Survey Completion Rate Calculator

Where it is used

• Teachers: A teacher checks how many students who opened an end-of-term feedback form actually answered every question to the end.
• Event organisers: An event organiser sees how many attendees who began the post-conference survey reached the final question.
• HR staff: An HR officer measures how many employees who started the staff engagement survey completed the whole thing.

Completion rate vs response rate

Response rate measures how many invited people took part. Completion rate measures how many of those who started actually finished. Long or confusing surveys lower completion rates.

When should you use it?

Use this after you have run a survey and want to see how many people who began it actually reached the end. It works for any survey, whether handed out on paper or filled in online. It is most useful for longer surveys, where people sometimes give up partway through. If lots of people start but few finish, the completion rate points to a possible problem, such as too many questions or wording that is hard to follow.

What does the result mean?

The result is a percentage. It shows, out of everyone who started your survey, how many finished it. So 80 percent means 8 in every 10 people who began the survey completed it. Below that you see the drop-off, which is the share who quit before the end. Higher is better, and there is no single official target. Short, clear surveys tend to be finished more often, so a low number is a hint that your survey is too long or confusing.

Mistakes to avoid

The most common mistake is putting the wrong number in the started box. It should be the people who actually opened or began the survey, not everyone you invited or emailed. If you use the invited number instead, you are measuring response rate, which is a different thing. Also make sure the started number is at least as big as the completed number, since more people cannot finish than began. Finally, use whole people in both boxes, not percentages.

How to use this calculator

1. In the "Completed the survey" box, type how many people finished your survey all the way to the end.
2. In the "Started the survey" box, type how many people opened or began the survey.
3. Read the completion rate percentage shown as the result.
4. Check the drop-off figure below it to see the share of people who quit before finishing.

Worked example

Say 45 people opened your customer feedback survey and 36 of them answered every question to the end. Type 36 in the completed box and 45 in the started box. The calculator shows a completion rate of 80 percent, with a drop-off of 20 percent, meaning 1 in 5 people quit before finishing.

Frequently asked questions

Related calculators

• Survey Response Rate Calculator
• Sample Size Calculator