Three series of non-polar acrylic copolymers based on 2-ethyl hexyl acrylate and four series of polar copolymers based on ethyl acrylate were synthesised. Their adhesion performance was assessed by measurement of the force required to detach a probe (tack strength), that required to peel a strip (peel strength) and the resistance to a shear force (cold-flow time). The effect of test conditions on these measurements was also surveyed. With non-polar copolymers the adhesion test values, which are strongly composition-dependent, may be placed on a common basis by relation to the glass transition temperature of the adhesive, provided samples of approximately equal molecular weight are compared. This is not possible with polar copolymers which thereby show the influence of specific interfacial interactions.