Annex A - survey questions
Published 13 November 2024
© Crown copyright 2024
This publication is licensed under the terms of the Open Government Licence v3.0 except where otherwise stated. To view this licence, visit nationalarchives.gov.uk/doc/open-government-licence/version/3 or write to the Information Policy Team, The National Archives, Kew, London TW9 4DU, or email: psi@nationalarchives.gov.uk.
Where we have identified any third party copyright information you will need to obtain permission from the copyright holders concerned.
This publication is available at https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/armed-forces-families-and-safeguarding-overseas-survey-2023/annex-a-survey-questions
Demographics
1. Were you and your partner both assigned to the same overseas location?
Yes/No
2. Are you
A Serving member of the Armed Forces
A spouse/partner of a Serving member of the Armed Forces
Part of a dual-serving couple
3. Are you
Female
Male
Non-binary
Prefer not to say
4. Contract type (of the Service person different)
Regular
Reserve
Full Time Reserve Service (FTRS)
Not Known
5. What Service is the serving person a member of (for dual serving tick both that apply if different)
Royal Navy
Army
Royal Air Force
6. Please tick the rank of the Serving Person (where dual serving tick both or one if the same rank)
OR2 - Able Rate, Private, Air Specialist
OR3 - Lance Corporal
OR4 - Leading Hand, Corporal
OR6 - Petty Officer, Sergeant
OR7 - Chief Petty Officer, Staff Sergeant, Flight Sergeant
OR8 - Warrant Officer 2, Warrant Officer Class 2
OR9 - Warrant Officer 1, Warrant Officer Class 1, Warrant Officer
OF1 - Midshipman, Second Lieutenant, Pilot Officer
OF1 - Sub Lieutenant, Lieutenant, Flying Officer
OF2 - Lieutenant, Captain, Flight Lieutenant
OF3 - Lieutenant Commander, Major, Squadron Leader
OF4 - Commander, Lieutenant Colonel, Wing Commander
OF5 - Captain, Colonel, Group Captain
OF6 - Commodore, Brigadier, Air Commodore
OF7 - Rear Admiral, Major General, Air Vice-Marshal
OF8 - Vice Admiral, Lieutenant General, Air Marshal
OF9 - Admiral, General, Air Chief Marshal
7. Are you
Single
Married
In a civil partnership
In a long-term relationship
Prefer not to say
8. Are you
Accompanied
Unaccompanied
9. Is this your first accompanied assignment overseas?
Yes/ No
10. Was there a reason that your spouse/partner/family did not accompany you? If so can you tell us what that was?
11. Was this posting one of the Serving person’s preferences to be posted to?
Yes/No/No choice
12. If no, then why not?
Assignment details
13. Which country are you currently assigned to? (If possible include detail of the country and the state/region)
14. What was the date of arrival in your current location?
15. What is the date of departure from your current location?
16. If known, what is the location of your next assignment?
17. Would you extend your current assignment if you were able and please tell us why?
18. Is there anywhere you would prefer not to accept an assignment to?
Yes/ No
19. Where would you not accept an assignment to, and why?
Accommodation
20. How did you source your accommodation overseas for your assignment?
MOD found it
We found it ourselves
21. Did you have any choice in the accommodation you are using?
Yes/ No
22. How many options were you able to choose from?
2
3
4
5
6 or more
23. How easy was it to find accommodation that suited you and was ready to move in to?
Extremely easy
Somewhat easy
Somewhat not easy
Extremely not easy
Neutral
24. Does your accommodation lack any of the facilities that you would expect to find in accommodation in the UK?
Yes/ No
25. Please tell us what you believe is lacking that you would normally expect to find in the UK.
26. Is your accommodation lacking anything that would make it feel more comfortable in the country of assignment? For example, air con?
Communication, information, support and advice
27. Has the dual serving/non-Serving spouse/partner/family accompanied on this assignment overseas?
Yes/ No
28. Prior to the assignment did the family receive all the information they needed regarding what to expect in the new location?
Yes/ No
29. What information was lacking and what, if anything, would have been useful to know before accepting the assignment?
30. Was the information that you received accurate and up to date and relevant to the specific area overseas that you were assigned to?
Yes/ No
31. What was wrong about the information that you received?
32. Did you use any of the following sources to find out more about the location to which you are assigned?
HIVE
Education Advisory Team (EAT)
Overseas Education Support Team (OEST)
Families Federation
Career Manager
Friends
Chain of Command/Welfare
Current incumbent in post
Social Media Groups
Community Support
HR Staff
Other
33. If you picked other in the question above then please tell us where else you got your information from.
34. Prior to the overseas assignment did you/your family have to go through the supportability check process for either medical or educational reasons?
Yes/ No
35. If yes we would be interested in your experiences of this process?
36. During the current overseas assignment has your non-Serving spouse/partner been able to access the support or advice that they have needed?
Yes/ No/ Not applicable
37. What was the most useful source of advice? (eg HIVE, Families Federation)
38. What support/advice would you like to see for non-Serving spouses/partners accompanying overseas?
39. Did you feel any sense of isolation at any point during your time overseas? By isolation we mean being away from home/family.
