The purpose of the present cross-sectional study was to investigate the influence of emotional intelligence and self efficacy beliefs on academic achievement of high school students. The sample consisted of 407 (Female=236, Male=171) participants recruited from high school students. The instruments of this study were: The Emotional Intelligence Questionnaire, Self-Efficacy Beliefs Scale and a demographic information form. The results indicated that age, gender and self-efficacy are the significant predictors of academic achievement. We found statistical evidence of an interaction effect between academic achievement and socio-economic status. On the other hand females' academic achievement scores were found to be significantly higher than males. (c) 2011 Published by Elsevier Ltd.