✦ Methodology

What we ask, and why we ask it

The monthly pulse is six questions, one per category. Each category is here because the evidence is unambiguous: it predicts whether teachers stay. Together they cover what the board wants to know, what Ofsted looks for, and what teachers tell us actually matters.

Built on retention research

Every category maps to a documented driver of teachers leaving the profession. We do not measure for the sake of measuring.

Designed for board reporting

Each category produces a comparable /10 score and trend line. Governors get a consistent picture term-on-term.

Aligned with Ofsted

What we capture is what inspectors want to see evidence of: workload, wellbeing, leadership, CPD, inclusion.

The six categories

The pulse asks one short scale question per category, plus an open question and the staff voice section. Here is what each category does and why it earns its place.

Workload

“How manageable has your workload felt this month?”

Why for retention

Unsustainable workload is consistently named in DfE and union research as the single biggest reason teachers leave the profession. Tracking it monthly catches creep early, before it becomes a resignation.

Why for the board

Boards want a clear, repeatable signal on how stretched the team feels. A monthly /10 score is something governors can read at a glance and compare across terms.

Why for Ofsted

Inspectors look for evidence that leaders consider staff workload and wellbeing. A monthly score with trend data is exactly that evidence.

Feeling supported

“How supported by colleagues and leadership have you felt?”

Why for retention

Feeling unsupported is in the top three reasons teachers cite for leaving. It is also the most fixable: small changes in how leaders show up can move this number quickly.

Why for the board

A direct counterweight to workload. Boards can see whether a stretched team is also a cared-for team, and whether leadership response is landing.

Why for Ofsted

Speaks directly to the Leadership and Management judgement. Demonstrates active engagement with staff wellbeing, not just policy on paper.

Leadership

“How well has school leadership communicated and led this month?”

Why for retention

Trust in school leadership is one of the strongest predictors of whether a teacher stays. Quiet erosion here is invisible until exit interviews — by which point it is too late.

Why for the board

A hard mirror for the head and the SLT. The trend matters more than any single number: are we improving in the eyes of the people we lead?

Why for Ofsted

Used to evidence leadership effectiveness from the staff perspective, alongside parent voice and pupil voice.

Belonging

“How much do you feel you belong here?”

Why for retention

Teachers who do not feel they belong leave first. This is especially true for early-career teachers and staff from underrepresented groups — the people retention strategies usually fail to hold on to.

Why for the board

A culture metric that resists tokenism. Sustained high belonging means inclusion is working in practice, not just in policy.

Why for Ofsted

Supports the Personal Development and Leadership judgements. Evidence of an inclusive, positive school culture for adults as well as pupils.

Professional development

“How much have you grown professionally this month?”

Why for retention

Stagnation is a quiet driver of attrition. Teachers who feel they are still learning stay; those who feel they have plateaued look elsewhere within twelve months.

Why for the board

Tests whether CPD spend is being felt by the people it is meant to develop. A useful counter to "we ran the training, ergo it worked".

Why for Ofsted

Direct evidence for CPD effectiveness and the ECF for early career teachers — both explicit inspection areas.

Work-life balance

“How well have you been able to switch off outside of work?”

Why for retention

Distinct from workload. A teacher can have a manageable week and still take it home with them every evening. Burnout shows up here first.

Why for the board

Tracks the long-term sustainability of the workload picture. Two schools with the same workload score can have very different work-life balance scores.

Why for Ofsted

Aligns with the DfE workload reduction toolkit and the school workload pledge. Measurable evidence of the trust honouring it.

✦ Monthly, not annual

One bad week shouldn't define a year

Annual surveys are the norm in schools, but they have a problem. A single bad fortnight near survey time can swing a teacher's entire year of feedback. Monthly cadence is short enough that no one month dominates the picture — and short enough that leaders can act between surveys rather than reading a verdict twelve months too late.

✦ Anonymous by design

No name, no email, no device

The survey response table holds no user_id, by design. Staff who fear retaliation answer differently — and the data we get is not the data we need. Anonymity is the only way to get a true read on how a school is actually feeling, which is the only data worth basing decisions on.

✦ Five minutes, ever

Short enough to actually do

Long surveys train staff to skim, satisfice, or stop responding. Six scale questions, one open question, and an optional staff voice section means we get high response rates and honest answers. The product is built around protecting the five-minute promise.

✦ Closing the loop

What this becomes

Every survey produces an AI insight with three recommended actions, a brand-aware newsletter that shares wins back with staff, and a shareable PNG the school can post externally. The data does not sit in a spreadsheet. It becomes recognition, action, and signal — to staff and to the outside world.

What also goes in the survey

Open questionA free-text prompt for anything else worth saying this month. Optional.
Shout-out for a colleagueName plus a sentence on what they did. Feeds the staff spotlight in the newsletter.
A moment worth celebratingFree text. Becomes the from-the-team section of the newsletter.
One thing that would make things betterA constructive, low-stakes suggestion field. Routed to leaders for review.
Photo uploadDrag and drop up to four photos. Goes into the newsletter if the leader approves.

✦ The point

Lots of schools collect data. Echo is built on what schools do with it.

The questions are calibrated for retention. The cadence is calibrated for honesty. The output is calibrated for action and for sharing. Every part of the pulse is here for a reason, and the reasons live on this page so leaders can show governors, staff, and inspectors what they are measuring and why.

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