Vocational training in Spain is not longer an option for those students who do not reach the right level to attend secondary school, and has turned into a professional alternative of high quality and with high levels of employability. The analysis of the motivations that foster student learning is very useful in order to design intervention proposals which may improve the quality of student learning. This research study is a response to this approach. We present a theoretical review of the basics of motivation and its relationship with learning, followed by an empirical study of considerable length, whose results are striking: both mid-level and higher level vocational course students require supervision and specific training in all aspects related to motivation and learning strategies.