This study is concerned with the learning preferences of undergraduate and PGCE students studying a wide range of subjects. A new questionnaire was specifically designed to incorporate a broad view of learning preferences and included items referring to both affective and strategic processes. The questionnaire was completed by 628 PGCE students and 417 undergraduates from several different universities. By means of factor analysis, five dimensions to the learning preference scale were identified. These were: interaction and participation, beliefs about knowledge, approach to learning, instructional preferences and regulation of study strategies. Clear subject differences in learning preferences were identified. There were some differences between those students electing to pursue a PGCE course and the undergraduate students, although the subject order remained constant. Mathematics students consistently lie at one end of the scale (characterising surface learning approaches, belief in the transferability of knowledge, less dependence on interaction and a need for external regulation) and English students at the other (identified with deep learning strategies, belief in negotiated knowledge, preference for interaction and self-regulation of study). Overall gender and age differences were not significant except for the greater self-regulation of study by women students.