FAQs for Schools

Your Guide to The SHRN School Health and Well-being Survey and The SHRN School Environment Questionnaire (SEQ)

Welcome to our guide on The SHRN School Health and Well-being Survey and The SHRN School Environment Questionnaire (SEQ).
This page is designed to address the most frequently asked questions by schools, providing clear and concise answers to help you understand the importance and benefits of participating in the SHRN data collection
Explore the sections below to learn more about how SHRN can support your school’s health and well-being programme!
What is The SHRN Student Health and Well-being Survey and The SHRN School Environment Questionnaire (SEQ)?

Every two years, The SHRN Student Health and Well-being Survey is conducted by SHRN, it provides each school with a bespoke school level report which details high-quality and accessible data on the health and well-being of their learners. This enables schools to identify specific health needs within their learner populations, developing and tailoring their school’s development plans and interventions accordingly. On a wider scale, the survey data provides national and regional indicators to support national policies and practices, contributing to the overall improvement of student health and well-being across Wales.


For more comprehensive information, read our fact sheet.


The SHRN School Environment Questionnaire (SEQ) is completed by a member of the School Leadership Team (SLT) every two years at the same time as The SHRN Student Health and Well-being Survey is administered. It allows relationships between school policies and practices (e.g. school leadership; school ethos; school environment; curriculum learning; family and community engagement) and learner health outcomes to be investigated. Used in combination with The SHRN Student Health and Well-being Survey, it provides schools with a unique opportunity to assess the health and well-being of learners in the context of their own school policies and practices.


Discover the power of the SEQ: Explore our factsheet and blog.

Why Should Our School Take Part in The SHRN Student Health and Well-being Survey and The SHRN School Environment Questionnaire (SEQ) Data Collection?

Participating in The SHRN Student Health and Well-being Survey offers numerous benefits for your school. SHRN offers you:

  • Insightful Data: By leveraging this comprehensive data, your school can gain valuable insights into various aspects of learner health and well-being, identify trends, and implement targeted interventions. This data-driven approach ensures that decisions are not only informed but also tailored to the specific needs of your learners, ultimately fostering a healthier and more supportive learning environment.
  • Informed Decisions: Using the data will help you to make more informed evidence-based decisions about your health and well-being initiatives, ensuring they are tailored to the specific needs of your learners.
  • Benchmarking: The ability to compare your data with national school averages provides a broader context for your data.
  • Support and Resources: Members of our network can access support, and resources to help implement more effective health and well-being strategies.
  • Opportunities to support Student Engagement: Involve learners in the process, giving them a voice in shaping the health and well-being policies that affect them.
  • An opportunity to participate in an all-Wales effort to improve health and well-being by contributing to national and regional indicators.

SHRN plays a significant role in the development and delivery of the Curriculum for Wales Health and Well-being Area of Learning and Experience, as well as the planning, delivery, monitoring, and evaluation of the Whole-School Approach to Emotional and Mental Well-being. Schools who use their learner and environment data to evidence informed practice have been routinely praised by Estyn.

Be inspired! Read our information brochure

Why Should Our School Join SHRN, and be Members of This National Network?

Joining SHRN offers schools a wealth of advantages. From accessing comprehensive resources and improving learner health and well-being outcomes to informed decision-making and professional development, SHRN membership empowers schools to create healthier learning environments. Additionally, schools benefit from collaboration and networking opportunities, as well as the ability to influence health policies on a broader scale.

Here’s a closer look at how SHRN membership can make a significant difference and elevate your school’s potential:

Opportunities to support Student Engagement: Involve learners in the process, giving them a voice in shaping the health and well-being policies that affect them.

Access to Comprehensive Tools and Resources: As SHRN members, mainstream schools in Wales gain access to a wide range of resources backed by scientific studies to enhance learner health and well-being.


Explore our impact brochure and blog page to gain valuable insights and inspiration.

Subscribe to the SHRN monthly e-news today and empower your school with the knowledge and resources needed for success!

Improved Student Health and Well-being Outcomes: By implementing data driven effective initiatives, schools can see reductions in absenteeism and improvements in health and well-being.

Professional Development Opportunities: Teachers benefit from training and learning opportunities to enhance their skills, including workshops and webinars. Helping them to stay informed about the latest trends and good practice.

Check out our webinars and take your professional development to the next level.

Connecting and Working Together: Being part of the SHRN network allows schools to connect with other schools and health and well-being organisations. This collaboration fosters the sharing of ideas, resources, and successful strategies for promoting health and well-being.

Influencing Health and Well-being Policies: Our strategic partnership with Public Health Wales and integration with The Welsh Network of Health and Well-being Promoting Schools (WNHWPS), along with substantive and ongoing investment from Welsh Government, has enabled SHRN to grow into a national network of research and evaluation.

SHRN is cited in over thirty Welsh Government policies and strategies as providing support for the delivery and evaluation of health and well-being policy agendas and interventions. These include the Whole-School Approach to Mental Health and Well-being (2021) and Estyn’s Healthy and Happy Report (2019).

