Academic achievement or academic performance is the extent to which a student

Academic achievement or (academic) performance is the extent to which a student, teacher or institution has achieved their short or long-term educational goals. Cumulative and completion GPA of educational benchmarks such as secondary school diplomas and bachelor's degrees represent academic achievement. Academic achievement is commonly measured through examinations or continuous assessments but there is no general agreement on how it is best evaluated or which aspects are most important procedural knowledge such as skills or declarative knowledge such as facts.] Furthermore, there are inconclusive results over which individual factors successfully predict academic performance, elements such as test anxiety, environment, motivation, and emotions require consideration when developing models of school achievement.

Now, schools are receiving money based on its students' academic achievements.The students' performance (academic achievement) plays an important role in producing the best quality graduates who will become great leader and manpower for the country thus responsible for the country's economic and social development (Ali et.al, 2009The academic performance of students in most colleges has become an object of inquiry of researches nowadays.

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It has become a top priority among educators who have vowed to make a difference locally, regionally, nationally and globally. Such education, trainers and researchers have long been interested in exploring variables which significantly contribute to the performance of learners. These variables are both external and internal. Internal factors are mostly student-related while external factors contributed to the external environment of students that are beyond their control. The former includes personal conditions and study habits while the latter include home-related factors, school-related and teacher-related factors.

Study habit as a factor affecting the academic achievement of students has likewise been pointed out by Mashayehki and colleagues. Also supports this claim and added that a student who is successful in his/her desired career has good study habits. Such an internal factor leads to a good academic performance. On the contrary, external related factors such as family stress lead to a poor academic performance. One of the most recent studies conducted by Ali and colleagues enumerated certain student-related and family-related factors that affect the academic performance of students. Student-related factors identified in the given study include student's efforts, age, and self-motivation, learning preference, entry qualification and previous school. Family-related factors include educational background of parents and family income. Most studies presented according to Diaz have been focused on three factors: parents (family causal factors), teachers (academic causal factors), and students (personal causal factors). The above-given researchers and other researchers conducted detailed studies about the factors contributing to student performance at different levels. this present study to investigate on the factors affecting the academic performance of student at College of Islamabad with the aim of instituting change geared towards the improvement of the students' academic performance. The utility of these studies lies in the passionate drive to undertake corrective measures that would help improve the academic performance of students.FECTOR AFFECTING ACEDEMIC ARCHIVEMENTSeveral studies have been conducted to nd out students' academic performance (Applegate and Daly, 2006; Hedjazi and Omidi, 2008; Ramadan and Quran, 1994; Al-Rofo, 2010; Torki, 1988; Hijaz and Naqvi, 2006; Naser and Peel, 1998; Abdullah, 2005). All these studies engaged the Grade Point Average (GPA) as a common indicator of the performance of the students. Kochhar (2000) says proper guidance is necessary to help the students with problems like lack of correlation between talent and achievement, faulty study practice, imperfect methods of learning. Researches have demonstrated that the performance of the students depended upon several factors like, learning facilities, age and gender differences. The most signicant factor with the positive outcome on the performance of the students is competence of students in English. Students having good communication skills it expands the students' performance (Abdullah, 2011). William & Burden (1997) found that language classrooms inculcate condence among students to use the new language to communicate, to discuss, to try new ways of conveying meanings and to be trained from failures and successes. Robert and Sampson (2011) investigate-ed that the students who effectively participate in the learning procedure are seen to have a higher CGPA (cumulative grade point average). Noble (2006), found that academic activities of students, perceptions of their adapting strategies and back-ground qualities (for example family pay, direction from parents, number of negative circumstances in the house and parents' level of education) were indirectly connected to their compound scores, during academic achievement in secondary school. Direction is a component through which a student knows how to progress his study approach and study schedule and is directly corresponding to academic accomplishment. The students who are appropriately guided by their guardians have done well in the exams. The direction from the educator also in‚uences performance of the students. The guidance from the guardians and the educators indirectly