Additional guidance

Inclusion and accessibility  

Surveys can be a very useful tool for hearing the voice of children and young people.  To ensure the voice of pupils with additional needs is included, additional considerations and adaptations may be required.  This can start by choosing questionnaires that feel accessible to most pupils. 

Schools know and understand their pupils’ needs and are best placed to plan what support might be required to access a survey.  We advise schools to provide whatever support would normally be provided to pupils. This could include reading questions to pupils or explaining words that they don’t understand.  Having supported pupils in understanding the question and response options, please ensure they are given plenty of space and time to select their answers privately (e.g. look away or move away). 

Special schools serve pupils with a wide range of abilities and needs.  Some of the resources we provide may feel suitable these settings but may not be appropriate for all pupils, particularly those with complex needs.  Our guidance on gathering feedback and measuring change with children and young people with Learning Disabilities provides ideas of how to hear the voice of this group of young people.   

Safeguarding 

Asking pupils about wellbeing can raise difficult feelings.  It is important to consider how pupils will be supported if this happens.  We advise reminding pupils of sources of support and guidance that are available to them.  This could be support within school or from other organisations. 

Staff administering surveys should remain vigilant to signs of distress and be prepared to act.  This could mean having additional staff available to manage situations that arise. 

Anonymous surveys don’t allow you to identify individuals who may be struggling.  It’s important that pupils are aware of this and know how to ask for help.   

If your survey is not anonymous, you will need to plan how responses will be reviewed and acted upon in a timely way. 

The effect on pupils’ feelings of completing a wellbeing survey is explored in our research note: Does completing an online wellbeing survey change how pupils are feeling, and what factors are associated with this? 

Information governance

When collecting data it is important to ensure compliance with your own policies and relevant legislation.  Specific legislation covers personally identifiable information and ‘special category data’.   

The Information Commissioners Office provides a useful guide to using children’s information: 

ICO – Using children’s information: a guide 

Differences in culture 

We are aware of a range of issues that children and young people from minoritised cultures experience in engaging with wellbeing questionnaires and surveys.   

Issues include different meanings and concepts relating to mental health; distrust about the motive for asking for the information, or how the information might be used; the accessibility of the language generally. 

These issues are explored in our guidance: Understanding and addressing the challenges of outcome measurement associated with differences in culture 

This guidance specifically addresses the challenge of accessibility of language for young people for whom English is an additional language.   

Measuring the wellbeing of your staff

Register your school for a Wellbeing Measurement for Schools staff survey using this form to understand the ability and capacity of staff to support the children and young people in your school, and aspects of school culture which may be affecting staff wellbeing.