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Published online by Cambridge University Press: 29 October 2015
The feelings of 305 senior high school students about the quality of their school life were measured by giving them the Quality of School Life inventory at spaced intervals as they progressed through Years 11 and 12. Their self-estimates of school work ability and their reasons for continuing at school were also assessed. A decline was found in the initially positive feelings that were associated with the content of their studies and with their success as students. Separately analysed for comparison were the responses of students who subsequently left school without completing Year 12. Implications are discussed in terms of the drive to improve the retention rate in the post-compulsory years of secondary education, and students' expectations of the demands of the senior curriculum.