The survey results are in and one year group has dropped. What do we do now?
Learn what wellbeing information can tell your school, how to find out more, and what to do with the answers.
Your pupils and staff tell you how school feels in many ways: a survey score, a conversation in a corridor, a change in attendance. Knowing what each one can tell you, what it cannot, and what to do next is a skill worth building. This course starts you on it.
This course is for the people who have to make sense of it.
What matters is a simple way to make sense of what you find, and the habit of doing something visible with the answer.
This is a one-day online course for principals, school leaders, and wellbeing and pastoral leads. You do not need to prepare anything, bring data, or know any statistics. We look at the different ways schools find out how pupils and staff are doing, and at how to read results without over-reading them. We then work through a realistic school case together, and you apply each idea to your own school as you go. You leave with a one-page plan. Four to six weeks later, an online check-in lets you report back on what you tried.
Starts 15 March 2027
Online
Registering interest is free. A course run is confirmed once at least six participants have registered their interest. Until then, neither a place nor a course run is guaranteed. Booking terms →
Run the course with your own staff, on your own dates.
Part 1
Starting from the basics and choosing the question a school needs answered.
Part 2
Comparing ways of finding out, testing questions and checking any survey provider.
Part 3
Reading results, planning the response and telling people what was heard.
Follow-up
A 60-minute online session four to six weeks later: what you tried, what you heard and what comes next.
Every course we run is built on what research says makes professional learning change practice. Here is what that looks like in this one.
Short research input and plain-language guides to what wellbeing information can and cannot show.
Work through one realistic school case, and apply each step to your own school as you go.
Draft and test questions with a colleague, practise reading and explaining a results report, and draw up a one-page plan.
Work in small groups of two to four, finish with a plan and a first step, and report back at the online follow-up.
Short inputs are followed by practice on a realistic school case. Participants test how their questions are understood, compare ways of finding out, and plan the practical, ethical and data protection decisions needed before collecting or sharing anything.
A 2025 scoping review of Nordic studies on instruments measuring subjective wellbeing in young people aged 10 to 24 (Backman-Nord, Söderberg and Forsman) found nine eligible studies of seven instruments, conducted in Norway, Sweden and Denmark. None of the nine evaluated content validity, which asks whether the questions are relevant and understood by young people, although one checked face validity in a pre-study with focus groups. The studies also defined wellbeing in different ways. A 2025 analysis of 28,189 pupils aged 11, 13 and 15 from the 2022 Health Behaviour in School-aged Children survey, covering Denmark, Finland, Iceland, Norway and Sweden, compared four wellbeing measures and found that they largely capture one general dimension, so using several in one survey may add little new information. The course takes from both the case for fewer, clearer questions, and for checking that people understand them.
The course does not recommend a single survey, diagnose pupils or staff, or judge whether a particular wellbeing programme works. It helps schools decide what they mean by wellbeing, what information may be useful and how to handle it responsibly.
EUR 235 per participant, excl. VAT
One day of live online facilitation, all course materials, small-group work, a certificate of attendance and a 60-minute live online follow-up.
Nick Praulins is co-founder of The Nordic Learning Company, where he leads our work with schools and educators, shaping the learning philosophy, pedagogy and programme design behind its education practice.
View profile →Marius Ketels is co-founder of The Nordic Learning Company, where he leads much of our work with companies and organisations, designing and facilitating programmes around leadership, teams and human performance.
View profile →You can move to another date or send a colleague at no cost. If you cancel more than four weeks before the start, we keep 30% of the fee; inside four weeks, we keep the full fee. If we cancel, you choose a full refund or another date.
A clear way of thinking about wellbeing information, a one-page plan you can adapt for your school, questions you have tested with a colleague, a draft message to staff, pupils or parents, and five questions to put to any survey provider. Four to six weeks later, an online follow-up helps you report back on what you tried.
No. Everything is explained in plain language, and you do not need to prepare anything or bring any data. We work from a realistic school case, and you can apply each step to your own school. The course is built for school leaders and wellbeing leads, not for researchers.
What you’ll leave with
Leave with a clear way to read your results and a plan for what to do next.
Pairs well with
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Build a student-leadership programme that helps your school create meaningful routes for students to contribute.
Practical AI fluency and the professional judgement to decide where AI belongs in teaching and learning.
Writing from our team on the ideas behind this course.
EUR 235 per participant, excl. VAT
Starts 15 March 2027
