Purpose The purpose of this paper is to examine the role of theory of planned behaviour (TPB) motivational factors, social valuation of entrepreneurship and entrepreneurial risk perception in predicting entrepreneurial intentions (EIs) of university students in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. Design/methodology/approach A quantitative approach was adopted, and a sample of 802 students from a large public university in Saudi Arabia is studied. Structural equation modelling is used to test the relationships among the conceptual model constructs. Findings This study found a negative and significant impact of entrepreneurial risk perception on student’s entrepreneurial attitude, perceived behavioural control (PBC) and intention. Social valuation of entrepreneurship was found to have a positive and significant impact on entrepreneurial attitude, PBC and subjective norms. This study provides partial support for the TPB. While the impact of entrepreneurial attitudes and PBC is significant, subjective norms has insignificant impact on EIs. Research limitations/implications Several recommendations are proposed from the results of this study for policymakers, universities and other educational institutes to encourage student’s entrepreneurship motivation and intention and reducing the negative effect of risk perceptions. Implications for future research are also presented. Originality/value This study integrated three main streams of research which are psychology of risk (entrepreneurial risk perception), the TPB and social context (social valuation of entrepreneurship) to examine the formation of students entrepreneurial motivations and intentions.