Abstract
In South Africa, as elsewhere in the world, graduation rates in engineering study are notoriously low. A 2017 report by the American Society for Engineering Education, for example, shows that fewer than 40% of students who enter into an engineering qualification in the United States graduate in the minimum time of four years. This paper investigates the predictive value of the national higher education (HE) entrance exam in South Africa, the National Benchmark Tests (NBTs), for success in engineering study in one HE institution in South Africa. The NBTs attempt to redress the problem of poor throughput and graduation rates by providing institutions with more information about the preparedness of school-leavers prior to entry into HE. In South Africa, the NBTs include three assessments, one each in academic literacy, quantitative literacy and mathematics. The performance of students in these three assessments was captured and correlated with student success in engineering study (measured as either having graduated, continuing study or having dropped out). Across all three assessments, it was found that there is a correlation between performance on the NBTs and success in engineering study, and that performance on the NBTs offers the potential for a rich and nuanced understanding of student success in engineering.