Skip to content

Survey for staff

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. About 4 minutes to complete.

What respondents read first

This survey is for staff in schools and in the central team. It asks how well the trust's central services work for you. Central team staff: answer about the services you use. It takes about 4 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?

  • School-based teaching staff
  • School-based support staff
  • School leader
  • Central team

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

Central services overall3

  1. Question 1.

    The trust's central services make my job easier.

    Agree scale: five points, strongly disagree to strongly agree

  2. Question 2.

    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

  3. Question 3.

    Contracts, pay and absence records handled by the trust are accurate.

    Agree scale: five points, strongly disagree to strongly agree

HR, finance and procurement3

  1. Question 4.

    When I need HR advice, I can get a clear answer from the trust.

    Agree scale: five points, strongly disagree to strongly agree

  2. Question 5.

    Ordering what I need for my work through trust systems is straightforward.

    Agree scale: five points, strongly disagree to strongly agree

  3. Question 6.

    Trust-wide contracts for supplies and services give my school good value.

    Agree scale: five points, strongly disagree to strongly agree

IT and estates2

  1. Question 7.

    IT problems are fixed quickly enough that they do not disrupt my work.

    Agree scale: five points, strongly disagree to strongly agree

  2. Question 8.

    Repairs to the buildings I work in are dealt with in a reasonable time.

    Agree scale: five points, strongly disagree to strongly agree

School improvement3

  1. Question 9.

    School improvement support from the trust makes a real difference in my school.

    Agree scale: five points, strongly disagree to strongly agree

  2. Question 10.

    Visits from trust staff to my school have a clear purpose.

    Agree scale: five points, strongly disagree to strongly agree

  3. Question 11.

    Data and information requests from the trust are worth the time they take.

    Agree scale: five points, strongly disagree to strongly agree

Communication from the centre5

  1. Question 12.

    Communication from the trust's central team is clear.

    Agree scale: five points, strongly disagree to strongly agree

  2. Question 13.

    I know who to contact in the central team when I need help.

    Agree scale: five points, strongly disagree to strongly agree

  3. Question 14.

    Which central service makes the biggest positive difference to your work?

    Choose one

    • HR
    • Finance and procurement
    • IT
    • Estates and buildings
    • School improvement support
    • Training and networks
    • None of these
    • Not sure
  4. Question 15.

    Which central service most needs to improve?

    Choose one

    • HR
    • Finance and procurement
    • IT
    • Estates and buildings
    • School improvement support
    • Training and networks
    • None of these
    • Not sure
  5. Question 16.

    What one change would make the trust's central services more useful to your school?

    Write your own answer

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

For trusts: Surveys for multi-academy trusts

  • 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.

  • Leadership and governance visibility

    Shows how visible, open and trusted senior leaders and governors are to staff, as evidence for the governing board's self-evaluation. Best run in the summer term.

  • 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.