Skip to content
Benchmark.Pulse

Survey for staff

Joining the trust

For 6 to 12 months after a school converts or transfers: asks staff how clear the changes have been, whether the school's identity is respected, how useful trust networks are, and how the workload of the move has felt, so trust and school leaders can adjust the next stage. About 5 minutes to complete.

What respondents read first

This survey is for all staff. It asks how joining the trust has gone for you so far, to help school and trust leaders plan the next stage. It takes about 5 minutes and is anonymous: the school cannot see who answered, and results are only shown for groups of 10 or more. Written comments are read by the school. If one suggests that a child or an adult may be at risk of harm, including a concern about the conduct of someone who works with children, it goes straight to the school's safeguarding lead and is kept out of the report.
Fig. 1  The opening screen, word for word.

How anonymity works in this survey

  • The school cannot see who answered. Nothing is reported until 10 people have answered.
  • A group, such as one role or one year group, is shown only when 10 or more people in it have answered. Smaller groups are hidden.
  • An answer chosen by fewer than 5 people is hidden, along with enough others that it cannot be worked out by subtraction.
  • Written comments appear only once 10 people have answered.

See the anonymity rules working

The questions

Numbered in the order respondents see them.

Arrange the questions

Respondents choose

Which best describes your role?

  • Teaching staff
  • Support staff
  • Leadership

This places each answer in a group for the report. It is the only question about the person answering.

Joining the trust8

  1. Question 1.

    I understand what has changed for me since the school joined the trust.

    Agree scale: five points, strongly disagree to strongly agree

  2. Question 2.

    I was told clearly what would stay the same when the school joined the trust.

    Agree scale: five points, strongly disagree to strongly agree

  3. Question 5.

    The trust respects what makes this school distinctive.

    Agree scale: five points, strongly disagree to strongly agree

  4. Question 9.

    Trust-wide training or networks have improved the way I do my job.

    Agree scale: five points, strongly disagree to strongly agree

  5. Question 11.

    The extra work involved in joining the trust, such as new systems and policies, has been manageable.

    Agree scale: five points, strongly disagree to strongly agree

  6. Question 12.

    I was given the training I needed when systems changed after joining the trust.

    Agree scale: five points, strongly disagree to strongly agree

  7. Question 14.

    Communication about joining the trust has been honest.

    Agree scale: five points, strongly disagree to strongly agree

  8. Question 17.

    Overall, joining the trust has been good for this school.

    Agree scale: five points, strongly disagree to strongly agree

Trust culture9

  1. Question 3.

    I understand which decisions are made by the trust and which by my school.

    Agree scale: five points, strongly disagree to strongly agree

  2. Question 4.

    I understand what this trust is trying to achieve.

    Agree scale: five points, strongly disagree to strongly agree

  3. Question 6.

    My school has enough freedom to respond to the needs of its own community.

    Agree scale: five points, strongly disagree to strongly agree

  4. Question 7.

    Trust-wide policies take account of how things work in my school.

    Agree scale: five points, strongly disagree to strongly agree

  5. Question 8.

    I have useful contact with colleagues in similar roles in other trust schools.

    Agree scale: five points, strongly disagree to strongly agree

  6. Question 10.

    Being part of this trust gives me career opportunities I would not have in a single school.

    Agree scale: five points, strongly disagree to strongly agree

  7. Question 13.

    Trust central teams, such as HR, finance or IT, respond to requests in a reasonable time.

    Agree scale: five points, strongly disagree to strongly agree

  8. Question 16.

    The trust asks for staff views before making changes that affect us.

    Agree scale: five points, strongly disagree to strongly agree

  9. Question 18.

    What one thing could the trust do better to support staff in your school?

    Write your own answer

Communication1

  1. Question 15.

    I hear about changes that affect me before they happen.

    Agree scale: five points, strongly disagree to strongly agree

Free to run. The full report is £149.

Running it is free and gives you the headline result, with strengths and priorities. The full report adds every chart, comments grouped into themes and briefing slides.

Start this survey free

Related surveys

For trusts: Surveys for multi-academy trusts

  • Trust central services

    Asks staff across the trust how well HR, finance, IT, estates, school improvement and central communication serve them, so you can set the top-slice and service plans on evidence.

  • Teacher and leader survey with national comparison

    Asks teachers and leaders 19 questions from the Department for Education's Working lives of teachers and leaders survey, word for word, so each result sits beside the national figure for your phase.

  • Staff wellbeing and workload

    How your staff feel about workload, wellbeing, leadership and development, with clear priorities for action. Around 6 minutes to complete.

Run this survey today, free.

Sign in with your school email. No password and no card needed. You choose whether to pay after it closes.

Start this survey free