--- title: "Anonymous Questionnaire Template With 20 Questions | Formswrite Blog" description: "An anonymous questionnaire template with 20 sample questions, wording that protects identity, and the settings that keep a form truly anonymous." canonical: https://formswrite.com/blog/anonymous-questionnaire-template last-updated: 2026-10-08 --- # Anonymous Questionnaire Template With 20 Questions In short An anonymous questionnaire collects answers without recording who gave them. To make one, leave out name and email fields, avoid questions that identify a person indirectly, and turn off any setting that logs respondents. The template below has 20 questions you can copy for staff, student or community feedback. ## What makes a questionnaire anonymous A questionnaire is anonymous only if you cannot work out who answered. Removing the name field is not enough, so check three things: 1. **No identifying fields.** No name, email, phone number or student ID. 2. **No identifying combinations.** In a team of eight, "department, role and age group" can point to one person. Ask for one broad category at most. 3. **No hidden collection.** Some tools record email addresses or require a sign-in. Turn these off, or the survey is confidential, not anonymous. In a confidential survey you can see who answered but promise not to share it. That is useful when you need to follow up, but say clearly which kind you are running. ## The template ### Introduction text Start with a short note: "This survey is anonymous. We do not collect your name, email or any information that identifies you. It takes about five minutes. Your answers will be reported in groups of five or more people." ### Section 1: Your experience Use this 5-point scale: Strongly disagree, Disagree, Neither agree nor disagree, Agree, Strongly agree. 1. I feel comfortable sharing my honest opinion here. 2. I know who to talk to when I have a problem. 3. I am treated fairly. 4. Concerns that I raise are taken seriously. 5. I feel I belong in this group. 6. I would speak up if I saw something wrong. ### Section 2: Specific topics 1. How would you rate communication from leadership? (Very poor, Poor, Fair, Good, Excellent) 2. How would you describe your workload or study load? (Far too light, Light, About right, Heavy, Far too heavy) 3. Which of these have you experienced in the last 3 months? (checkbox: Unclear instructions, Unfair treatment, Lack of support, Too much pressure, None of these, Prefer not to say) 4. How safe do you feel raising a complaint? (Not at all safe, Slightly safe, Somewhat safe, Very safe, Extremely safe) 5. How satisfied are you overall? (Very dissatisfied to Very satisfied) ### Section 3: Open questions 1. What is working well? 2. What is one thing that needs to change? 3. Is there something you wanted to say but did not feel able to say openly? What is it? 4. What would make it easier for you to give honest feedback in future? ### Section 4: Optional group questions Make these optional, with "Prefer not to say", and only include them if the group is large. 1. How long have you been here? (Under 1 year, 1 to 3 years, More than 3 years, Prefer not to say) 2. Which area do you belong to? (list broad areas with at least ten people each) 3. How do you usually take part? (In person, Online, Both, Prefer not to say) ### Closing 1. Would you be willing to take part in a short anonymous follow-up survey? (Yes, No) 2. Is there anything else you would like to add? ## Wording that protects identity | Risky | Safer | | --- | --- | | What is your job title? | Which broad area do you work in? (with 10 or more people each) | | Exact age | Age band, or leave it out | | Which manager do you report to? | Leave it out or use a broad team | | Describe the incident, naming those involved | Describe what happened without names | Add a note under any open question: "Please do not include names or details that could identify you or anyone else." ## Report results safely Never show a group smaller than five people. If 3 people from one area answered, combine them with another group or leave that breakdown out. Be careful quoting open comments, because a distinctive phrase can reveal the writer. Light editing to remove names and details is fine. ## Example: an anonymous staff survey from the generator For the brief "anonymous employee engagement survey for a 40-person school staff", the generator's sample keeps the identifying questions to two broad ones, role (Teacher, Teaching assistant, Administration, Leadership, Support staff) and years at the school (Under 1, 1 to 3, 4 to 10, Over 10). Note how few people sit in some of those groups in a staff of 40: with a small group, make both questions optional or drop one. Limits worth knowing: three runs a day per visitor, an upload of up to 10 MB (PDF, Word, PowerPoint or text) or up to 20,000 pasted characters as source material, and an anonymous result is kept for 24 hours unless you save it to a free account. The questionnaire can be written in another language, including Spanish, Portuguese, Hindi and Arabic. ## Build it Describe your topic to the free [questionnaire maker](/tools/questionnaire-maker) to get a draft, and delete any demographic questions you do not need. It runs without an account, you can download the result as Word or print it to PDF, and you get three runs a day. Hosting it on Formswrite to collect responses needs a free account, and exporting to Google Forms is a paid feature. For a school setting, see the [student survey generator](/tools/survey-generator/student-survey), and for the rating statements read the [Likert scale questionnaire examples](/blog/likert-scale-questionnaire-examples). [Make a questionnaire free](/tools/questionnaire-maker) ## FAQ What is the difference between anonymous and confidential? In an anonymous survey nobody can tell who answered, not even you. In a confidential survey you may know who answered, but you promise not to share their identity. Anonymous gives more honest answers, and confidential lets you follow up. Are Google Forms anonymous by default? Not always. A form that requires sign-in, or that is set to collect email addresses, records who answered. To make it anonymous, turn off the collect email setting and do not require sign-in. Check your own settings before you promise anonymity. Should I ask demographic questions in an anonymous survey? Only if you need them to compare groups, and keep them broad and optional. Each extra question narrows the pool of possible respondents, and in a small group two or three answers can identify a person. How many people do I need for an anonymous survey? Aim for groups of at least five when reporting. With fewer than that, even without names, the answers can be linked back to individuals by people who know the group well.