in‚uence the students' performance (Hussain, 2006). Raychauduri et al. (2010) examined that various studies have been concluded to recognize those variables which are in‚uencing academic performance of the students. The academic performance of the students also relies on a various socioeconomic variable like students' participation in the class, family pay, and teacher-student ratio, presence of qualied teachers in school and gender of the student. Several studies have also been done on the impact of peer in‚uence on student performance (Gonzales et. al., 1996; Goethals, 2001; Hanushek et. al, 2002) investigated that peer in‚uence has more in‚uential effects than family. Peer help was positively associated with the students' average grade point. Giuliodori, Lujan and DiCarlo (2006) found that through peer interaction, students might increase their skills on solving qualitative problems. Peer teaching will also encourage student's participation (Rao and Di Carlo 2000). Rangvid, B. S. (2003) found that mixing skills in‚uence weak students positively on the other hand the results for brilliant students were found negative.. Al-Otaibi (1996) examined the in‚uence of gender on the student's performance and found that male students are not better than female students. Beaumont-Walters, Y., & Soyibo, K. (2001) explored that student performance is dependent on a socio-economic back-ground like grade level, school type and school location. Tahir, S., & Naqvi, S. R., (2006) examined that a negative correlation between the family pay and students' performance, Socio eco-nomic variables like participation in the class, family salary, and teacher-student ratio, existence of qualied teachers in school, mother's and father' s education, distance of school and gender of students also in‚uence the students' performance (Raychau-duri et al., 2010). In the past several years several valuable studies have been conducted to develop various models to evaluate the students' performance by taking various factors like family pay, direction from parents, the teacher- student ratio, distance of school and gender of students, but these studies have not investigated on learning facilities, communication skills and proper guidance by parents. Only a few studies have been conducted on these variables in the world. Some factor affecting academic achievement are discuss below Individual differences affecting academic performanceIndividual differences in academic performance have been linked to differences in intelligence and personality. Students with higher mental ability as demonstrated by IQ tests and those who are higher in conscientiousness (linked to effort and achievement motivation) tend to achieve highly in academic settings. A recent meta-analysis suggested that mental curiosity (as measured by typical intellectual engagement) has an important influence on academic achievement in addition to intelligence and conscientiousness. Children's semi-structured home learning environment transitions into a more structured learning environment when children start first grade. Early academic achievement enhances later academic achievement. Parent's academic socialization is a term describing the way parents influence students' academic achievement by shaping students' skills, behaviors and attitudes towards school. Parents influence students through the environment and discourse parents have with their children. Academic socialization can be influenced by parents' socio-economic status. Highly educated parents tend to have more stimulating learning environments. Further, recent research indicates that the relationship quality with parents will influence the development of academic self-efficacy among adolescent-aged children, which will in turn affect their academic performance. Children's first few years of life are crucial to the development of language and social skills. School preparedness in these areas help students adjust to academic expectancies.Indirect evidence suggests that physical activity could affect academic achievement. Studies have shown that physical activity can increase neural activity in the brain. Exercise specifically increases executive brain functions such as attention span and working memory. Non-cognitive factors :) Non-cognitive factors or skills are a set of "attitudes, behaviors, and strategies" that promotes academic and professional success, such as academic self-efficacy, self-control, motivation, expectancy and goal setting theories, emotional intelligence, and determination. To create attention on factors other than those measured by cognitive test scores sociologists Bowles and Gintis coined the term in the 1970s. The term serves as a distinction of cognitive factors, which are measured by teachers through tests and quizzes. Non-cognitive skills are increasingly gaining popularity because they provide a better explanation for academic and professional outcomes. Self-efficacySelf-efficacy is one of the best predictors of academic success Self-efficacy is the belief you can do something. Stajkovi et others looked at the Big Five traits on academic success as well and saw that conscientiousness and emotional stability were predictors of self-efficacy in over half of their analyses. However, self-efficacy was more indicative of academic performance than personality in all the analyses. This suggests that parents who want their children to have academic achievement can look to increase their child's sense of self-efficacy at school.MotivationMotivation is the reasoning behind an individual's actions. Research has found that students with higher academic performance, motivation and persistence