Every fourth young adult in Sweden leaves upper secondary school without complete grades (Statistiska Centralbyrån, 2017). These young adults without a diploma are at risk of being marginalized (Hugo, 2007; Lundahl et al. 2015). Therefore, all attempts to support these students’ needs using alternative methods to help them complete their studies are of great importance for both society and the individuals. With this study, we aim to shed light on how participants with different functional variations and overall unfavourable school experiences in a project-based alternative study program in upper secondary education perceive the factors of success. Moreover, we want to understand the project’s outcome based on contextual factors. To do this, we use an abductive content analysis of project documents, field notes, and interviews with five students. Our analysis follows three steps. Firstly, we identify three major themes expressed by the participants as success factors concerning ways to attend and complete their secondary education. Secondly, we identify how contextual factors can explain the project’s outcome. Finally, we draw conclusions on how motivation theory, motivation strategies, and factors in the learning environment can explain the project’s outcome. The overall conclusions are (a) students in this target group need to participate in negotiations concerning their adaptation in their studies, (b) a symmetrical interpersonal relationship between teachers and students is a necessity, and (c) beneficial learning environments are essential for these students’ learning.