This paper reports on a study about the secondary-tertiary transition in mathematics from a student perspective. Using an empirically grounded definition of the transition as a point of departure, Schoenfeld’s methodological scheme for empirical research was employed and data were analysed with methods inspired by grounded theory. Three relationally defined categories describing students’ learning were generated; mathematical learning objects, mathematical resources and students’ actions as learners. The transition can be understood and described in terms of inter-relational changes between these categories.