Background: Students’ academic achievement depends on their personal, family and sociocultural characteristics. This study aims to identify the personal and family factors of European students who do not perform as expected, whether by surpassing expectations (resilient) or by failing to meet them (low performers). Method: The sample was composed of 117,539 fourth grade students who completed the Progress in International Reading Literacy Study (PIRLS) test, from 23 European Union countries. Academic performance was evaluated via a reading comprehension test. For each country, two binary logistic regression models were used, one for resilient students and the other for low performers. Variables related to the students and their families were used as predictor variables. Results: Significant differences were found between European countries in terms of the proportion of resilient and low performing students. The two variables with the most predictive power were student confidence with reading, and having done early literacy activities. Conclusions: Students’ personal characteristics and family conditions are instrumental in students being considered resilient or low performers.