The kinetics of the thermal degradation of a copolymer of vinylidene cyanide and cyanovinylacetate has been investigated by thermogravimetric analysis and GC-MS coupling,The volatile compounds evolved are chiefly ethanoic acid and CVA monomer in minor amounts. A kinetic model of an elimination reaction, with a strongly autocatalytic character, allows a very good fit of the experimental data with the theoretical curves. The kinetic law is d alpha/dt = k(alpha + C)(A - alpha) where A and C are constants for every temperature. The activation energy has been found to be 129.3 kJ mol(-1) and the pre-exponential factor is 1.3 x 10(12) min(-1).