A sample of 15-year-old children in London were interviewed with regard to their vocational wishes, the reasons for these, their plans for preparatory study or training, and relevant aspects of their school experience. Considerable overlap was found between the constructs underlying occupational wishes and liking or disliking for school subjects, which in turn depended on the quality of teaching and on experience of success or failure in those subjects. It was found that school, through its teaching and disciplinary methods and general atmosphere, tended to build up a positive or negative attitude to work which often decisively affected the child's motivation, his chances of success, the age at which he wished to leave school and his willingness to contemplate further education. The school ethos importantly affected attitudes toward authority and rules and discipline, but often failed to give the experience of responsibility which might have given more reality to adolescent thinking about the future. (Author)