Not at all
I am currently feeling isolated
At first but it passed after a few months
I felt isolated for at least half the time I was overseas
I felt isolated throughout the entire overseas assignment
I felt isolated toward the end of the overseas assignment
40. While overseas have you been able to re-establish hobbies and interests you previously enjoyed prior to the overseas assignment?
Yes/ No
41. Please state what you have not been able to re-establish.
42. Based on your experience so far would you be likely to accompany your Serving partner on another overseas assignment? (please tick up to three answers).
Yes to the same location
No to the same location
Yes regardless of location
No regardless of location
Maybe, depends on the location
Non-Serving Spousal/Partner Employment
43. I am part of a dual serving couple, I need to skip to the next section.
Yes/ No
44. Has the non-Serving spouse/partner accompanied the Serving person overseas on this assignment?
Yes/ No
45. Prior to the overseas assignment was the non-Serving spouse/partner working?
Yes/ No
46. Is the non-Serving spouse/partner able to carry on working in the same role now that they are overseas?
Yes/ No
47. Is the non-Serving spouse/partner working while overseas?
Yes/ No
48. Does the non-Serving partner/spouse believe that their current role overseas matches their skill set?
Yes/No
49. Why not?
50. Is the non-Serving partner/spouse actively seeking employment while overseas?
Yes/ No
51. What type of role might interest them while overseas?
52. How many hours a week is the non-Serving spouse/partner working?
53. Does the non-Serving spouse/partner earn more or less than the UK National Minimum Wage (NMW) of £1976 over three months?
More
Less
54. Does the non-Serving spouse/partner earn more than £100,000?
55. If the non-Serving spouse/partner is actively seeking employment but unable to find anything suitable, what are the main causes that are preventing them? eg unable to work due to visa requirements/qualifications not recognised etc
Childcare and Education
56. Do you have a child or children?
Yes/ No
57. Has/have your child(ren) accompanied you overseas?
Yes/ No
I have a child(ren) accompanied and child(ren) back in the home country too
58. Why have your child(ren) not accompanied you?
59. Please tell us the age of your child(ren) eg Child 1 is 7months, Child 2 is 3 years etc
60. Are any of your children in receipt of, or have they ever been in receipt of the following? Disability Living Allowance, Personal Independence Allowance, Armed Forces Independence Payment, Child Disability Payment (Scotland only) or Adult Disability Payment (Scotland only), or are they certified as blind or severely sight-impaired?
Yes/ No
61. Do you use childcare for your school-aged children outside of normal school hours currently? (Children aged 4 – 16)
Yes/ No
62. What type of childcare do you currently use?
Childminder before school
Childminder after school
School breakfast club
School after-school club
Other
63. Can you please tell us how much you pay for each element of childcare that you currently use. The more information that you are able to provide the better. As an example, if you have two children one who uses before and after school clubs and one who uses early years childcare you would write:
Child 1 before school club £3 for 1 hour, afterschool club £5 per hour for up to 3 hours
Child 2 early years childcare morning session £25, afternoon session £10 per hour for up to 5 hours
64. Why do you not use childcare?
Not needed
It is not available to meet my needs
65. What type of childcare do you need which is not available?
Pre-school (0 - 3)
Primary age (4 - 11)
Breakfast club
After-school club
Holiday care
Weekend care
66. Do you use any of the following to help fund your current childcare needs?
Overseas Nursery Authority
Tax Free Childcare (Manual)
Armed Forces Childcare Voucher Scheme (or similar salary sacrifice scheme)
None
67. Thinking about your child’s (or children’s) current Early Years/School setting would you say that they are making progress at the setting?
Yes/ No
68. Do you think that your child/ren’s needs are being met at their Early Years/School setting.
Yes/ No
69. If no, then please explain your answer.
70. Does your child/ren’s Early Years/School setting take any concerns you raise seriously?
Yes/ No/ Not applicable
71. Thinking back to their first three months of education in your current overseas location, what did your child find the easiest and the most difficult to adjust to?
72. How confident are you that your child/ren will easily transition back into their UK school? 1 being not at all confident, 10 totally confident.
73. What do you wish you knew about the education system in your overseas location before arrival?
74. Prior to your overseas assignment did you benefit from the Defence Wraparound Childcare Scheme (WAC)
Yes/ No
Safeguarding
75. What if anything worries you about your children’s/family’s well-being/safety while assigned overseas?
76. Who would you be able to contact if you had any safeguarding concerns now?
77. Thinking about safeguarding, what do you know now that would have been helpful to know before you and your family were assigned overseas?
Contact Details
78. If there is anything else that you would like to tell us about your assignment overseas then please do use the space below. This could be difficulties you encountered which are not covered in the above or benefits that are worth highlighting.
79. Would you like to possibly take part in future focus groups that would look at specific areas from this questionnaire or other areas of the overseas lived experience?
Yes/ No
80. Please enter your contact email address below. Please be aware that your contact email will be kept on a contact list on MOD secure systems and will only be used internally by MOD staff to contact you with regard to focus groups or potential other surveys. You can ask for your contact details to be removed at any time and contact lists will be deleted after twelve months.