The Active Lives Children and Young People survey is designed to be as accessible as possible for all respondents. There were three types of questionnaire:
- Short simple questionnaire for pupils in school year 1-2 (age 5-7),
- Questionnaires for pupils in school year 3-11 (age 7-15/16) and parents of pupils in school year 1-2,
- Questionnaire for one teacher in each school (most often the PE lead but could also be completed by heads, deputies and other teachers).
A simple, child-friendly font (Comic Sans) was used for the pupils in school year 1-2, as well as the use of pictures and an audio feature to enable pupils to hear the questions being read out in case of difficulties with reading.
For the school year 3-11 questionnaire, the questionnaire content varied by year group with school year 3-4 pupils having fewer questions. School year 3-6 pupils had a questionnaire with images and icons and Comic Sans font to aid reading and understanding of the questionnaire content.
The questionnaires are all in English but it is recognised that for some parents English would not necessarily be their first language. Therefore, an option for the questionnaire to be translated over the phone was available on request by schools.
During academic year 2024-25 (Year 8) this was not requested by any schools. For pupils with English as an additional language the guidance to schools was that they should give the same support they would usually give the child to access the curriculum in English.
While teachers were not permitted to help pupils answer the questions, they were advised to provide pupils with the level of support that they normally would at school. For example, helping a particular child to read if that was something they often required assistance with.
During the development phase in academic year 2017-18 (Year 1), all the questionnaires were reviewed by a primary school teacher to ensure that the design and language would be age-appropriate.
From the summer term of academic year 2019-20 (Year 3) onwards, the questionnaire was modified to allow for ease of completion on a smartphone. This was to ensure that the survey was accessible for respondents at home who may not have access to a computer or tablet.