Mukuna, K. R.Zwane, Nomthandazo Prudence2024-06-132024-06-132022http://hdl.handle.net/11660/12602Dissertation (M.Ed.(Psychology of Education Studies))--University of the Free State, 2022The focus of the study is exploring the psychosocial factors that influence the academic performance of students in a rural college. Students’ academic performance is the responsibility of all educational stakeholders. ‘Psychosocial’ refers to a combination of psychological factors and the influence of the surrounding social environment on the physical and mental wellness of individuals. Psychosocial factors have been known to influence the academic performance of students. Erik Erikson’s psychosocial theory informed the study, and the mixed method approach was adopted to address the main and sub-research questions of the study. The study used an explanatory sequential design. Questionnaires and semi-structured interviews were employed to collect data for the study. The study used convenience and purposive sampling to select the participants in two phases of the study. The population of the study consisted of 115 participants. The first phase selected a sample of one hundred and fifteen (115) participants (N=115; gender: 19 males and 96 females) for the quantitative component, and the second phase selected six (6) participants for the qualitative component (N=6; 3 males and 3 females). All participants were students registered for the 2020/21 academic year at a rural TVET college in the KZN province, South Africa. This study used descriptive statistics to determine the frequency and percentages to analyse quantitative data, and thematic analysis for qualitative data. The findings were coded, presented and organised into themes, and subsequently discussed. The results revealed that the support services as well as psychological and social factors influenced the academic performance of the students in a rural college. Most participants viewed negative psychosocial factors as influencing their academic performance negatively. Furthermore, it was evident that the rural colleges lacked resources and intervention programmes to improve the academic performance of the students. The results indicated that students could not fully benefit from available support system and resources. They also provided suggestions regarding interventions the institution can employ to improve the academic performance of students who are negatively influenced by psychosocial factors. Based on the findings, the study recommended improving academic performance of students negatively influenced by psychosocial factors in a rural college.enAcademic performancepsychological and social factorssupport servicesrural collegeTVETstudentspsychosocialDissertationUniversity of the Free State