School counseling services are among the most important pillars of psychological and academic support for students. This study explored students’ perceived experiences regarding the needs and challenges related to school counseling services. This study employed a qualitative design within an interpretative phenomenological approach. The field of study included high school students in Soltaniyeh, Zanjan Province, during the 2024–2025 academic year, and 12 of them were selected through purposive criterion sampling until data saturation was achieved. Data were collected through semi-structured interviews and analyzed using Colaizzi’s method. The findings revealed 2main themes, 9subthemes, and 122initial concepts. The main and subthemes included expectations in the domain of school counseling services (realistic expectations of students from the counselor, ideal expectations of students from the counselor, counselors expectations of students, students expectations of one another, and students expectations of the principal and teachers), and challenges and concerns in the domain of school counseling services (students challenges and concerns regarding the counselor, students challenges and concerns regarding one another, students challenges and concerns regarding the principal and teachers, and students challenges and concerns regarding the family). The results indicated that students regarded the presence of counselors in schools as beneficial, yet they expressed doubts about confidentiality and effectiveness. Such uncertainties weakened the role of school counseling services and limited students trust and full utilization of them. Therefore, revising counseling approaches and strengthening both the competence and confidentiality of counselors are essential to enhance the status and effectiveness of school counseling services.