Survey for staff
Workload audit
Finds the tasks staff would stop, cut or simplify, in the spirit of the DfE school workload reduction toolkit, so leaders can act before next year's calendar is set. Best run in January. About 5 minutes to complete.
What respondents read first
This survey asks which parts of your workload are worth the time they take, including marking, data, email, meetings and admin. Leaders will use it to decide what to stop, cut or simplify next year. 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.
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.
The questions
Numbered in the order respondents see them.
Respondents choose
Which best describes your role?
- Teacher (including early career teachers)
- Support staff (including teaching assistants)
- Middle leader (for example head of department or year)
- Senior leader (including headteacher)
This places each answer in a group for the report. It is the only question about the person answering.
Workload8
- Question 1.
My workload is manageable.
Agree scale: five points, strongly disagree to strongly agree
- Question 2.
I have enough time to do my job well.
Agree scale: five points, strongly disagree to strongly agree
- Question 3.
In a typical week in term time, roughly how many hours do you work in total, including evenings and weekends?
Choose one
- Under 30
- 30 to 39
- 40 to 49
- 50 to 59
- 60 or more
- Question 4.
Busy periods in the school calendar are spread out rather than stacked on top of each other.
Agree scale: five points, strongly disagree to strongly agree
- Question 5.
I rarely have to record the same information in more than one place.
Agree scale: five points, strongly disagree to strongly agree
- Question 6.
The admin and data tasks I am asked to do are worthwhile.
Agree scale: five points, strongly disagree to strongly agree
- Question 15.
Which tasks take up the most time for the least benefit? Choose up to three.
Choose any that apply
- Marking and written feedback
- Entering assessment data
- Meetings
- Writing reports for parents
- Lesson plans or planning paperwork
- Recording behaviour incidents
- Recording the same information in more than one place
- Cover
- Something else
- Question 16.
What one task should the school stop, cut or simplify next year?
Write your own answer
Marking and data4
- Question 7.
I can follow the school's feedback policy within a reasonable working week.
Agree scale: five points, strongly disagree to strongly agree
- Question 8.
The marking I am expected to do makes a real difference to pupils' learning.
Agree scale: five points, strongly disagree to strongly agree
- Question 9.
I can see how the assessment data I enter is used to help pupils.
Agree scale: five points, strongly disagree to strongly agree
- Question 10.
The number of data drops each year is no more than the school needs.
Agree scale: five points, strongly disagree to strongly agree
Email2
- Question 11.
I feel able to leave work emails unanswered until the next working day.
Agree scale: five points, strongly disagree to strongly agree
- Question 12.
Colleagues avoid sending me work emails in the evenings and at weekends.
Agree scale: five points, strongly disagree to strongly agree
Meetings1
- Question 13.
Most of the meetings I attend help me do my job better.
Agree scale: five points, strongly disagree to strongly agree
Flexible working1
- Question 14.
Requests for flexible working are considered fairly here.
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 freeRelated surveys
Guide: How to run a teacher workload survey
- Staff wellbeing and workload
How your staff feel about workload, wellbeing, leadership and development, with clear priorities for action. Around 6 minutes to complete.
- 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.
- After a change
A quick check 4 to 8 weeks after any new policy, structure or system, to help leaders decide whether to keep it, adjust it or reverse it.