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Benchmark.Pulse

Survey for parents and carers

SEND parent and carer voice

For families of children with special educational needs or disabilities: being listened to, support that works, reviews, EHCP annual reviews and moving on. About 5 minutes to complete.

What respondents read first

This survey asks how well the school supports your child's special educational needs or disability, so we can make it better. It takes about 5 minutes. It is anonymous: the school cannot see who answered, and results are only shown for groups of 5 or more. If you have more than one child at the school, please answer about your eldest child there. If you write something that makes us worried about a child's safety, the school's safeguarding lead will see that comment so they can help.
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 5 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 year is your child in?

  • Nursery (offered in primary, all-through, special and alternative provision schools)
  • Reception (offered in primary, all-through, special and alternative provision schools)
  • Year 1 (offered in primary, all-through, special and alternative provision schools)
  • Year 2 (offered in primary, all-through, special and alternative provision schools)
  • Year 3 (offered in primary, all-through, special and alternative provision schools)
  • Year 4 (offered in primary, all-through, special and alternative provision schools)
  • Year 5 (offered in primary, all-through, special and alternative provision schools)
  • Year 6 (offered in primary, all-through, special and alternative provision schools)
  • Year 7 (offered in secondary, all-through, special and alternative provision schools)
  • Year 8 (offered in secondary, all-through, special and alternative provision schools)
  • Year 9 (offered in secondary, all-through, special and alternative provision schools)
  • Year 10 (offered in secondary, all-through, special and alternative provision schools)
  • Year 11 (offered in secondary, all-through, special and alternative provision schools)
  • Year 12 (offered in secondary, all-through, special and alternative provision schools)
  • Year 13 (offered in secondary, all-through, special and alternative provision schools)

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

Special educational needs14

  1. Question 1.

    Does your child have special educational needs or a disability?

    Choose one

    • Yes, and they have an EHCP (an Education, Health and Care Plan, a legal plan from the council)
    • Yes, they get extra help at school but do not have an EHCP
    • Their needs are being looked at but nothing is agreed yet
    • No
    • Not sure
  2. Question 2.

    The school understands my child's needs.

    Agree scale: five points, strongly disagree to strongly agree

  3. Question 3.

    All the staff who teach my child know about their needs.

    Agree scale: five points, strongly disagree to strongly agree

  4. Question 4.

    Teachers make changes in lessons so my child can take part fully.

    Agree scale: five points, strongly disagree to strongly agree

  5. Question 5.

    I know what support my child gets in school.

    Agree scale: five points, strongly disagree to strongly agree

  6. Question 6.

    The school listens to me about what works for my child.

    Agree scale: five points, strongly disagree to strongly agree

  7. Question 7.

    My child's own views are used when their support is planned.

    Agree scale: five points, strongly disagree to strongly agree

  8. Question 8.

    The support my child gets makes a real difference to them.

    Agree scale: five points, strongly disagree to strongly agree

  9. Question 9.

    The school checks whether my child's support is working and changes it if it is not.

    Agree scale: five points, strongly disagree to strongly agree

  10. Question 10.

    In the last 12 months, how many times has the school met with you to talk about your child's support?

    Choose one

    • None
    • Once
    • Twice
    • Three times or more
    • I don't know
  11. Question 11.

    After a review meeting, the things that were agreed actually happen.

    Agree scale: five points, strongly disagree to strongly agree

  12. Question 12.

    If your child has an EHCP, how useful was the last yearly review of their plan (the annual review)?

    Choose one

    • Very useful
    • Quite useful
    • Not useful
    • There has been no review in the last 12 months
    • My child does not have an EHCP
  13. Question 13.

    The school is preparing my child well for their next move, such as a new class, school or college.

    Agree scale: five points, strongly disagree to strongly agree

  14. Question 16.

    What one thing would make the biggest difference to how the school supports your child's needs?

    Write your own answer

Wellbeing and pastoral care1

  1. Question 14.

    There is an adult at school my child trusts and can talk to.

    Agree scale: five points, strongly disagree to strongly agree

Belonging and inclusion1

  1. Question 15.

    My child feels they belong at this school.

    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

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Guide: How to run a parent survey in a school

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  • Parent and carer survey

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  • Reduced timetables and alternative provision

    Hears from families of children on a reduced timetable or in alternative provision about consent, the plan back to full time, work, contact and reviews. Cohorts are very small, so most schools will need to run it across a trust or over a whole year to reach 10 responses.

  • Parent questionnaire with national comparison

    Asks parents the same ten questions as Ofsted Parent View, word for word, so each result sits beside the national figure and the figure for schools of your phase that Ofsted publishes.

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