Form questions

Training feedback questions that measure more than the room

Twenty questions is plenty, and twelve is enough for a single day course. Three can never be dropped: how confident the learner felt before the session, how confident they feel now, and one specific thing they will do differently in the next fortnight. Everything else describes the day; those three describe the change.

A training feedback form has to separate the day from the learning, because a warm room and a likeable trainer can carry a course that taught nobody anything. These questions cover reaction and learning, the first two Kirkpatrick levels, then ask what the learner will actually do next.

The questions

The session

  1. Which session did you attend?DropdownRequired

    Cohort, date or location. It splits the results without asking for a name.

  2. What was your reason for coming?Single choice

    Options: my manager sent me, I asked to come, it is mandatory, I was curious.

  3. The content matched what the invitation describedRating gridRequired

    Row one of a five point agreement grid, strongly disagree to strongly agree.

  4. The pace suited meRating gridRequired

    Row two of the same grid. Pace complaints split evenly in both directions, which is why it needs its own row.

  5. The examples looked like my actual workRating gridRequired

    Row three. The lowest scoring row in most corporate training.

  6. There was enough practice timeRating gridRequired

    Row four. Separate from pace, because a fast session can still have enough practice.

  7. How would you rate the trainer?Single choiceRequired

    A five point scale, 1 poor to 5 excellent, as labelled radio options.

  8. How was the size of the group?Single choice

    Too small, about right, too big. It explains a low practice time score.

  9. How well did the room or platform work?Single choice

    Very poorly to very well. Ask it once so it stops contaminating the content answers.

What changed

  1. Before the session, how confident were you doing this at work?Single choiceRequired

    Four labelled points from not at all confident to very confident. Ask it about the morning, not about last year.

  2. Today, how confident are you doing this at work?Single choiceRequired

    The identical scale. The difference between the two answers is the result.

  3. Which parts of the session were worth the time?Multiple choice

    List the real components: role plays, the handout, recorded examples, the debrief.

  4. Which part could be cut without losing anything?Single choice

    A single choice from the same list. It is the only question that shortens a course.

  5. Did the session teach you anything you did not already know?Single choice

    Yes a lot, yes a little, no. A high no rate means the audience was wrong, not the trainer.

Applying it

  1. Name one thing you will do differently in the next fortnightLong textRequired

    Ask for an action, not a topic. Answers that name a behaviour are the ones that survive to the follow up survey.

  2. What would stop you applying it?Single choice

    Nothing, no chance to practise, my manager works differently, I would need a template, not sure yet.

  3. What support would help you use this at work?Multiple choice

    A template, a coaching session, manager backing, a refresher, a peer group.

  4. Who else on your team should do this course?Single choice

    Nobody, one or two people, most of the team, everyone. A cheap demand signal.

What next

  1. How long should this session be?Single choice

    Half a day, one day, two half days a week apart, one day plus a follow up call.

  2. Which format would you choose next time?Single choiceRequired

    In person, live online, a mix, or self paced with a live clinic.

  3. What should the trainer change before the next cohort?Long text

    The programme lead reads this one first.

  4. May we contact you in six weeks to ask what stuck?Single choice

    Yes or no. It is the recruiting question for the follow up survey that measures retention.

Which questions to make required

Four questions carry the result and the rest describe the day. The session dropdown is required because a result you cannot attribute to a cohort cannot be compared. Both confidence questions are required because one without the other is meaningless. The one thing you will do differently question is required because it is the only evidence that any transfer happened at all. Everything else, including the trainer rating in a low trust organisation, can be optional without weakening the analysis.

The form built from these questions

A static copy of a form built from part of the bank, exactly as it renders.

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Which session did you attend? *

Four cohorts ran this month, so results are split by cohort rather than by name.

↵Enter

How to change this for a different kind of training

Compliance training. Confidence is the wrong measure when attendance is mandatory, so replace the two confidence questions with two knowledge checks written as single choice questions about the actual rule. Keep the what would stop you applying it question, because the honest answer is usually that the process contradicts the policy, and that is the finding worth having. Technical or software training. Add a task list and ask people to mark each task as can do unaided, can do with notes, or cannot do yet, as a rating grid. It replaces both the confidence pair and the apply it question with something a trainer can verify at the next session. Drop the format question, since technical training format is usually fixed by the tooling. A short internal session. Ten minutes of training does not deserve twelve questions. Keep the trainer rating, the one thing you will do differently, and the keep or cut question, and send it as three screens.

Questions people ask

How many training feedback questions is too many?

Past twenty, response quality falls faster than the response rate does. People finish a long form by picking the middle option, which produces a clean looking result that means nothing. Twelve questions on the day, then three or four in a short follow up six weeks later, collects more usable information than a single instrument of thirty ever will.

When should a training feedback survey be sent?

Within a day, while the session is still recent and before the first week of work overwrites it. Handing out paper in the last ten minutes gets the highest response rate but the most generous answers, because the trainer is standing there. A link sent that evening trades a few percentage points of response for considerably more candour.

Does asking about confidence really measure learning?

Not on its own. Self reported confidence can rise while competence does not, which is why the pair is asked alongside a question about a specific action. Treat the confidence movement as a signal that the session landed and the action answers as the evidence. A follow up six weeks later is what turns either into proof.

Should the trainer see the written comments?

The trainer sees the ratings as averages and the programme lead reads the written answers first. That split keeps the open questions usable, because people write differently when they know the person being described is reading. It also gives the programme lead a chance to separate a fair criticism from one sentence written in temper.

What counts as a good average trainer rating?

Four out of five is a normal result for a competent session, and anything at or above four and a half usually says more about the audience than the trainer. The number worth watching is the spread. Two cohorts averaging four where one ranged from three to five and the other from one to five are not the same session at all.

Is a one question survey enough?

A single would you recommend this course question gets the best response rate and gives you nothing to fix. It cannot tell you whether the problem was the pace, the examples, the room or the fact that nobody chose to be there. Ten one tap questions still finish in two minutes and produce a list of changes.

Can the same form work for a conference talk?

Not without changes. Replace the practice time row with a question about whether the talk gave anything actionable, and add a would you recommend this speaker question, since that is the decision a programme committee is actually making. Confidence questions make no sense for a forty minute keynote and should come out entirely.

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Sources

Written and checked by the OneCraft team. Last checked .