This study is about students’ motivation to learn English and the aim is to find out if their scores on the national test can be correlated with their reported level of motivation. As English has become a global language, it is taught in Swedish school as an obligatory subject. When speaking about learning English, it is common to approach the subject of what motivates students to learn. Theories developed on the subject suggest that there are different kinds of motivation and this thesis focuses on integrative and instrumental motivation and the L2 motivational system, which have been said to be important aspects of motivation. The study was done by handing out a questionnaire to 45 students in an upper secondary school, containing statements and questions about their motivation to learn English, and then comparing their answers with their grades. When analyzing the results, it was found that there is a correlation between the answers to the statements and the students’ scores on the national test. The lower scoring students showed more tendencies to disagree with the statements while the higher scoring students more often agreed. These findings suggest that motivation can have a visible effect on students’ performance in English.