The constancy of ratings of behaviour made at home and school between the ages of 7–11, 11–16 and 7–16 is examined. There were moderate correlations between ratings at the different ages (0·31-0·48) but the majority of children in the ‘deviant’ (top 13 per cent) group at one age had moved out of that group by a later follow-up (4, 5 or 9 years later). Certain characteristics (social class, sex, family size and birth order) of children with different patterns of ratings at the three ages are also examined.