For schools
- What are the benefits of using the Wellbeing Measurement for Schools staff survey?
The Welbeing Measurement for Schools staff survey will help your school understand the wellbeing of your staff, how they feel about the support systems in school, and their knowledge of mental health and wellbeing and confidence to support pupils.
Your survey report will compare your data with data from other schools.
The analysis and reporting will help you identify strengths and successes as well as areas to develop further.
- How much does the Wellbeing Measurement for Schools staff survey cost and what is included?
The Wellbeing Measurement for Schools staff survey costs £300 (plus VAT) for primary schools and £400 (plus VAT) for secondary and all-through schools.
Included in this cost is one online Wellbeing Measurement for Schools staff survey link (to share with staff), your schools Wellbeing Measurement for Schools Staff Survey Report, and the opportunity to attend the 'Understanding and using your WMfS Staff Survey Report' online webinar to better understand your survey report, look at how you compare with other schools, and consider how the results might best be used.
- What commitment is needed from a school to run the Wellbeing Measurement for Schools staff survey?
You will need to identify a main school contact and provide details for this person when you register. This person will receive all relevant information for survey preparation and completion, as well as the final survey report.
The survey link will need to be shared with staff and you may wish to set aside dedicated time for staff to complete the survey (perhaps during an inset day or as part of a staff meeting). You may also wish to send reminders to colleagues to encourage participation.
You will be invited to attend the 'Understanding and using your WMfS Staff Survey Report' online webinar. Whilst attendance is entirely optional, it may help inform how your school uses and shares the survey results.
- What will happen when we've registered?
Within two to three days the main contact (specified on the registration form) will be sent an email with your school's unique Wellbeing Measurement for Schools staff survey link. This survey link should be shared with staff.
You will also receive an invoice from the Anna Freud Finance Team. Payment will need to be received before we can send you your staff survey report. The link can be used and the survey run while payment is being processed.
If enough surveys have been submitted (at least ten are required to maintain anonymity) and payment has been received, your Wellbeing Measurement for Schools staff survey report will be produced and sent to the main contact.
You will receive an invitation to join the 'Understanding and using your WMfS staff survey report' online webinar that will help you understand how you compare with other schools and the implications of the results for your school. Useful resources will be shared and you will have the opportunity to think about next steps.
- Can we run the Wellbeing Measurement for Schools staff survey whenever we want?
The Wellbeing Measurement for Schools staff survey can be run at any time of the year in line with the survey and reporting windows.
When you register, you'll be asked to select when you would like to receive your Wellbeing Measurement for Schools staff survey report. This informs when the survey will close and when you need to register by. For example, if you would like to receive your survey report by the end of November, you will need to register by early/mid October and the survey will close at the end of October.
A list of the survey and reporting windows is available on this registration form.
- Can we add or remove questions, or change the order they're asked in?
The Wellbeing Measurement for Schools staff survey uses validated tools to understand how staff are feeling so it is not possible to add to, edit or re-order the questions that are asked.
- When should we run the Wellbeing Measurement for Schools staff survey?
When deciding which time of year works best for your school to run the survey, you may like to think about when staff will be completing it (maybe on an inset day or as part of a staff meeting), and if the findings from your staff survey report will feed into any wellbeing support planning or key stakeholder reporting requirements.
- Is there a limit to how many staff can take part?
No - there is no limit to the number of staff in your school that can take the Wellbeing Measurement for Schools staff survey.
If you are a small school, please be aware that at least ten survey responses are required in order to run the staff survey report and maintain anonymity. Discounts are not available for smaller staff numbers.
- Can we survey teaching and non-teaching staff separately?
If your school would like to survey teaching and non-teaching staff separately you will need two different staff survey links - one link to share with teaching staff and one link to share with non-teaching staff. You will then receive two Wellbeing Measurement for Schools staff survey reports - one for teaching staff and one for non-teaching staff. You will be invoiced for both.
- How long will it take for staff to complete the survey?
The survey takes around 15 to 20 minutes to complete.
- How can staff access the survey?
You will need to share the Wellbeing Measurement for Schools staff survey link with colleagues at your school. They can complete the survey on a computer, laptop, tablet or mobile phone.
You may want to check that the survey link is not blocked by your school system or security firewalls, and perhaps consider running a test before wider circulation.
The survey is only available to run online using the survey link provided. We cannot accept responses via any other means (i.e. that have been completed on paper). There is clear research which shows that staff respond differently to questionnaires when they complete them on paper and when they complete them on a digital device. Having a combination of the two methods of completion will add a confound into the data (making it more difficult to interpret).
- How should we introduce the survey to staff?
You will need to let staff know that your school is running the Wellbeing Measurement for Schools survey and share the survey link with them.
It may be useful to set a deadline by which they should complete and submit the survey. You may want to consider setting this a few days before the survey closing to allow for final reminders and last minute participation.
Send reminders to staff (including the survey link) and encourage them to take part. Engagement is often higher if staff know why you are running the survey, how you intend to use the results, and are reassured that the survey is anonymous.
- How do I know how many surveys have been completed?
After the survey closes you will be sent an email to let you know how many surveys have been submitted by your school. To maintain anonymity, at least ten responses are required for a staff survey report to be produced.
If your school has submitted less than ten responses, your survey will be kept open and production of your staff survey report deferred to the next survey and reporting window.
If your school has submitted more than ten responses but you would like more to be completed you will be given the option of keeping your survey open and deferring production of your staff survey report to the next survey and reporting window.