use intrinsic goals rather than extrinsic ones. Furthermore, students who are motivated to improve upon their previous or upcoming performance tend to perform better academically than peers with lower motivation. In other words, students with higher need for achievement have greater academic performance. Bad dietary habits can create the disadvantage of a lack of motivationSelf-controlSelf-control, in the academic setting, is related self-discipline, self-regulation, delay of gratification and impulse control. Baumeister, Vohs, and Tice defined self-control as "the capacity for altering one's own responses, especially to bring them into line with standards such as ideals, values, morals, and social expectations, and to support the attainment of long-term goals. In other words, self-control is the ability to prioritize long-term goals over the temptation of short-term impulses. Self-control is usually measured through self-completed questionnaires. Researchers often use the Self-Control Scale developed by Tangney, Baumeister, & Boone in 2004. High locus of control, where an individual attributes success to personal decision making and positive behaviors such as discipline, is a ramification of self-control. High locus of control has been found to have a positive predictive relationship with high collegiate GPA. Extracurricular activitiesOrganized extracurricular activities have yielded a positive relationship with high academic performance including increasing attendance rates, school engagement, GPA, postsecondary education, as well as a decrease in dropout rates and depression. Additionally, positive developmental outcomes have been found in youth that engage in organized extracurricular activities. High school athletics have been linked with strong academic performance, particularly among urban youth While research suggests that there is a positive link between academic performance and participation in extracurricular activities, the practice behind this relationship is not always clear. Moreover, there are many unrelated factors that influence the relationship between academic achievement and participation in extracurricular activities (Mahoney et al., 2005). These variables include: civic engagement, identity development, positive social relationships and behaviors, and mental health (Mahoney et al., 2005). In other research on youth, it was reported that positive social support and development, which can be acquired through organized after school activities is beneficial for achieving academic success (Eccles & Templeton, 2002). In terms of academic performance there are a whole other group of variables to consider. Some of these variables include: demographic and familial influences, individual characteristics, and program resources and content (Mahoney et al., 2005). For example, socio-economic status has been found to plays a role in the number of students participating in extracurricular activities (Covay & Carbonaro, 2010). Furthermore, it is suggested that the peer relationships and support that develop in extracurricular activities often affect how individuals perform in school (Eccles & Templeton, 2002). With all these variables to consider it is important to create a better understanding how academic achievement can be seen in both a negative and positive light.In conclusion, most research suggests that extracurricular activities are positively correlated to academic achievement (Mahoney et al., 2005). It has been mentioned that more research could be conducted to better understand the direction of this relationship (Eccles & Templeton, 2002). Together this information can give us a better understand the exact aspects to consider when considering the impact that participation in extracurricular activities can have on academic achievementSTUDENT PERFORMANCEMany researchers have been discussed the different factors that affects the student academic performance in their research. There are two types of factors that affect the students' academic performance. These are internal and external classroom factors and these factors strongly affect the students' performance. Internal classroom factors include student's competence in English, class schedules, class size, English text books, class test results, learning facilities, homework, environment of the class, complexity of the course material, teacher's role in the class, technology used in the class and exams systems. External classroom factors include extracurricular activities, family problems, work and financial, social and other problems. Research studies shows that students' performance depends on many factors such as learning facilities, gender and age differences, etc. that can affect student performance (Hansen, Joe B., 2000).Galiher (2006) and Darling (2005), used GPA to measure student performance because they focus in on the student performance for the semester. Some other researchers used test results or previous year result since they are studying performance for the specific subject or year (Hijazi and Naqvi, 2006 and Hake, 1998).Harb and El-Shaarawi (2006) found that the most important factor with positive effect on students' performance is student's competence in English. If the students have strong communication skills and have strong grip on English, it increases the performance of the students. The performance of the student is affected by communication skills; it is possible to see communication as a variable which may be positively related to performance of the student in open learning. A major distinction of this study from previous studies is that it focuses on open learning (Abdullah AL-Mutairi, 2011).