Students’ Academic Success in South African Higher Education Institutions: A Narrative Review of Contributing Factors and Strategies for Improvement

Abstract

Despite the South African Department of Higher Education and Training’s transformation goals on increased academic access and success, students still perform poorly in academic related endeavours. Factors necessitating these poor academic outcomes remains diverse and unconfirmed. This narrative literature review examines the factors influencing students' academic success in South African HEIs as well as the strategies to adopt in fostering this success (2015-2025). The study is guided by two questions: (1)What factors influence students’ academic success in South African HEIs? (2)How can students’ academic success be enhanced or sustained in South African HEIs?The study utilized the narrative literature review methodology that is subsumed in the qualitative research design. Literature from the Google, EBSCO, ERIC, SCOPUS and Web of Science databases were sampled for data collection, which were analysed using content and Inductive Thematic Analytical (ITA) approaches. Findings indicate that South African HEIs students’ academic success is influenced by institutional environment, resource availability, cultural and emotional factor, students’ engagement and participation, support systems, students’ language and communication skills, socioeconomic factors and students’ personal attributes. The study also shows that for students’ academic success to be enhanced in the context, actionable strategies such as provision of a resilient (quality) education, understanding of students’ experiences, effective monitoring, availability of support programmes, cultural awareness, students’ active participation in academic related matters, professional identity development, resource utilization, adoption of a caring pedagogy, and the provision of financial support for students. The study concludes with recommendations aimed at strengthening institutional practices to support student achievement. Received: 09 December 2025 / Accepted: 30 march 2026 / Published: May 2026