This paper analyses, using a cross-sectional design, the relationship between academic qualifications during the initial training of primary school teachers and their professional development. Among all graduates of 13 promotions, from year 2004 to 2016, we selected the 15% of those students with the best qualifications and the 15% with the worst ones from each promotion. All participants answered the same questionnaire on employability, participation in induction programmes, participation in continuing education programmes, and professional motivation. Analyses performed included distribution analyses using chi-square and independent group comparisons with Student's t-test. Participants with better grades showed higher employability rates, increased participation in initial education programmes, and more motivation towards their profession. Continuing education programmes were only slightly affected by initial grades. These results support academic positions in Spain that defend the need to apply measures to select those candidates with the best grades to become teachers.