360 Feedback Questions for School Leaders

17 ready-to-use questions, example comments and tips — plus a free tool that runs the survey and writes the report for you.

Principals and head teachers lead a whole community: teachers, support staff, students, families and a governing board. Staff are often reluctant to give honest feedback upward, especially in a small school. An anonymous 360 helps school leaders hear how their vision, decisions and support are experienced across the staff room. These questions also work for deputy heads, assistant principals and other members of the leadership team.

Use these questions in a free 360 → Build your own questionnaire from these questions

Vision and direction

  1. How clearly does this leader explain the school's priorities and why they matter?
  2. How well do they keep the focus on teaching, learning and student wellbeing?
  3. How consistently do their decisions match the school's stated values?

Supporting staff

  1. How well does this leader support teachers with behaviour issues and difficult parents?
  2. How well do they manage staff workload when introducing new initiatives?
  3. How approachable are they when a member of staff has a concern?
  4. How well do they support the professional development of teachers and support staff?

Decisions and communication

  1. How well does this leader involve staff in decisions that affect their work?
  2. How clearly and early do they communicate changes to staff?
  3. How fairly and consistently do they apply policies across the school?
  4. How well do they handle conflict between staff members?

Community and partnerships

  1. How well do they build trust with parents and families?
  2. How effectively do they work with the governing board, district or trust?
  3. How visible and present are they around the school day to day?

Open-ended questions

  1. What does this leader do that makes the biggest positive difference to the school?
  2. What is one thing they could change to better support staff?
  3. Describe a recent decision or situation they handled well, or could have handled better.

Example feedback comments

Good comments are specific, describe behaviour rather than personality, and explain the impact. A few examples:

Not sure your feedback is fair and specific? Paste it into our free feedback bias checker.

Tips for a useful 360

  • Invite teaching staff, support staff, other members of the leadership team and a governor or board member.
  • Anonymity matters more in a small school. Combine groups if needed so no group has fewer than three answers.
  • Share key themes and one or two planned changes with staff afterwards, so the next round gets honest answers too.

Frequently asked questions

Who should give 360 feedback to a school principal?

Teachers, support staff, the rest of the leadership team and a governor or board member. Some schools also add a short parent survey, kept separate from staff feedback.

How can a head teacher get honest feedback from staff?

Use an anonymous survey run outside the school's usual systems, invite enough staff that individual answers cannot be identified, and explain beforehand what will happen with the results.

Is a 360 the same as a formal principal evaluation?

No. A formal evaluation follows your district, trust or inspection framework. A 360 is a development tool that adds staff perspectives and works best kept separate from performance decisions.

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