This study examined undergraduate students' perceptions of factors contributing to their academic failure at a public university in Afghanistan, utilising attribution theory as the analytical framework. Data were collected from 215 students majoring in various fields. Descriptive and inferential statistics, specifically Mann-Whitney U test and Kruskal-Wallis test were used for data analysis. The results revealed that students attributed their academic failure to various dispositional factors including disinterest in the field of study, poor time management and situational factors such as working to support their families. They also attributed their failure to a wide variety of institutional factors including instructors' behaviours (e.g., unapproachable), teaching (e.g., traditional methods), assessment practices (e.g., unrealistic exam demands) and an absence of support programs (e.g., mentorship) on campus. Our study also revealed gender differences; female students were more likely to attribute their failure to situational, mostly family related factors, while male students were more likely to attribute their failure to institutional factors. No significant differences were found between participants by their class, age or ethnicity. These results underscore the need for comprehensive, targeted interventions at multiple levels including policymakers, universities, educators, and administrators to improve students' academic performance.