Step one – planning to measure wellbeing

When planning a survey there are some key questions to consider: 

What needs to be measured? 

Decide what is important to your school.  WMfS modular survey resources include questionnaires that cover a range of areas of wellbeing for schools to choose from: 

• Emotional wellbeing 

• Emotional strengths and skills 

• Relationships 

• School Life

Choose a combination of questionnaires that best reflect your areas of interest. 

Will survey responses be anonymous or identifiable? 

An anonymous survey can help you understand the wellbeing of a cohort of young people – the strengths and range of needs within the cohort – to better inform the allocation of resources. Pupils may feel more comfortable if they know their responses are anonymous and respond more honestly.  This will give you a clearer picture of the strengths and needs of the group.  

If responses are identifiable pupils may be concerned about who will see their results and how they’ll be used. You should also consider how you’ll respond swiftly  if an individual appears to be struggling.   

Who completes the survey? 

Some schools use a survey with the whole school while others survey a particular year group.  You may want to use different combinations of questionnaires with different year groups.  Include all the pupils in the year group to understand the range of strengths and needs.  Consider how to make the survey accessible to all students, including those students with additional needs.  (more guidance here) 

How will the survey be completed? 

Surveys can be completed on paper or electronically.  Online surveys are much more efficient, particularly when surveying lots of pupils but do take time to set up and require access to appropriate technology. Some school management systems can support the use of surveys.   

Paper-based surveys can be quicker to set up but time-consuming to analyse in large numbers. 

All personally identifiable information collected in this way must be stored in accordance with legal requirements and data security requirements. It is important to plan where and how the data will be stored and who will have access to it. 

Who do we need to tell about our survey? 

We recommend informing parents and carers about the survey and asking for their consent for their children to take part.  We also recommend allowing pupils to decide whether or not to take part and whether or not they answer each question. 

Step two

Back to all steps

Getting ready for your survey

Before starting your survey, there are several arrangements to prepare in advance and consider as early as possible. These will be specific to your school.