Problem solving has proven valuable for students’ learning. This presentation includes results from three studies where students’ opportunities to engage in mathematical problem solving have been studied. The results show that textbook tasks to a great extent are of routine character rather than mathematical problems. Furthermore, students mainly work on the easier sets of tasks, including even fewer mathematical problems. Thus, students’ opportunities to engage in mathematical problem solving are limited. In an ongoing project an analytic framework is developed to better understand some of the important components of mathematical problem solving and possibly also be of support in the design of mathematical problems.