Positive School Environment: SHRN membership can contribute to creating a positive school environment where health and well-being are prioritised and supported by data and evidence.

Enhanced Community Engagement: SHRN data can be used by schools to engage with their communities, fostering partnerships with local health organisations, learners and families. This strengthens the support network for learners and promotes a culture of health and well-being within the community.

Helping Learners Make Healthy Choices Throughout Their Lives: By participating in SHRN, schools can use their data to equip learners with essential knowledge and skills for making informed health and well-being choices throughout their lives. This focus helps grow a generation of health-conscious individuals.

Recognition and Credibility: SHRN is a partnership between Cardiff University, Welsh Government and Public Health Wales and is recognised as a national and international leader in its field. Being a member of SHRN enhances a school’s credibility as a health and well-being promoting institution.

Read about the schools who have used their SHRN data to celebrate their strengths and work on their challenges.

Our Class Sizes Are Very Small – Are We Able to Take Part in The SHRN Survey?

Yes, absolutely! We can group your school’s results with other small schools of similar socio-economic status (based on free school meal entitlement banding) and produce a report based on this data. This approach also offers schools the additional benefit of further collaboration with each other, exploring new ideas and initiatives that will benefit everyone involved.

Additionally, even in small classes, the SHRN survey ensures strict anonymity to protect learners’ privacy. The data is collected in a way that makes it difficult to trace responses back to individuals, and all results are reported in aggregate form. This allows small schools to gain valuable insights into their students’ health and well-being without compromising privacy, enabling tailored support and effective interventions.

Please contact us if this is something you would like to do.

Can The Survey Be Shorter for Primary School Learners?

The SHRN survey for primary schools is carefully designed to be a certain length to both accommodate the younger age group and their attention spans, and ensure it collects comprehensive and reliable data.

Our primary school survey has been designed to help ensure that younger learners can complete it without feeling overwhelmed or losing focus. This approach also makes it easier for teachers to administer the survey within a typical class period, minimising disruption to the school day while still gathering valuable data on learner health and well-being.

Some Survey Questions, Such As Those About Affluence and Household Trends, Don’t Appear To Be Relevant To Health and Well-being. Why Are They Being Asked?

Surveys of children and young people’s health and well-being, such as The SHRN School Health and Well-being Survey, typically include questions about household items like dishwashers to assess both living conditions and socio-economic status. We use standard measures to identify patterns and correlations between socio-economic factors and health outcomes which is important for understanding public health and well-being trends and identifying effective approaches. This, in turn, informs public health policies and recommendations.

Finally, the data collected by SHRN is anonymised. This means that while the survey gathers identifiers such as gender, school year group, and ethnicity, it does not collect information that can directly identify individual participants. This approach helps protect the privacy of those taking part in the survey.

Why Can’t We Receive Our SHRN School Level Report Immediately After the Survey Closes?

The national benchmarking data that schools receive is essential for understanding how your school’s health and well-being metrics compare to the broader national picture. To generate these benchmarks, we need to wait until all participating schools have completed their surveys. This data is necessary to calculate national averages that reflect the collective experience of all schools involved.

Additionally, the data is sent directly to Ipsos, our survey contractor, for thorough cleaning, report generation, and quality checking of the entire dataset. This careful process ensures that the feedback provided is based on the most reliable and comprehensive data available.

We appreciate your patience and understanding as we work to provide you with the most accurate and meaningful report possible. SHRN Primary School reports are scheduled to be released after Easter 2025.

How Can Schools Support Learners With Additional Learning Needs (ALN); Learners Who Speak English As An Additional Language (EAL); Or Those With A Lower Reading Age Or Understanding In Completing The SHRN Survey?

Here at SHRN, we want every learner to have the support they need to enable them to take part in The SHRN Student Health and Well-being survey.


Schools should align support with their usual practices, as they know their learners best and are experts in providing the necessary assistance. Here are some suggested strategies:

  • Utilise Existing Accessibility Arrangements: For learners with additional needs, schools can use current accessibility measures such as additional time, regular breaks, and support from dedicated staff.
  • Prepare Learners: Teachers can discuss the purpose of the survey and the nature of the questions beforehand to help learners understand what to expect.
  • Clarify Question Structure: For questions with multiple answer choices, it may be helpful to refer back to the question structure, especially if it includes timescales (e.g., within the last week, today) to help learners pinpoint their responses.
  • Plan Ahead: Ensure support is available by reading the text to individuals, explaining words and concepts, providing breaks, or completing the survey in multiple sittings.
  • Maintain Privacy: When offering support, it’s important to provide learners with privacy when choosing their responses. This can be as simple as school staff looking away while the child inputs their answer.

Is your School Ready to Join SHRN?

We hope we’ve answered your questions and highlighted the benefits of your school participating in SHRN data collection. By joining SHRN, your school will be part of a national network dedicated to improving learner health and well-being.
If you have any further questions or need help, please feel free to contact us at shrn@cardiff.ac.uk.

Together, we can make a positive impact on the health and well-being of learners across Wales.

Ready to Make a Difference with SHRN ?