Teacher wellbeing survey questions – the top 60 questions to ask your teachers

As a leader at an international school, it’s crucial to keep an eye on teacher wellbeing – not only for their sake but also for retention, as it’s easier to retain teachers when you know what’s impacting their wellbeing. In this blog, we list 60 potential questions to ask in your next wellbeing survey to get an insight into the health and wellbeing of your staff. Just don’t forget to follow it up with a targeted action plan! 

Why teacher wellbeing surveys are important 

Teacher wellbeing surveys are crucial for understanding the health and wellbeing of your staff. Wellbeing directly impacts their effectiveness in their role and their ability to engage with students. 

This is especially important in international schools, where both students and school staff face unique mental health and wellbeing challenges.  

Survey feedback allows you to identify areas where your staff need support, and to implement interventions to improve wellbeing and job satisfaction. This information allows you to work towards and promote a more positive school culture which will, ultimately, support both retention and recruitment. 

When conducted on at least an annual basis, leaders can identify long-term issues as well as monitor improvement over time. 

60 teacher wellbeing survey questions to ask your staff 

It’s not as simple as just pulling together some random questions to ask your staff. Questions must be considered in order to provide meaningful insight.  

Here are our top questions to ask your staff in a teacher wellbeing survey, broken down into key categories: 

Job satisfaction 

1. On a scale of 1 to 10, how satisfied are you with your current position? 

2. What aspects of your job bring you the most satisfaction? 

3. Are there aspects of your job that you find particularly challenging? 

4. Are there any areas for improvement in your role? 

Work-life balance 

5. Do you consider yourself to be overworked? 

6. How often do you find yourself taking work home? 

7. Are you able to maintain a healthy work-life balance? 

8. Do you feel supported in managing your time effectively? 

Relationships and communication 

9. How would you rate the effectiveness of communication within the school? 

10. Do you feel comfortable expressing concerns or feedback to school leadership? 

11. Are there opportunities for collaborative planning with your colleagues? 

Student relationships 

12. How well do you feel you connect with your students on a personal level? 

13. Are there resources available to help teachers build positive relationships with students? 

14. How supported do you feel in addressing behavioural issues in the classroom? 

15. How supported do you feel in the management of students with SEND? 

Leadership effectiveness 

16. Do you feel confident in the decisions made by the leadership team? 

17. Are there channels for providing feedback on the effectiveness of school leadership? 

18. How do you rate the communication skills of the leadership team? 

19. How do you rate the overall effectiveness of the leadership team? 

20. How transparent do you feel school decision-making processes are? 

21. Do you feel comfortable asking leadership for help? 

Policies and procedures 

22. How well do you understand school policies and procedures? 

23. How much do you agree with school policies and procedures? 

24. Are there opportunities for teachers to provide input on policy development? 

Emotional wellbeing 

25. How well does your school support your emotional wellbeing? 

26. Have you felt overwhelmed in the past six months? 

27. Have you felt stressed in the past six months? 

28. Is there an effective support system in place for managing stress and mental health? 

Physical wellbeing 

29. Is there a comfortable and ergonomic workspace provided for teachers? 

30. How would you rate the school's efforts in promoting a healthy physical environment? 

31. Is there opportunity for physical activity during the school day? 

32. Do you wish there was more opportunity for physical activity during the school day? If so, do you have any recommendations for increasing activity in the day? 

School culture 

33. Does the school culture promote inclusivity and diversity? 

34. To what extent do you feel a sense of belonging within the school community? 

35. Are there initiatives in place to promote a positive school culture? 

36. Do you have any recommendations on how to improve school culture? 

Training and development 

37. Does your school provide regular training sessions? 

38. How would you rate the effectiveness of professional development opportunities at your school? 

39. Do you feel adequately prepared to meet the needs of your students? 

40. Are there any specific training and development opportunities you would like your school to consider introducing? 

Career development opportunities 

41. Are there opportunities for career advancement within the school? 

42. How well does the school support your long-term career goals? 

43. Are there mentorship programmes in place for career development? 

44. Have you considered leaving your school for an opportunity elsewhere in the last six months? 

Balancing administrative duties 

45. How would you rate the clarity of administrative expectations? 

46. How much do administrative duties impact your overall workload? 

47. How well do you feel supported in managing administrative tasks? 

Professional autonomy 

48. To what extent do you feel you have control over your teaching methods and curriculum? 

49. Are there opportunities for teachers to contribute to decision-making processes? 

Recognition 

50. Are there mechanisms in place to recognise and reward teachers for going above and beyond? 

51. How would you rate the school's acknowledgment of extra-curricular contributions? 

52. How much do you think that extra-curricular activities are expected of teachers? 

Feedback 

53. How satisfied are you with the feedback you receive from leadership, students and parents? 

54. Are there mechanisms in place for continuous improvement based on feedback? 

Technology integration 

55. Are there adequate resources and training for integrating technology into your teaching? 

56. Do you feel confident in using technology to enhance your teaching? 

Parental involvement 

57. Are there effective communication channels between teachers and parents? 

58. Do you feel supported in managing parent-teacher relationships? 

Working internationally (for those working outside their home country) 

59. Are there adequate opportunities for you to connect with the local community? 

60. Do you feel supported in adapting to work in [your school’s country]?

Retain top talent and give your school a voice with Tes Staff Management 

With Tes Staff Management, you can access 113,000 UK curriculum teachers, 123,000 US curriculum teachers and 128,000 IB curriculum teachers – as well as help retaining existing staff, including anonymous wellbeing surveys. Show staff that you care with anonymous school wellbeing surveys included in your subscription. 

Our wellbeing surveys are purpose-built for schools and includes a bank of custom-created questions tailored to education and developed by a psychologist – covering 21 different categories. 

Show that you care about their opinions and wellbeing with regular short surveys. 

Learn more