Survey tool review

Jisc Online Surveys review

Jisc Online Surveys is a web survey service run by Jisc and designed for education and research institutions. UK universities commonly license it for staff and student research questionnaires and feedback surveys; Jisc reports 88% of UK higher education institutions using it (October 2019 licence data).

Facts checked: November 2026 · Rank 18 of 18 · How we rank

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Our score: 5.1/10
Best for: Questionnaire research at UK universities
Pricing: Annual subscription: Single user, Project or Organisation licence
Vendor: Jisc, Bristol, UK

Unique feature

Education-sector licensing and benchmarking

Organisation licences cover up to 5,000 users for one annual fee, and Jisc runs benchmarking services that combine anonymised data from collaborating institutions (charged separately).

Fit

Who Jisc Online Surveys suits

Best for

Student and staff research questionnaires at UK universities
Anonymous online surveys with routing, piping and consent screening
Institutional feedback surveys where EU-hosted data is acceptable

Less suited to

Clinical trials needing audit trails, queries or e-signatures
Surveys needing fully translated versions in several languages
Offline or mobile-app field data collection

Features

Key features

What the vendor documents publicly, checked against its own pages. “Not stated” means we could not confirm it, not that it is missing.

✓ Yes◐ Partly+ Add-on– No? Not stated

?Vendor builds your databaseNo survey-build service documented
✓Build forms yourselfWeb builder with 10 question types, logic, validation and piping
?Audit trailNo audit trail documented on pages checked
?Electronic signaturesNo signature question listed in help topics
✓Edit checks at data entryAnswer validation: number ranges, email, character/word limits, UK postcodes
?Queries and source data verificationSurvey service; no query management or SDV documented
–RandomisationRandomises answer-choice order only; not treatment randomisation
✓ePRO and participant self-entryRespondents self-complete via secure web link or email invitation
◐eConsentRequired consent question with screen-out; no signature capture
?Offline mobile data collectionNo offline mode documented
◐Forms in several languagesInterface text in 7 languages; questions written in one language
–CDISC export (ODM / SDTM)Exports: CSV, Excel (XLSX), SPSS, PDF
✓Built-in reports and dashboardsAnalyse area with filtering, insights and PDF results
–Built-in statistical analysisDescriptive statistics (mean, median, SD); no inferential tests documented
?Numbered tables, figures and listingsNo numbered tables, figures and listings output documented
–APITerms bar automated access without Jisc's prior written consent
◐Free or open-source option30-day free trial; institutional licences may give users free access

Verdict

Strengths and limitations

Strengths

Published UK prices, including an organisation licence for 5,000 users
Vendor states ISO 27001 and EU (Ireland) hosting
Exports to SPSS, Excel, CSV and PDF

Limitations

No API access without Jisc's written consent
No offline or mobile-app collection documented
Survey tool, so no audit trail, queries or e-signatures documented

Details

Pricing, hosting and regulation

Pricing

Annual subscription: Single user, Project or Organisation licence. Published prices: Single user £232, Project £1,037 and Organisation £2,075 a year, plus VAT (Jisc online shop, November 2026). Free 30-day trial. Pricing source.

Hosting and security

Hosting regions: EU: AWS, Republic of Ireland (vendor-stated). Vendor-hosted service; no self-hosting. Daily backups held in the EU for 30 days. A University of Bath guide states UK servers, which differs from the vendor page.

Certifications: ISO 27001 (vendor; Online Surveys service in scope), ISO 9001 (vendor, Jisc).

Regulatory support

Vendor states data is "processed in compliance with GDPR"; no HIPAA or 21 CFR Part 11 statement found.. Whatever the software offers, your own procedures, validation and training are still needed for a regulated study.

Scale and set-up

Up to 20,000 responses per survey unless agreed in writing; licences for 1, 10 or 5,000 users; email lists up to 20,000 respondents on Project and Organisation.. Self-service build; 30-day free trial with no card. The jisc.ac.uk page states trial limits of three surveys and 30 responses per survey..

Alternatives

Sources (checked November 2026)