About the survey
The school survey was a collaborative tool developed by the Audit Commission in partnership with Ofsted, Estyn, the Wales Audit Office, councils, headteacher and governor associations. Its primary purpose was to act as a source of evidence about schools' perceptions of the support they received from their council and the services provided locally for children and young people.
Originally created as a data collection tool for a national study in 1998 (which led to the publication of the Held in Trust report (PDF, 111kb) in 1999), the survey was an annual, national, online exercise, developed to capture schools' views as a key component of local education authority inspection evidence in England and Wales.
The first national survey of 117 councils was carried out in summer 2002. In 2005 the survey was reviewed and the questions brought more in line with the Every Child Matters outcome areas. Following the government's proposed abolition of the Audit Commission announced in August 2010, the school survey was cancelled, including the then proposed June 2011 survey.
Useful material
The school survey has generated a wealth of material that should be of interest - both at a local and national level - to anyone with a responsibility for education or children's services, and in particular the relationships between local authorities and schools. A number of publications are detailed below, including both the findings from previous surveys, and a copy of the latest questionnaire.