How many questions should an exit survey have?

Ten to fifteen is plenty: one reason-for-leaving question, six to eight rated statements and two or three open questions. That takes about ten minutes. Past that length people skip the open questions, which are the ones that explain the scores.

Should an exit survey be anonymous?

In a small company a leaver is easy to identify, so a promise of anonymity is hard to keep. Promise confidentiality instead: say who reads the answers, and report themes across several leavers, not single quotes with a name attached.

When should you send an exit survey?

Two or three days after the resignation is confirmed, with a request to return it before the final week. Some teams send a second, shorter survey a month or two after the person has left, to hear what they think once they have settled into the new job.

What should you do with exit survey results?

Tag each survey with one primary reason, then review them together each quarter by team, manager and tenure. Pick the reason that comes up most among the people you wanted to keep and change one thing about it. Then tell current staff what you changed.

Exit Survey Template: Free Form to Copy

Last updated October 14, 2026

An exit survey asks every leaver the same questions in writing.

An exit survey is the written version of the exit interview. The person leaving fills it in alone, in about ten minutes, so the answers are less filtered than they would be face to face. Because every leaver gets the same questions and the same rating scale, you can count the answers across many departures instead of reading them one story at a time.

This template has a reason-for-leaving question, seven rated statements, three open questions and one question about returning. Fill it in on this page to try it, then copy it into the survey tool or document you already use.

Here is how to use the exit survey template in five steps.

How to use it

1Send it after notice, before the last day
2Say who will read it
3Keep the questions fixed
4Tag the main reason
5Read the answers in batches

Send it after notice, before the last day. Send the survey two or three days after the person resigns and ask for it back before their final week. That is early enough that they still care and late enough that the decision has settled.
Say who will read it. Tell the leaver who sees the answers and how they will be used. People write more when they know their manager will see themes, not their name next to a sentence.
Keep the questions fixed. Use the same questions and the same 1 to 5 scale for every leaver. Changing the wording between people breaks the comparison the survey exists for.
Tag the main reason. Record one primary reason per leaver, from the same list each time. The open answers explain the reason and the tag lets you count it.
Read the answers in batches. Review the surveys together every quarter, by team and by reason. One survey is an anecdote. A dozen with the same low score is a finding.

Here is a worked example with invented names.

Take an invented company, Quillhaven Software, with 120 employees. Over one quarter six people resign, and all six return the survey.

Four of the six pick growth and career path as their main reason, and the statement about a clear path to grow averages 2.2 out of 5. The statement about fair pay averages 3.8. The open answers repeat one point: nobody could say what the next level required.

Worked example

Quillhaven Software, an invented company: six exit surveys from one quarter

Surveys returned6 of 6
Most picked main reasonGrowth and career path, 4 of 6
I had a clear path to grow here2.2 out of 5 on average
I was paid fairly for my role3.8 out of 5 on average
What could we have done to keep you?Tell me what the next level requires

What Quillhaven did

Wrote level descriptions for two teams and booked career conversations

Quillhaven had been preparing a pay review. The surveys point somewhere else, so the people team writes level descriptions for the two teams that lost the most people and asks each manager there to hold a career conversation that quarter.

These mistakes spoil an exit survey.

Sending the survey on the last day, when the laptop is already handed in and nobody answers.
Letting the leaver's own manager be the only reader, which filters out every answer about that manager.
Asking twenty open questions. Long surveys get skipped or rushed, so keep to a few rated statements and three open questions.
Rewording the questions for each leaver, so no two surveys can be compared.
Storing each survey without ever reading them together. The value is in the pattern across leavers.

People ask these questions about exit surveys.

An exit survey is a written form the leaver fills in alone, with the same questions for everyone. An exit interview is a live conversation that can follow up on an answer. The survey gives you answers you can count and the interview gives you the story behind them. Many teams send the survey first and use the interview to ask about what it showed.

These glossary terms explain the ideas behind it.

Exit survey
An exit survey is the written, usually anonymous form version of the exit interview, built from consistent questions so answers can be counted across many leavers.
Exit interview
An exit interview is a structured conversation with a departing employee about why they are leaving and what would have changed their mind.
Regretted attrition
Regretted attrition is a departure the company did not want: someone whose performance, skills or relationships you would have paid to keep.
Voluntary turnover
Voluntary turnover is a departure the employee chose: a resignation, a retirement, or a move to another employer.

These pages on this site go deeper.

These templates pair well with this one.

Exit interview form
An opening script, eleven questions and one primary reason, for the interviewer.
Exit interview tracking spreadsheet
One row per leaver, eight columns, and a short review for the quarter.
Employee offboarding checklist
Four stages and 21 items, from notice to the week after the last day.

Find out what turnover is costing you.

Put a number on it in about two minutes with the free turnover cost calculator, using your own headcount, average salary and turnover rate.

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Back to the HR templates, where all 22 are listed.