A study was conducted in Victoria, Australia, to examine the factors that influence Year 9 students' intentions to leave secondary school. Discriminant function analysis was used to determine the effects of family background variables, school characteristics, significant others, personal assessments, and attitudes on school-leaving intentions of 2,300 students. The results indicate that the school-leaving intentions of both boys and girls are most influenced by the aspirations they perceive their parents holding for them, their attitudes toward school, and their occupational aspirations; and that these factors mediate the effects of family background and school characteristics. Students who intended to leave school earliest perceived that their parents had low educational aspirations for them, held negative attitudes toward school, and aspired to low status jobs. (Author/KC)