For staff, parents and pupils
Got a survey from your school?
Your school uses Benchmark.Pulse to ask staff, parents or pupils what they think. This page says what happens to your answers, what the school can and cannot see, and what happens if you write something worrying.
What your school will see
- Results for groups only: 10 or more staff, or 5 or more parents or pupils. Nothing at all is shown until 10 people have answered (5 for a staff leavers survey).
- How many chose each answer, where 5 or more people chose it. An answer chosen by fewer than 5 is hidden, and so is a group where everyone gave the same answer.
- How many people answered, and on the chart of responses by day, quiet days are merged so no bar holds fewer than 5.
- Written comments, read in full by the school, with names, phone numbers and email addresses taken out automatically. So write nothing that would identify you, such as your role, your class or something only you would know.
What your school will not see
- Who answered, or who has not. With personal links, the school sees only how many have answered.
- Your answers on their own, or which answers came from you.
- Your name, email address, device, or the time you answered. Only the date is stored.
These rules run in code, the same for every school, and the school cannot switch them off. See every rule working on a fictional school.
Answering a leavers survey? Your school may know who left and when. That is why results are only shown once 5 people have answered, and quiet days are merged on the chart by day.
What happens to your answers
- A personal link stops anyone answering twice, but the link is never stored with your answers.
- The email address your link was sent to is deleted as soon as the link is used, 30 days after it was sent, or when the survey closes, whichever comes first.
- If you have not answered, you may get one reminder with a fresh link. The school still sees only how many have answered.
- Answers are kept for as long as the school’s results need them, as set out in the retention schedule.
Not Ofsted, not the DfE
Benchmark.Pulse is independent. It is not connected with, or endorsed by, Ofsted or the Department for Education, and your answers are not sent to either.
Some surveys ask the same questions as Ofsted Parent View or the DfE’s national surveys, so the school can set its results beside the figures those bodies publish for England. If you are a parent and want Ofsted to hear your views, use Ofsted Parent View as well.
If you write something worrying
If a comment suggests that someone may be at risk of harm, it goes to the school’s safeguarding lead, the person whose job is to keep children and adults safe. It is kept out of the report. Nobody, including Benchmark.Pulse, can tell who wrote it, so the school cannot come and find you.
Need help now?
A survey is not the way to get help quickly. Talk to someone you trust. Pupils can call Childline free on
0800 1111
Make it easier to read
Every survey can be made larger, shown on buff paper or read aloud. Try them here.
I feel I belong at this school.
Nothing you choose here is sent anywhere.
Read the questions first
Every question in every survey is published. Find your survey in the library and read it before you answer, with the introduction you will see.
Who we are
Benchmark.Pulse is a trading name of After Hours Education Ltd, company number 17051217, registered with the Information Commissioner’s Office (ZC198439). Questions: hello@benchmarkpulse.co.uk. Privacy notices: staff, parents and pupils.
For heads: what to say in your invitation
Paste one of these into your email or letter. It links here, so people can check before they answer.
For staff
I would like to hear your views in a short anonymous survey. It is run by Benchmark.Pulse, an independent company that is not connected with Ofsted or the Department for Education. I will see results only for groups of 10 or more, and comments with names removed, so please do not write anything that identifies you. I will not see who answered or what any one person said. How it works: benchmarkpulse.co.uk/answering
For parents and carers
We would like to hear your views in a short anonymous survey. It is run by Benchmark.Pulse, an independent company. Your answers come to the school, not to Ofsted. We will see results only for groups of 5 or more, and comments with names removed. We will not see who answered. How it works: benchmarkpulse.co.uk/answering