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Training feedback calculator
The honest range for small groups, and NPS with its margin.
Free tool
Course feedback survey builder
Build a short course evaluation for a workshop, bootcamp, onboarding programme or university course, halfway or at the end. Pick from research-backed questions, see the survey as learners will, and copy, print or export it.
Free, no sign-up. Nothing you type leaves your browser.
Your course
Course type
When you ask
Answer type
For the “Which lesson…” questions, one per line. Halfway, list only the lessons so far.
Rules of thumb, not measurements: a tap takes seconds, a typed answer about half a minute. Change them to fit your learners.
Your survey
Time to complete
55 seconds 4 questions
About 8 seconds per closed question and 30 per open one.
- Under a minute to answer.
- One open question for the reason behind the score.
Course feedback: Full-stack web development bootcamp
This takes under a minute. We read every answer and will tell you what we change.
How was this course for you?
PoorFairOkayGoodExcellentWhich lesson should we improve first?
When you got stuck, did you get help quickly enough?
What one change would have helped most? (optional)
More time on one of the lessons
The text puts each option on its own line, ready to paste into Google Forms or Microsoft Forms.
How to use the survey builder
- Choose the course and the moment. Pick the kind of course and whether you’re asking halfway or at the end. The questions recommended for that combination are ticked.
- Tick or untick questions. Each one shows the kind of answer it takes (five labelled faces, yes/no, one lesson, short or long text) and a line on why it’s there.
- Add your own question if you need one. The builder checks it for two questions in one, leading words, jargon and length.
- Watch the time. The estimate assumes about 8 seconds per closed question and 30 seconds per open one. Those are rules of thumb: change them if your learners are faster or slower.
- Take it with you. Copy it as text for Google Forms or Microsoft Forms (every option on its own line), download Markdown or CSV, or print a paper version with faces, boxes and lines.
Why short surveys get better answers
Every question you add costs you answers. When a web survey was announced as taking 10, 20 or 30 minutes, 75%, 65% and 62% of people started it, and the answers to later questions became shorter and more uniform (Galesic and Bosnjak, 2009). In another study, 63% finished a 13-item survey against 37% for a 72-item version, and the short one was just as reliable (Kost and Correa da Rosa, 2018).
The form of the question matters too. A yes/no question is as reliable as an agree–disagree scale and quicker to answer (Dolnicar, 2011). Five faces with word labels, from Poor to Excellent, give results that match a numbered scale, and people like answering them (Toepoel, 2019). So every survey here starts with one tap, adds a closed question or two, and keeps one open question for the reason behind the score. Aim for under a minute and no more than eight questions; the builder warns you past either.
What to ask halfway, and what to ask at the end
| Halfway | End of course | |
|---|---|---|
| Who it helps | This group, while there’s time to change | The next group |
| One tap | “How is the course going so far?” | “How was this course for you?” |
| Where to look | “Which lesson should we improve first?” (lessons so far) | The same question, all lessons |
| One open question | “What one change would help most for the rest of the course?” | “What one change would have helped most?” |
| Worth adding | Pace, workload, getting help when stuck | Whether they’ll use it, whether they could explain it |
The halfway check is the one most courses skip, and the one that pays back fastest. A meta-analysis found that mid-course feedback raised end-of-course ratings by about a third of a standard deviation when instructors acted on it (Cohen, 1980).
Satisfaction is not learning
A happy score isn’t proof that anyone learned something. A meta-analysis of 97 multi-section studies found that students’ ratings of teaching weren’t related to how much they learned (Uttl and colleagues, 2017). Keep the faces question: clients ask for it, and it tells you how the course felt. But call it satisfaction, pair it with a question about what learners can do or will use, and check learning directly, for example with an exit ticket at the end of a lesson.
Close the loop
Students are more willing to fill in evaluations when they expect them to lead to changes (Chen and Hoshower, 2003). So show that they do:
- After the halfway check, tell the group within a week what you heard, what you’ll change and what you won’t, and why.
- At the start of a course, tell the new group what changed because of the last one.
- Say who sees the answers. A confidential survey (you see totals, names only if someone adds theirs) can give more accurate answers than a fully anonymous one (Lelkes and colleagues, 2012).
Why there’s no NPS question
Net Promoter Score subtracts the share of people who score 0–6 from the share who score 9–10. With 20 answers its margin of error is about ±34 points, so a course can “drop 20 points” between two groups without anything having changed. If a client insists on a recommendation question, the yes/no version in the list is quicker to answer. For an NPS you already have, the training feedback calculator shows its margin of error.
A worked example
A 12-week full-stack bootcamp with 18 learners runs its halfway check in week 6, at the end of a session: “How is the course going so far?”, “Which lesson should we improve first?” (the six lessons so far, plus None), “Is the pace right for you?” and “What one change would help most for the rest of the course?”. Three taps and one sentence: 3 × 8 + 30 = 54 seconds.
Say 15 people answer, 7 of them say the pace isn’t right, and most open answers mention the jump from JavaScript basics to React. The instructor adds a catch-up session on components, tells the group on Monday why, and asks the same questions in their end-of-course wording in week 12 to see whether it helped.
Questions people ask
What are good course evaluation questions?
Short ones that lead to a decision: one overall rating with labelled answers, “Which lesson should we improve first?”, and one open question such as “What one change would have helped most?”. Add a question about pace, workload or support only if you will act on the answer.
How many questions should a training feedback form have?
As few as you will act on: three to five, answered in under a minute. Longer surveys get fewer finished answers, and the answers to the later questions get shorter and more uniform.
When should I run an end of course survey?
In the last session, while everyone is still there, so you hear from the whole group rather than whoever opens an email later. Add a halfway check as well: it is the only survey whose answers can still help the people who give them.
Should a course feedback survey be anonymous?
Confidential often works better than fully anonymous: one study found that complete anonymity made self-reports less accurate (Lelkes and colleagues, 2012). Share only totals, let people add their name if they want a reply, and never require it.
Can I use this survey in Google Forms or Microsoft Forms?
There is no direct import. Copy the survey as text: each question is followed by its answer type and its options, one per line, so you can paste the question as the title and the options into a choice question.
Should a course feedback survey include an NPS question?
For a typical training group it tells you little: with 20 answers, NPS has a margin of error of about ±34 points. If a client needs a recommendation question, a yes/no “Would you recommend this course to a colleague?” is quicker to answer.
Do this for every lesson, every group
Chalkenso is where courses are designed and improved: instructors note what happened on the exact passage, learners say where they got stuck, and AI drafts the next version for you to approve.