Summary.During the course of an enquiry into the behaviour of a random sample of over 6,000 children aged from 5–15 years, attending local authority schools in Buckinghamshire, it was possible to obtain information about each child's reaction to school. This indicated that dislike of school was associated with poor attainment at school and signs of anxiety at home. Boys who disliked school were also found to be significantly more likely to have a problem of behaviour reported by their teachers and were more unco‐operative in class but this was not true of the girls. Reaction to school affected attendance among children of secondary school age, but not among those under 11 years. The implications of this are discussed in relationship to future resea