The target set by the Europe 2020 Strategy is that by the year 2020 the proportion of 30-34 years-olds with tertiary educational attainment should be at least 40% (EUROSTAT, 2016). Several European countries are below that target and studies that shed light on understanding what helps students complete a tertiary programme are seen as an important contribution to this European target. Moreover, only 41% of full-time students who enter a bachelor’s or equivalent programme graduate within the programme’s theoretical duration (OECD, 2016). Consequently, academic achievement among higher education students has become a major issue for higher education institutions (HEIs) across Europe, especially among first year students (Tinto, 2001; Tuckman & Kennedy, 2011). In fact, academic tasks at higher educational level tend to demand a far higher level of thinking, autonomy and independent learning than those encountered in secondary school.

There are many reasons for students’ poor academic performance. Although some of them are not susceptible to HEIs intervention, others allow some opportunities for HEI´s to take action. This paper focuses on self-efficacy which is a psychological variable that may be influenced by academic context.

Based on Social Cognitive Theory, self-efficacy is defined as people's beliefs about their capabilities to produce designated levels of performance (Bandura, 1986, 1997). This concept is useful to predict human performance and behaviour since self-efficacy influences the choices people make, their goals and their persistence when confronted with obstacles. Additionally, as self-efficacy is a judgment of personal capability, it is not considered a trait and it can change over time, allowing the possibility to enhance it through the development of psycho-educational programs.

Several studies show that students’ self-efficacy is related to academic achievement (e.g. Bandura, 2006; Brown, Tramayne, Hoxha, Telander, Fan & Lent, 2008; Feldt, Ferry, Bullock, Carvalho, Collingwood, Eilers, Meyer & Nurre, 2011; Kitsantas, Winsler, & Huie, 2008). Previous research has shown that students’ self-efficacy in their first term in HEI is positively related to academic performance goals and/or predict academic achievement one year later (Vieira, Mesquita, Silva, Woodman & Robson, 2015; Zajacova, Lynch & Espenshade, 2005).

The purpose of the present study is to analyse the contribution of self-efficacy to 1^st year college students academic achievement, focusing on two main hypotheses: H1 – Students’ self-efficacy at the beginning of the 1^st year in college predicts the grade point average obtained in the end of the academic year; H2 - Students’ self-efficacy at the beginning of the 1^st year in college predicts the number of non-completed courses in the end of the academic year.

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