Maximising Your Survey Response Rates

Surveys are one of the most powerful tools schools have for understanding what families think, feel, and need. Whether you’re running a parent satisfaction survey or a non-joiner survey to learn why families chose a different school, the value lies in the quality — and quantity — of your responses.

At MTM Consulting, we’ve worked with hundreds of schools to gather actionable feedback that shapes strategy, marketing, and retention. Here are our top tips to help you maximise your response rates and collect data you can trust.

1. Start with a Clear Brief

Before writing a single question, take time to define your survey brief.

Ask yourself: What do we want to know by the end of this survey?

Whether your goal is to understand parent satisfaction, marketing perceptions, or decision-making drivers, a focused brief ensures every question works towards gathering the insight you actually need.

Avoid adding “nice-to-know” questions — they make surveys longer and can dilute the clarity of your results. When your survey has a clear purpose, families are more likely to engage because it feels relevant and well-structured.

2. Keep Your Survey Short and Focused

The best-performing surveys take no more than 10–15 minutes to complete. Anything longer risks losing respondents halfway through.

Focus on the questions that will truly inform your decisions — whether that’s understanding key drivers of satisfaction, or the reasons families didn’t proceed to enrolment.

Keep language clear, remove repetition, and avoid unnecessary detail. Remember: the easier your survey is to complete, the more responses you’ll receive.

3. Be Strategic with Compulsory Questions

It’s tempting to make lots of questions mandatory, but this can significantly reduce completion rates.

Our data shows that families are more likely to abandon a survey when they encounter too many required questions — especially open-text ones.

Instead, keep only essential demographic or context questions compulsory, and make the rest optional. You’ll get more honest and complete responses.

4. Make Survey Distribution Part of Your Communications Plan

Don’t treat your survey as a standalone task. Build it into your school communications schedule — newsletters, parent portals, follow-up emails, and even social media.

When launching, clearly explain why their feedback matters and how it will be used. Parents are far more likely to respond if they understand the purpose and see that their input can lead to meaningful change.

For non-joiner surveys, consider sending the invitation shortly after the admissions decision, while the experience is still fresh in mind.

5. Follow Up (More Than Once)

Timing is everything.

We recommend sending an initial survey launch email, then waiting around a week before your first reminder. Follow-up reminders can increase response rates considerably, especially when they’re polite, personalised, and time-bound (e.g., “Final reminder — survey closes this Friday”).

You can even vary your subject lines or send reminders from a recognisable sender, such as the Head or Director of Admissions, to boost engagement.

6. Interrogate Your Data to Unlock Real Insight

Collecting responses is only the beginning — the real value comes from what you do with the data.

Once your survey closes, take time to interrogate your results properly. Look beyond averages to identify patterns and differences between groups — such as how satisfaction varies by year group, gender, or parental status.

At MTM, we make this analysis easy. Our surveys are designed so you can segment and explore your results in multiple ways — whether that’s by year group, school stage, Net Promoter Score (NPS), or any other key demographic.

This flexibility means you can drill down into what really matters, turning raw data into insightful, evidence-based action that drives meaningful improvement.

7. Share the Results and Next Steps

When you’ve gathered your responses, don’t let them disappear into a spreadsheet. Summarise key insights and share thank-you updates with participants — this reinforces that their feedback matters and encourages future engagement.

For non-joiner surveys, use the insights to refine your marketing and admissions journey — ensuring prospective families see more of what they value most.

Turning Responses into Action

A high response rate is only the first step. The real power lies in interpreting your data effectively and using it to guide your strategy.

At MTM Consulting, we help schools analyse parent and non-joiner feedback to identify trends, opportunities, and risks — giving you clear, data-driven recommendations for growth.

If you’d like to find out more about how our Parent and Non-Joiner Surveys can help your school improve recruitment and retention, get in touch with the MTM team today. Alternatively you can read our Case Studies for more information.

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