This study examines how school-level and student-level factors influence primary school dropout in Burkina Faso. School-level factors were found to have a moderate effect in grade three and a small effect in grade five, while student performance on end-of-term class tests significantly affected students' decisions to drop out in both grades. Other factors were found to have limited or no effects. A researcher-designed test showed that many children dropped out before acquiring basic literacy and numeracy skills. These findings seemed to suggest that basic skill acquisition was not a matter of concern among students and their parents.