It is vital for educators to understand and match the learning needs of every student for learning to take place effectively. A detailed reference of the students’ entry characteristics, family background, and previous academic performance is useful in determining the materials and activities to be used with the students. The respondents of this study involved 103 students who enrolled in the pre-higher education programme. The characteristics to identify at-risk students are used as guidelines to redefine the definition of pre-higher education students. Therefore, the study aims to examine the characteristics of pre-higher education students based on their academic performance and socio-economic status. A quantitative method is used to gather more information about the basic entry characteristics, previous academic achievement, family background and Sijil Pelajaran Malaysia (SPM) results of the students. The findings of the study help the researcher to define the terminology of the prehigher education programme. Having to confirm to the conceptual definition of the pre-higher education students helps the policy makers and institutions to develop a suitable learning programme to cater to their learning needs.