In this study, a hypothesised model with latent variables such as socio-economic status, students' perception of success and interest in different subject matter areas, out-of-school activities, and classroom teaching learning activities in relation to science achievement of the students was tested via linear structural modelling. The data come from the Student Assessment Program--2002 conducted by the Ministry of National Education in Turkey. The results obtained in a sample of 29,911 students indicated that there were positive relationships between the socio-economic status of the students and teacher-centred activities in the classroom with science achievement. On the other hand, student-centred activities did not contribute to explain achievement measures positively. There is a need to scrutinise the quality of student-centred activities in Turkey. (Contains 4 tables and 1 figure.)