This study considers various aims and purposes of education exposed by sociologists, philosophers and educators at various stages throughout history. The variety of aims suggested means that many are incompatible with each other and were held often by contemporary thinkers belonging to different schools of thought. The present study set out to find out what current educators, students, and parents involved in education of years 8, 9 and 10 students in a metropolitan high school considered were the aims of education. The purpose of the study was to elucidate any variance between these major stakeholder groups in what they considered were the main aims and purposes of the educational enterprise during these critical final years of compulsory schooling. A survey was developed by adapting an instrument previously developed by Ashton, Keen, Davis and Holly. The survey consisted of a list of 72 aims of education on which respondents were asked to indicate, using a five point Likert scale, the relative degree of importance which each considered should be ascribed to that particular aim of education. The study found that, although there were minor variances in which aims some of the stakeholder groups considered important, there was a surprising degree of homogeneity in the aims the stakeholders espoused. Academic aims, and those aims promoting social behaviours were considered as high priorities while foreign language acquisition was a very low priority for all stakeholders. The final discussion focuses on the meaning of these results for the future direction of education.