Hands-Up Surveys
Overview
Education phase
Categories of activity
Types of activity
How it helps
- Supports all TfL Travel for Life travel activities
- Demonstrates the success of activities
- Encourages class participation and team work
About the activity
Essential for all TfL Travel for Life schools and nurseries.
Carry out a hands-up survey annually to find out how your staff and pupils travel to and from school, and how they would like to travel. The results will help you to better understand your school’s travel habits and identify areas for improvement.
To apply for or maintain TfL Travel for Life accreditation each academic year, at least 75% of pupils and staff need to take part in an annual survey.
Your borough officer and the TfL Travel for Life team will use the results to calculate your school’s modal shift away from car use, which helps determine your level of TfL Travel for Life accreditation as follows:
Bronze accreditation
Carry out an annual pupil hands-up survey. Carrying out a staff survey is recommended
Silver accreditation
Carry out an annual pupil and staff hands-up survey. Demonstrate modal shift away from car use, compared with the school’s very first hands-up survey.
Gold accreditation
Carry out an annual pupil and staff hands-up survey. Demonstrate either:
- A 6% modal shift away from car use, compared with the school’s very first hands-up survey
- At least 90% of the school population travel by sustainable modes such as public transport, cycling or walking
How and when to carry out your annual survey
If your school or nursery has carried out your annual hands-up survey in a previous academic year, we recommend you conduct your annual survey in a short time period. Ideally, all surveys should take place on the same day. If this is not possible, please ensure they are completed within the same week.
School travel plan champions - find a guide to setting up a ‘hands-up survey group on TfL Travel for Life Online’ in the resources section of this card. This takes you step-by-step through how to capture and log your schools survey data on the system.
Activity steps
Step 1
Choose a normal school day or week to complete the survey, when most pupils and staff are in school and the weather is dry. Avoid special events like Walk to School or Bikers' Breakfast days as these may unfairly affect results.
Step 2
Share instructions with teachers on how to collect responses and include a deadline for results to be returned.
Step 3
Follow the instructions on the hands-up survey page to find out how your pupils and staff usually travel to school (mode used most frequently and greatest distance) and how they'd prefer to travel
Step 4
For younger children and some SEND pupils, you may need to instead ask: ‘How did you travel to school this morning?’ or ask their parents/carers to respond. You could use the travel mode flash cards to help you. Find other ideas in the Resources section
Step 5
Count and record the number of pupils and staff for each mode. Each person should answer only each question once. If this is difficult for younger pupils, you could ask your pupils to sit on their hands once they’ve answered!
Step 6
Collate responses from at least 75% of pupils/staff and add them on your school’s TfL Travel for Life Survey page. Read instructions for adding surveys to your school's TfL Travel for Life page or check the Resource section.
Step 7
You can run as many surveys as you wish throughout the year to monitor active travel progress. For example you could do a termly survey with your cycle club, or a survey a single year group before and after a walking challenge to monitor its impact.
Step 8
You do not need to complete the ‘Tell your story’ page for this activity.