A quarter of young people who entered the first year of secondary school in 1995 had not successfully finished their training in secondary education. They were “drop-outs”. Among them, six out of ten did not have a certificate of secondary education and two out of ten had a BEP or a CAP, but failed in the training that they followed subsequently. Young drop-outs often had academic problems and were often from a modest social background, but not all. Three main profiles among drop-outs can be distinguished: young people with a low level of studies that have repeated one or more years at secondary school (nearly half of the drop-outs); young people with a good level of studies on entering secondary school, but who fail the CAP, the BEP or the baccalaureate (one third of the drop-outs); and those who have had specialist education at secondary school (section for adapted general and vocational learning - SEGPA - mainly) (one fifth of the drop-outs). Among those with a baccalaureate taking higher education studies, one out of five did not obtain any higher education diploma. Here too, the academic level and social background play a role, but not only. The choices and financial situation of the students also seem to affect whether or not they gain a higher education diploma.