Purpose: The main purpose of this study was to explore and analyze secondary school students' (8th grade) perceptions about school climate in three areas, namely: the physical environment of the school, the social environment and the learning environment Design/methodology/approach: A questionnaire, which was designed and pilot-tested around the three climate areas was utilized for gathering the data. The questionnaire included 53 statements related to school climate (physical, social, learning environment) and the participants were asked to respond to each statement using a Likert type scale 1 to 5 (1 means "not at all" and 5 "to a great extent"). Findings: The main findings concerning the three areas of school climate indicate that students are (generally) moderately satisfied with their school's climate. Specifically, the lowest mean was given to the area of social environment (3,12) on a five-point Likert type scale, the second highest (3,23) to the physical environment and the highest score (3,26) to the learning environment. Meanwhile, students in their answers indicated that they are not satisfied with specific items in the three areas of school climate which should be taken into account in future reform programs of Cyprus. Research limitations/implications: This study was limited in the fact that the methodology used was only quantitative and therefore, triangulation of results through other methodologies was not possible. Practical implications: The examination of different aspects of school climate could help educators in their efforts to assess the environment of their schools for the purpose of monitoring the development, the improvement and the maintenance of a healthy school climate for teachers and students. Originality/value: It is the first time that a study in measuring the various aspects of school climate from the students' perspective has been done in Cyprus's centralised educational system. Therefore, these results provide an important source of information for educators and researchers who have the responsibility of creating educational policy and planning for the years to come for a better and a more modern educational system. The results could be used in a comparative format in order to compare school climate in other educational settings similar to the Cyprus one. (Contains 2 tables and 1 figure.)