Learner voice question bank

How do I use the question bank?

1. Pick the stage. Understand questions are for first conversations. Agree questions help you check the plan with the learner. Deliver questions check support is actually happening. Review questions help you decide whether to keep, change or stop support.
2. Filter by setting if the learner is an apprentice, learns mainly online, is moving between providers or has exams coming up.
3. Tick five to eight questions. Fewer, well-chosen questions leave more room for the learner to talk.
4. Build your list and copy, print or download it. Consider sharing it with the learner before you meet.
5. Record answers in the learner’s words. The learner voice conversation template gives you a structure.

What makes a good learner voice question?

A good question is open, specific and easy to answer honestly. The questions in this bank follow a few rules you can apply to your own:

• Open, not yes or no. “What helps you hold on to instructions?” gets a more useful answer than “Do you need written instructions?”
• About the situation, not the person. Ask what gets in the way, rather than what is “wrong”. This keeps the focus on barriers you can change.
• One thing at a time. Double questions are hard to answer and easy to misread.
• Plain words. Avoid service jargon such as “provision”, “intervention” or “ALS” unless the learner uses those words themselves.
• Not leading. “How is the support going?” rather than “The support is helping, isn’t it?”
• Permission to disagree. Questions such as “Is there anything in this plan that does not sound like you?” make it easier to say no.

How can I make the conversation accessible?

Not every learner finds a face-to-face spoken conversation the easiest way to share their views. Offer choices: questions in advance, answering in writing or by message, using visual prompts, a shorter conversation split over two sessions, or bringing someone they trust. Choose a quiet, private space and allow time. If the learner uses a communication aid, an interpreter or an advocate, plan for that in advance.

Tell the learner who will see their answers and why. Learners share more when they know how their words will be used, and they have a right to know. See the guide to special category data in education for why health and disability information needs extra care.

Why does learner voice matter?

The learner is the expert in their own experience. Support built on what they say is more specific and more likely to be used. For young people with special educational needs and disabilities, the SEND code of practice puts their views, wishes and feelings at the centre of decisions about their support, and the Children and Families Act 2014 requires local authorities to have regard to them. More broadly, asking the learner whether support is working is the most direct way to know. The learner voice guide goes into more depth, and reviewing whether support worked covers how to use answers at review.

What are the limits of the question bank?

These are general questions. They are not a diagnostic tool, an assessment of need or a mental health screening. If a learner tells you something that raises a concern about their safety or wellbeing, follow your organisation’s safeguarding procedures. Adapt the wording for the learner’s age, language and communication preferences.

How does Inclusion Studio support learner voice?

Inclusion Studio is learner support software in development for England FE colleges and apprenticeship providers. It is being built so the learner’s own words sit at the start of the support journey and the learner is asked at review whether support helped. A clickable prototype with fictional learners exists today. See learner voice and reviews.