What does your school really feel like?
This is the question behind the Felt Experience Indicator (FEI), a tool we developed to capture the day-to-day experiences of students, parents and school employees. Last year alone, nearly 19,000 people in schools around the world responded. Their reflections became the basis of a recently published white paper, Listening at Scale: An Analysis of the Lived Experience of School.
The story behind the data is both reassuring and somewhat unsettling.
On the one hand, the highlights were remarkably consistent. Across continents and communities, people spoke of relationships, inclusion and recognition. Parents described watching their children grow in confidence and empathy. Students remembered the moments they felt safe, known and able to be themselves. Employees talked about the dignity of being trusted and valued. None of these were grand institutional achievements. They were, instead, the quiet structures of care that gave daily life meaning.
On the other hand, the data revealed strikingly similar points of friction across schools. Students regularly spoke of the pressure they faced and the absence of authentic voice or agency. Parents pointed to communication that was either opaque or overwhelming – information delivered late, in confusing forms, or in ways that excluded some families from the conversation. Employees highlighted unsustainable workloads and, in international school contexts, persistent inequities between expatriate and local staff.
These responses matter because they reveal a deeper truth: the real challenge is not always poor performance, but the perceived gap between declared values and lived culture. Schools often speak passionately about inclusion, wellbeing and partnership. Yet when stakeholders experience something different in practice, the effect can be corrosive.
The FEI also makes clear that experience cannot be dismissed as a ‘soft’ measure. It is a strategic indicator of institutional health. A school can be thriving on paper – high test scores, full enrolment, glowing accreditation reports – and still feel fragile, alienating or incoherent to the people inside it. Conversely, when daily experiences align with stated values, schools build cultures of trust that can endure the inevitable pressures of external accountability.
So, what does this mean for school Heads?
It means that listening is no longer optional. The ability to gather authentic narratives from across the community – and to take them seriously – is becoming a core leadership competency. It means that decision-making must be transparent, not performative; consultation must be genuine, not tokenistic. It means that wellbeing, equity and voice are not add-ons, but central to how schools define quality.
Above all, it means recognising that the measure of a school’s success lies not only in what it achieves, but in how it is experienced. The full white paper offers a deeper analysis and practical recommendations for leaders ready to treat experience as a cornerstone of school quality. Download your free copy here: yellowcar.io/felt-experience-indicator.