Here are some of the best questions for a student survey about tutoring services, plus practical tips for designing questions that spark real insights. You can build your own survey with Specific in seconds using our AI survey generator.
Best open-ended questions for student survey about tutoring services
Open-ended questions let students express themselves freely—there’s no box to tick or word limit to stay under. We get richer, more genuine answers, which is why these are so valuable for understanding perceptions, satisfaction, or suggestions for tutoring services. But keep in mind: open-ended questions often have higher nonresponse rates compared to closed-ended ones, with a median nonresponse rate of 13% according to a Pew Research Center study [1]. Balance is key.
Here are 10 open-ended questions proven to spark meaningful feedback in student surveys about tutoring services:
What was your main reason for seeking tutoring this semester?
Can you describe how tutoring has impacted your academic performance?
What did you like most about the tutoring sessions?
What challenges (if any) did you face when using tutoring services?
How could our tutoring services be more helpful to you?
Was there anything missing from the tutoring support you received?
How did you feel about the availability and scheduling of tutoring sessions?
In your own words, describe your ideal tutoring experience.
Can you share a specific moment when tutoring made a difference for you?
What advice would you give us to improve our tutoring program?
Using these types of questions helps uncover the “why” behind students’ behaviors, not just the “what”. You can't always quantify feedback—but you can find unexpected trends by listening carefully.
Best single-select multiple-choice questions for student survey about tutoring services
Single-select multiple-choice questions are practical when we need to quantify answers or help students start thinking about their experiences without putting the burden of wordsmithing on them. It’s often easier—especially for short surveys or for students who may feel less confident in their writing—to choose from a few focused options. We recommend a balanced mix of open and closed questions, as higher response rates come from closed-ended items [1].
Here are three effective single-select multiple-choice questions for a student survey about tutoring services:
Question: How often did you use tutoring services this semester?
Once
2-5 times
6-10 times
More than 10 times
I didn’t use them
Question: Which subject area did you seek tutoring for the most?
Mathematics
Sciences
Humanities
Languages
Other
Question: How satisfied were you with the quality of tutoring services?
Very satisfied
Satisfied
Neutral
Dissatisfied
Very dissatisfied
When to followup with "why?" It’s a good practice to trigger a “why” followup after a student makes a selection—especially with satisfaction or frequency questions. For example, if a student picks “Dissatisfied,” following up with “Can you tell us why you felt dissatisfied with the tutoring service?” helps us pinpoint improvements. These short, targeted follow-ups drive more actionable feedback and context for each answer.
When and why to add the "Other" choice? Always include an “Other” option in lists like subject areas, as students’ needs or experiences don’t always fit categories we anticipate. If they pick “Other,” follow up to ask for more details—you’ll often uncover emerging trends or pain points that would’ve gone unnoticed with rigid choices alone.
NPS question for student survey about tutoring services
Net Promoter Score, or NPS, is a simple yet powerful way to measure student loyalty and word-of-mouth around your tutoring services. NPS asks: “How likely are you to recommend our tutoring services to a friend or classmate?” on a scale from 0 to 10. It’s quick for students to answer and allows you to benchmark satisfaction over time. For student feedback on tutoring, NPS helps identify both super-fans and detractors—and you can trigger different followups for each group (for example, asking promoters what they value most, or detractors what should change). Try using the NPS survey for students about tutoring services as a strong starting point.
The power of follow-up questions
Don’t underestimate what happens in the second (or even third) question. Automated and targeted follow-up questions make surveys more conversational and tap into insights otherwise lost. We’ve written in-depth about automated AI followup questions—these unlock a whole new level of context by adapting in real time to what the student just said.
Specific’s followup question logic uses AI to ask just the right question at just the right moment. For example, say a student gives a short or ambiguous answer:
Student: The sessions were okay.
AI follow-up: Could you share what made the sessions just “okay” for you? Was there something you think could improve?
This live, contextual followup means you don’t waste time dealing with vague feedback or emailing back for clarification. Instead, the survey itself feels like a friendly chat, and students open up.
How many followups to ask? Generally, two or three is enough—just enough to gather meaningful context without feeling repetitive. It helps to have a skip setting once essential info is shared, something the Specific platform supports out of the box.
This makes it a conversational survey—students aren’t just ticking boxes, they’re having a back-and-forth that boosts engagement (and response quality).
AI-powered response analysis—thanks to AI, analyzing unstructured feedback is as easy as chatting. Learn more in our guide to AI survey response analysis or our tutorial on how to analyze responses from student survey about tutoring services.
These automated, conversational followups are a new approach—try generating a student survey about tutoring services to see how they work in action.
How to compose a prompt for ChatGPT (or other GPTs) to generate your questions
If you want AI to brainstorm for you, the right prompt works wonders. Try something direct:
Suggest 10 open-ended questions for student survey about tutoring services.
But you’ll get even better results if you provide a bit more context about your situation and goals, for example:
We run a college tutoring program with weekly drop-in and online support. Our goal is to improve student satisfaction and uncover barriers to use. Suggest 10 open-ended questions for a student survey about our tutoring services.
Once you have a good list, get more structure by asking:
Look at the questions and categorize them. Output categories with the questions under them.
This gives you a sense of coverage (e.g., impact, access, tutor quality, communication). Then, narrow in with:
Generate 10 questions for categories Impact and Access.
Prompts like these help the AI deliver not just more ideas, but better, more focused ones.
What is a conversational survey?
A conversational survey feels like a real chat rather than clicking options or typing answers into boxes. With Specific, the survey isn’t just a static list—it’s a series of AI-driven exchanges that flow naturally, follow up, clarify, and adapt to each respondent’s answers. For instance, our AI survey generator can start with a solid template and instantly tailor it to your unique context.
Here’s how creating surveys with AI differs from the usual approach:
Manual Surveys | AI-Generated Conversational Surveys |
|---|---|
Rigid format, static questions | Dynamic, adaptive conversation |
High effort to build and polish | AI assembles and refines, fast |
Limited context or followup | Automated follow-up probes for deeper insights |
Hard to analyze text responses | AI summarizes and analyzes instantly |
Feels formal, less engaging | Feels like a real conversation; fun to answer on mobile |
Why use AI for student surveys? Simple: you get more (and better) feedback, in less time. It’s far easier for students to respond conversationally, especially when the survey adapts to their words like an attentive interviewer. AI survey generators like Specific aren’t just about collecting data—they’re about collecting the right data with less work and better engagement. If you’re curious about building your own step-by-step, our guide on how to create a student survey about tutoring services breaks it down.
Specific aims to deliver the best-in-class user experience in conversational surveys, making the feedback process smooth, efficient, and genuinely insightful—from survey creation to deep analysis and everything in between.
See this tutoring services survey example now
Don’t just guess what students want—see how a conversational, AI-powered survey reveals what truly matters. Experience deeper insights, faster analysis, and greater engagement all in one place.