Administrative Support for School Guidance and Counselling, Academic Adjustment and Intended Retention in Ghana:

School counselling access is shaped by institutional arrangements, yet evidence linking those arrangements with students’ academic adjustment and intention to remain enrolled is limited.To examine how perceived administrative support for guidance and counselling relates to academic adjustment and intended retention, distinguishing student responses from staff reports this study explores their practical implications through a cross-sectional , with Ghanaian school as case study.The survey yielded 161 questionnaires, including 65 students. Five-item composite scores were analysed using descriptive statistics, HC3-robust ordinary least-squares models and a bootstrap analysis of the indirect statistical association. Student-only results were primary, with pooled estimates reported for comparison. Among students, administrative support was modest (M = 2.91, SD = 0.74). Support was associated with adjustment (B = 0.673, p < .001) and, in a separate model, intended retention (B = 0.483, p = .002). With adjustment included, the adjustment–retention association remained positive (B = 0.751, p < .001), while the direct support coefficient was not significant (B = −0.022, p = .888). The student-only bootstrapped indirect estimate was positive [95% percentile interval (0.342, 0.667)]. Administrative-support scale reliability was modest (α = .55).The results indicate that academic adjustment is the most relevant statistical link between counselling-support conditions and students’ intention to remain in school. The study does not establish causal mediation or actual retention effects; improvements to service access and student adjustment require prospective evaluation