6 Tips to Boost School Survey Response Rates
Practical strategies to ensure high survey participation and increase response rates.
Collecting feedback from staff, pupils, and parents is critical for school improvement, but low response rates can make data unreliable and limit its impact.
At Edurio, we’ve supported hundreds of trusts and thousands of schools in gathering meaningful feedback. In the 2023/24 academic year alone, we collected over 244,000 responses, including more than 70,000 from staff, 120,000 from pupils, and 54,000 from parents. Drawing on our extensive experience, we’ve refined best practices for survey engagement.
Follow these 6 tips to ensure your surveys generate high participation and actionable insights. But first, let’s take a look at why achieving a high response rate is important and what you should expect.
Why are higher response rates important?
A higher response rate means:
- More representative data: Everyone’s voice is heard – not just the most vocal.
- Stronger insights: Avoid skewed results from a small group.
- Better decisions: Support improvements in school policies, staff wellbeing and parental engagement.
What response rate should you expect?
Survey response rates vary depending on the audience and approach. The range can be extremely wide and is influenced by a variety of factors. From our experience facilitating Edurio surveys, average response rates are:
Parents and carers can be among the most challenging groups to reach. Ofsted’s Parent Survey received a response rate nationally of around 2.6% in 2020.
At Edurio, we recommend that parents complete one survey per child so that each child’s unique experience is captured.
This is particularly important in a case where parents have multiple children attending the same school, but the experiences with each child are different.
Pupil response rates are generally higher, as surveys are typically completed during class or in dedicated sessions. This is reflected in the consistently higher average response rates that schools recorded using Edurio’s pupil survey platform.
Gathering at least half of your stakeholders’ voices is excellent! Remember that the response rates can differ among each of your respondent groups – staff, pupils, and parents.
If you have run a survey for the same respondent group before, aim for a slightly higher response rate the next time using what you learned about your respondent groups in the previous surveys to improve accessibility and response rates this time around.
One of the trusts we have worked with for over 6 years has seen their staff survey response rates increase from 60% when they first surveyed using Edurio to above 95% of staff participation multiple years in a row.
6 tips to maximise a survey’s response rate
1. Set clear goals and communicate the value
Stakeholders are more likely to participate if they see the impact of their feedback.
- Define the purpose – e.g., staff wellbeing, safeguarding, parental engagement.
- Use a “You Said, We Did” approach to show past impact.
- Make participation easy with a clear call to action.
You can download the free goal-setting worksheet here.
📢 Example:
“Your feedback helped us improve staff workload policies. Now, we want to hear your thoughts on professional development – please take 5 minutes to share your views!”
2. Timing matters: When to launch your survey
Strategic timing can significantly impact response rates.
- Best times: Align with key academic milestones.
- Worst times: Exam season, holidays, or major school events.
- Recommended survey window: 2-3 weeks with clear deadlines and reminders.
Access our survey timeline template here.
🚀 Pro Tip:
Schools with high response rates schedule surveys during staff training days, parent meetings, or strategic planning sessions.
3. Ensure anonymity and build trust
- People are more likely to participate if they know their responses are anonymous.
- Clearly state anonymity in survey invites.
- Avoid asking for identifying details unless necessary.
- Use trusted survey platforms that safeguard data.
📢 Example:
“Your responses are completely anonymous. We value honest feedback to improve your experience at school.”
4. Design a survey that encourages participation
A well-designed survey equals higher completion rates. Keep it:
- Concise – Stick to essential questions (under 15 minutes).
- Easy to navigate – Use clear, simple language.
- Balanced – Mix multiple-choice and open-ended questions.
- Mobile-friendly – Ensure accessibility across devices.
Explore our 50+ survey templates here.
🚀 Pro Tip:
Start with easy, engaging questions to build momentum before more complex ones.
5. Use smart delivery and engage stakeholders
- Personalised invites boost response rates – use names and reference previous feedback.
- Multiple channels – Email, newsletters, QR codes, parent evenings, assemblies.
- Smart reminders – Send follow-ups only to non-responders where possible.
- Encourage school leaders to endorse the survey – a message from the headteacher or trust CEO boosts participation.
- Assign ‘survey champions’ – trusted staff, parent reps, or student leaders to promote the survey.
📅 Ideal reminder plan:
Day 3: Gentle reminder.
Week 2: Stronger nudge with a deadline.
Final days: “Last chance” reminder.
6. Show impact and follow-up
- Schools that visibly act on previous survey insights report higher long-term engagement.
- Share quick wins to demonstrate transparency.
- Present key insights visually in newsletters, assemblies, or posters.
- Commit to action – outline the next steps so respondents see real change.
Download our “take-action” templates here.
📢 Follow-up plan:
- Immediately after closing: Thank participants and share response rates.
- Within a few weeks: Publish a summary of findings.
- Long-term: Show how feedback is shaping decisions and improvements.
Embedding surveys into a culture of improvement
Trusts and schools that consistently include surveys in their improvement cycles see better long-term engagement. While the six tips above are a great start to improving response rates, stakeholder feedback is a journey. Our methodology for strategic stakeholder feedback surveys is based on a continuous cycle.
Download our good practice guide to stakeholder surveying and take the next step in building a strong feedback culture.
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