If at least ten surveys have been submitted and you are happy with the number of surveys completed you will not be required to take any further action and your staff survey report will be produced and sent to you as scheduled.
- What if any responses raise specific concerns about staff wellbeing?
The survey is for the purpose of understanding the mental wellbeing of all participating staff. Even where questionnaire responses indicate that individual staff members have scores that may raise concern, relevant senior staff members cannot be made aware of individual responses.
Please ensure that staff are aware of this and understand how to share concerns and access support if they need to.
- What will the Wellbeing Measurement for Schools staff survey report tell me?
The purpose of the Wellbeing Measurement for Schools staff survey report is to give your school an overview of the data from your staff survey. The report analyses the data from your school and compares it with data from other schools.
Schools may wish to use their survey report alongside other information to create a more informed picture of the mental health and wellbeing of their staff.
- How can we use the findings of the Wellbeing Measurement for Schools staff survey report?
Your anonymised school report enables you to compare your staff with staff in other schools, helping you to better understand your team and identify strengths and challenges.
The staff survey report can be used by schools to inform decisions about support for staff and pupils, identify areas of priority or focus for staff training, indicate progress against targets or the impact of wellbeing support initiatives, and help identify future target areas.
- Can we run the Wellbeing Measurement for School staff survey again?
Yes. You can run the Wellbeing Measurement for Schools staff survey as often as you would like to. To run the survey again, you'll need to re-register and will be sent a new staff survey link and invoice.
When you receive your next staff survey report, it will only report on the surveys completed using that staff survey link. It will not compare the results against previous surveys. However, it will help schools observe any trend data i.e. how responses change over time, or gauge the impact of support provided to staff.
Depending on why you have chosen to run the survey, you may find that running the survey on an annual basis at around the same time of year will help you monitor staff wellbeing on a regular basis and track any changes.
- Can we also survey pupils?
Yes, you can access our Wellbeing Measurement for Schools modular survey for pupils here.
For staff
- Why is my school doing this survey?
Your school has registered to run the Wellbeing Measurement for Schools staff survey to help it better understand staff wellbeing and support, as well as skills and confidence in supporting children and young people's wellbeing.
All staff at your school are being asked to complete this survey. It should take about 15 to 20 minutes to complete.
- What does taking part involve?
If you're happy to take part, you will be asked to complete an online survey. The survey explores professional confidence and ability to support children and young people's mental health and the wellbeing of staff at your school.
- Do I have to take part?
No - you do not have to take part. Participation is entirely voluntary.
- Are there are any risks to taking part?
There are no known risks or disadvantages to taking part in this survey.
If you have any concerns about any aspect of the Wellbeing Measurement for Schools staff survey, please contact the person at your school responsible for co-ordinating the survey.
If they are not able to answer your query, please contact CORC at measuringwellbeing@annafreud.org
- What are the advantages of taking part?
Your school will receive an anonymised report of the survey findings to help it review and support staff wellbeing.
- What will happen to my responses?
Your survey responses are anonymous and the survey results are reported in an anonymised report.
The survey is for the purpose of understanding the mental wellbeing of all participating staff. Even where questionnaire responses indicate that individual staff members have scores that may raise concern, relevant senior staff members cannot be made aware of individual responses.
Schools are encouraged to ensure that staff are aware of this and understand how to share concerns and access support if they need to.
- Will information about me be kept private?
The survey is designed to be anonymous. It will not ask for your name, date of birth or contact details. It will not ask you to type any comments. To help us analyse the data, it will ask for your broad role e.g. teaching, leadership. Responses are stored in secure systems at UCL (University College London) and Anna Freud.
Your school will receive a report of the survey findings to help them review and support staff wellbeing. We may also publish overall results from surveys completed at all schools. We take great care to report results anonymously and you will not be identified in any publication.
General queries
- Is the Wellbeing Measurement for Schools staff survey just available to schools in England?
The staff survey is appropriate for all school settings in the UK, but due to licencing restrictions we are unable to offer the staff survey outside of the UK. Schools outside of the UK may find some of the resources on the ’For schools’ pages helpful, as well as support and advice about running staff wellbeing surveys and the free Wellbeing Measurement for Schools Staff Survey on the Anna Freud website.
- We are a college / special school / alternative provision setting - are we still able to run the Wellbeing Measurement for Schools staff survey?
The staff survey is appropriate for all school settings in the UK.
- We are a multi-academy trust and would like several schools to run the Wellbeing Measurement for Schools staff survey. How do we register?
If you are a multi-academy trust or would like a group of schools to participate please email us at measuringwellbeing@annafreud.org
- What topics does the survey cover?
The Wellbeing Measurement for School staff survey explores professional confidence and ability to support children and young people's mental health and the wellbeing of staff at your school.
The survey includes sections on the mental health and wellbeing of staff, stress, the knowledge and confidence of staff to support children and young people, talking mental health, and support.
- I work in an Early Years setting. Can we use these resources?
Our Wellbeing measurement for early years settings resource provides sets of questions to help early years settings better understand their staff and provide them with the support they need. It includes tools that can be used to measure wellbeing robustly and consistently.
You can use these sets of questions to find out:
- How early years staff are feeling
- What is driving good and poor mental health (including asking staff how they feel about work practices, culture, engagement and management)
- How supported staff feel
- Whether staff feel equipped to support children with their mental health
- Any additional support they need for their mental health and wellbeing.
Additionally you can find further information for Early Years settings here: