Student magazine audience research questionnaire analysis

I conducted a questionnaire in order to find out what the target audience of my Student magazine would expect a STACS magazine to look like.

The first question I asked was what they would expect to see on the cover of a STACS magazine. Many would expect it to reflect the school through the use of the school badge, containing important news for the school and to be set out in a bold and formal manor. However, 20% of those questioned did suggest they would like the cover to be bright and interesting, containing images of students and 'fun' story lines. 

Another one of the initial questions asked what colour scheme they would expect to be used. 100% of people who completed the questionnaire thought that red black and whites should be used with the majority also expecting the house colours to be incorporated.

On the questionnaire I decided to ask if students were enjoying sixth form so far as this would give me an idea of how they view the sixth form, if the majority view it positively, it is more likely a positive portrayal of the school in the magazine will be accepted. It was pleasing that every single student admitted to be enjoying sixth form so far.

When asked about the improvements, the students all gave positive feedback, with most enjoying the change into one lunch that lasts an extra 10 minutes than previously. The positive feedback can assist me in decisions for the magazine as it gathers information of what the students like.

Although 60% of those asked were unable to think of any further improvements for the school, of those who could, more variety of food available in sixth form was common, for example: pot noodles. Another good suggestion for improvement was the idea of harsher punishments for bad behaviour to enable a smoother running school. These suggestions could be ideas to be spoken through the magazine and possibly campaigned for, if enough people got behind them. It gives an idea for a feature of  'Student voice' where students will be able to express their views and ideas.

To give me ideas for features for a school magazine, I decided to enquire as to what their favourite part of school life was.
I have presented the results in a bar chart as it accurately shows the divide of opinions, as well as making clear that sport is a winner amongst many students. This suggests that regular sports features would go down well.

As I thought a feature on teachers would be enjoyable to readers, I decided to gather information on the favourite teachers within the school so I would know which ones would be a popular choice to include in the magazine.
I've presented it as a pie chart to divide the percentage of those mentioned in a clear manor.


'What features would you expect/like to see in a STACS magazine?' was another of the questions asked. A variety of answers were provided with the most common including:

• Upcoming events
• Features on students and teachers - staff profiles
• Gossip sections
• Competitions, prizes and give away opportunities 
• House updates
• Surveys to discover what the students and parents think of changes 
• Interesting facts
• Trips
• Sport results

Then when asked what would encourage them to read a STACS magazine they said that competitions would play a main part in them reading. Other ideas included their being parts of the magazine that suited different social groups. It was a popular idea that if they were allowed to read it during form time, they would be more likely to do so.