A quasi-experimental research design was conducted to investigate the impact of performance-based assessment (PBA) on pre-service teachers' (PSTs) self-efficacy and academic achievement in general physics at Atebubu College of Education. The study was conducted on 144 primary education students in the second year who were assigned into experimental and control groups after conducting a pre-test. 72 students each were non-randomly assigned into the experimental and control group. Information on PSTs' self-efficacy was derived by administering pre-service teachers' self-efficacy scale whiles the academic achievement was determined by general physics achievement test. Statistical package for social sciences was used to analyze data to generate descriptive and inferential statistics. The self-efficacy of the experimental group and control group differed significantly after treatment. The experimental group had significantly higher post-test scores than the control group. This study identified PBA as a useful teaching strategy that improves PSTs' problem-solving abilities and boosts their confidence in studying general physics.