduate business courses were compared with ‘A’ Level entrants. Although ‘A’ Level entrants tended to achieve higher marks on average, the differences between the means of the two groups were significant for only two out of eleven assessments. There was no difference in the proportions of GNVQ and ‘A’ Level entrants failing assessments in five out of six assessments compared. There was no difference in the proportions of students withdrawing from their courses except on HND Business and Finance where GNVQ students were less likely to withdraw. These results suggest that students entering Higher Education with a GNVQ in Business were not disadvantaged in their first year of study.