Recent educational programs emphasize the concept of pupil participation which entail pupil autonomy during all steps of learning. However, little is known about how this is implemented in practice. The objective of the current study is to investigate how pupil participation is practiced in the Norwegian school subject Food and Health at lower secondary school level. The pupils' own perception of pupil participation is the focus of the paper. The objective was addressed by a mixed method approach including survey data, observations, and interviews with pupils. Pupil participation was studied in eight areas of the subject, namely 1) shaping the academic content, 2) selecting ingredients and dishes, 3) purchasing and calculating costs of ingredients, 4) preparation for cooking, 5) cooking, 6) distribution of tasks, 7) meal situation, and 8) assessment. The results indicate that pupil participation varies for different parts of the subject, being lowest for shaping the academic content and purchasing and calculating costs, and highest for the meal situation. Overall, the findings indicate that pupil participation is not practiced to the extent that the educational program requires, and future studies needs to shed light on how degree of pupil participation can be increased to achieve the goals in the educational program. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]