Whether or not you use Ofsted’s SEF toolkit to map your self-evaluation precisely against the new Education Inspection Framework (and here’s a thought piece firmly in favour), survey data can play a valuable role in evidencing how well your school knows itself.
The 2025 Framework places high expectations on leaders to be reflective, evidence-informed and collaborative in how they drive improvement. Inspectors want to see that leaders understand how policies and strategies are experienced in practice — by staff, pupils and parents — and that this understanding informs decision-making. Used well, surveys can support this process by giving structured voice to different stakeholder groups.
Survey data should not replace core evidence such as attainment, attendance, behaviour or safeguarding records. Instead, it can add depth and context, helping leaders interpret what their operational data is telling them and test assumptions about culture, consistency and impact.
Below, we highlight areas of the SEF where survey data can be particularly helpful, and point to questions leaders may want to explore with different stakeholders.
Where survey data can support your SEF
Our blog series explores how surveying can support self-evaluation across key areas of school life.
Already published:
Coming soon:
- Safeguarding
- Curriculum and teaching
- Behaviour and attendance
- Personal development and wellbeing
Each post focuses on how headline survey findings can be referenced proportionately in the SEF, while retaining richer detail as inspection-ready evidence. There are suggestions of questions to ask and templates to use.
Using survey data: practical considerations
If you are the leader tasked with pulling SEF evidence together, a few practical points are worth noting:
Benchmarks
School Surveys are particularly powerful because of the Teacher Tapp data that underpins our staff questions. Results are automatically benchmarked against staff working in similar schools, matched by phase and FSM quartile, helping you understand how your context compares.
Personalising to your context
You can also create your own questions to explore issues specific to your school or to track progress over time. While these bespoke questions are not benchmarked, many leaders value the combination of standardised and contextual data.
Accessing and using the data
Once your survey closes, you can access a PDF report, download the CSV data file, and explore results online. This allows leaders to adjust filters, compare groups and focus on the insights most relevant to their SEF.
Further ideas and support
The School Surveys blog includes a range of other posts that leaders may find useful, including guidance on boosting response rates, planning effective surveys, and examples of how Trusts use survey data strategically.
If you are an existing School Surveys member, our team is always happy to offer support by phone, email or through a booked call.
If you’re not yet a member and would like to explore how survey data could support your SEF, we’d be happy to talk.
