Every report sets a school's results beside England's published figures for the same questions. This page explains where those figures come from, what each percentage counts, and how we decide whether a gap is real or only chance.
Where the national figures come from
We use three published sources, each asking the same questions with the same answers as our surveys:
- DfE Working lives of teachers and leaders, wave 4 (January to May 2025): a weighted national sample of teachers and leaders in state schools in England. Support staff were not asked, so the comparison is with teachers and leaders only.
- Ofsted Parent View, 10 November 2025 to 6 April 2026: Ofsted's online questionnaire for parents, from parents at state schools in England. Parents choose whether to answer it, so it is not a random sample: treat differences of a few points with caution.
- DfE Parent, pupil and learner voice, March 2026: a weighted national panel of secondary pupils in Years 7 to 11, chosen at random from the National Pupil Database.
The figures are used under the Open Government Licence v3.0. Each question's national figure page shows the source, the period, how many answered, and every answer.
Your phase first. Where a source publishes a figure for your school's phase (primary, secondary, special or alternative provision), your result is set beside that. Where it does not, it is set beside the figure for all of England. We always use the newest published figures.
What each percentage counts
Each figure is the share giving the favourable answers, as the source publishes it: for example "strongly agree or tend to agree". Where agreeing is unfavourable, as in "I experience stress in my work", the favourable answers are the disagreeing ones, and the page says so.
We count answers the way each source does, so the two figures match:
- Parent View counts "Don't know" in the total, as Ofsted's own figures do. For the question about concerns, only parents who have raised a concern are counted, in your school and nationally.
- The Working lives survey did not offer "Don't know", so those few answers are left out.
- The pupil survey leaves out "Prefer not to say". Pupils answering ours can skip a question instead.
Is the gap real, or chance?
A school's figure comes from a small number of people, so it carries more uncertainty than a national figure from thousands. We work out the range your result would most likely fall in if the survey were run again with different people of the same kind: a 95% confidence interval, calculated with the Wilson method, which behaves well for small groups and for figures near 0% or 100%.
Your result is called above or below England only when England's figure lies outside that range. Otherwise it is in line: the gap could be chance.
For example, England's figure for "I feel valued by my school" is 67.9%. Suppose 62% of your staff agree:
| Staff who answered | Likely range for your result | Against England's 67.9% |
|---|---|---|
| 48 | 47.9% to 74.4% | In line: the gap could be chance |
| 200 | 55.1% to 68.4% | In line, just |
| 400 | 57.2% to 66.6% | Below |
The same 62% means different things depending on how many answered. That is why our reports show the verdict, not only the gap. You can try it on any national figure page with the gap test there.
A national figure for one phase from fewer than 100 answers carries a note: treat it with care.
Change since last time
When a school runs the same survey again, the report compares each result with the last run. A change is called clearly up or clearly down only when a two-proportion test at the same 95% level says it is larger than chance would explain, given how many answered each time. Only like with like is compared: the same question, in the same survey.
Anonymity
No result is shown until 10 people have answered. Results by group appear only for groups of 10 or more staff, or 5 or more parents or pupils, and further rules stop a hidden answer being worked out by subtraction. See every rule, shown working on a fictional school.
Comments and AI
Names, class codes, email addresses and phone numbers are removed from comments automatically. Comments are grouped into themes with AI assistance, and every figure in written commentary is checked against the data before a report is released. How we use AI sets out what is sent and what is not.
What the comparison does not tell you
It tells you how your staff, parents or pupils answered, beside how people answered across England. It does not explain why, and it does not predict an inspection outcome. Benchmark.Pulse is independent and is not affiliated with or endorsed by Ofsted or the Department for Education.