Numerous studies have investigated the impact of self-esteem and intelligence on academic achievement. The findings are generally inconsistent. The aim of this study was to understand the relationship between intelligence, self-esteem and academic achievement among young people in Kosovo. It was a quantitative cross-sectional study. The sample consisted of 1856 participants, aged 10-18 years old (Mage = 15.29, SD = 1.76). Participants completed the Rosenberg Self-Esteem Scale and The Raven Standard Progressive Matrices. Grade Point Average (GPA) was used to measure academic achievement. Data processing was done with SPSS 21.0 and Microsoft Excel 2013. Participants according to self-reported academic achievement were classified as follows: fail (0.1%), sufficient (2%), good (15.6%), very good (26.7%) and excellent (55.7%). As regards self-esteem participants were classified as follows: low self-esteem (26.9%), and normal self-esteem (73.1%). A significant positive correlation was found between academic achievement and intelligence (r = .31; p = .00) but not between achievement and self-esteem. This significant correlation resulted for both genders separately. The Mann-Whitney test found significant differences in academic achievement between genders and between groups with high intelligence and those with normal intelligence. Intelligence, but not self-esteem revealed a significant relationship with academic achievement. Future studies on the topic might focus on explanatory factors or the possibility of interaction of other variables related to academic achievement.