A data mining solution on high failure rate in Physical Science stream at the university entrance examination

Under the current secondary school education system a significant number of talented students fail the General Certificate of Education Advanced Level (G.C.E. A'level) examination, especially in the Physical Science stream. The surprising fact is that a majority of them have performed highest level at the General Certificate of Education Ordinary Level (G.C.E. O'level) examination. At the same time, students who have not performed at the highest level at the G.C.E. O'level examination, have performed well at the A'level examination under some other subject streams. Therefore the stream selected for the G.C.E. A'level is a critical factor that determines a student's future. The failure rate for those in the Physical Science stream is the highest amongst the four streams, and at present there is no mechanism available to address this issue. Thus this study focuses on analyzing the factors that contribute to the high failure rate of the Physical Science stream students at the G.C.E. A'level examination using data mining techniques. In addition, a method of identifying the students, suitable to follow the Physical Science stream is presented. This is done by comparing the A'level results with the corresponding O'level results. The analysis reveals the direct impact of a student's performance in Science and Mathematics at the O'level examination on his performance at the A'level examination. The analysis also highlights the fact that a student must obtain the highest grade for both Mathematics and Science in order to succeed at the G.C.E. A'level. It also reveals that a student who wishes to study in the Physical Science stream must also perform well in Religion, Social Studies, First Language and the Technical subject at O'level examination. The impact of the results of O'level subjects to the A'level result under Physical Science has also been prioritized.