During their secondary school years a considerable number of seriously consider choosing between learning or leaving. Leaving school early means not completing their education. Early school leaving is the last step in a process in which students gradually loose interest and develop the intention to leave school. This study focusses on students with special needs and the impact of their social relations with parents, peers and teachers on their intentions to leave school early. The sample for this study comprises 933 typical students and 74 students with special needs aged 16 from secondary schools in a large region in Norway. The intention to leave early can be predicted by teacher support and by loneliness as an indicator for peer support. The findings suggest that for the students without special needs, peer support is a key variable in staying motivated for school. That does not apply for students with special needs. Especially the students with special needs other than learning problems, need support from their teachers in order to stay in school. However, over time the support of their teachers becomes less important and they too become more dependent on support from peers.