The purpose of this study is to investigate students’ opinions of factors that influence student motivation in a positive way, as a means to identify school improvement processes that can be initiated. In schools where one wishes to strengthen teacher awareness of factors that scientific studies have found crucial for boosting student motivation, the results of this study can be used as a starting point.  Data has been collected using a quantitative questionnaire that was filled out by students at a primary school in a municipality in the west of Sweden. The questionnaire investigates students’ opinions on factors that scientific studies point out as important for student motivation. The study shows that there is a coherence between the factors that science points out as important for student motivation, and what the students indicate is typical of what they experience in school. Regardless of sex or grade the coherence is consistent. The factors that students point out as most important for student motivation is “that the teacher instructs me how to solve a task correctly”, “that the teacher believes in my ability”, “that the teacher lets me take part in planning how we work”, and ”that the teacher gives me assignements that I can manage”. For one of these factors there is lesser coherence between what students say is important for student motivation, and what they indicate is typical of what they experience in school. The students indicate that “that the teacher lets me take part in planning how we work” is crucial for student motivation. When it comes to what the students say is typical for what they experience in school, they indicate this factor to a lesser extent.