A study examined the educational and occupational plans of Australian fourteen-year-olds as part of program of research on the transition to adulthood. A twenty-item questionnaire was administered to 969 students in 243 schools across Australia. The questionnaire contained items pertaining to respondents' State of residence, school system attended, year of schooling, school rurality, family background, sex, achievement in basic skills, achievement difficulties experienced, support of significant others, and self-concept of ability. Factors found to affect student achievement in primary school included school rurality, family rurality, ethnicity, large family size, family socioeconomic status, and sex. Failure to master basic literacy and numeracy skills at the primary school level was directly linked to learning difficulties at the high school level. Successful mastery of basic skills at the primary level was also connected to self-conceptions of ability and plans to complete high school. Being non-English born and from a socioeconomically-advantaged family also had a positive effect on the decision to complete high school and seek further education. Family socioeconomic status and self-concept of ability exerted the two largest effects on occupational aspirations, with sex and family size also figuring as factors. (The questionnaire is appended.) (MN)