Is a spreadsheet enough for a UK Corporate Governance Code evaluation?

Spreadsheets can capture responses, but they rarely provide the documented process, anonymity controls, and board-pack-ready outputs that Provision 21 expects from a formal and rigorous annual board performance review (evaluation).

How does Boardforms compare on cost?

Self-administered Boardforms starts at £2,000 per entity per year. Externally facilitated evaluations start at £4,000 per evaluation year — typically far below open-ended consultancy engagements for comparable rigour.

Can we combine Boardforms with our own facilitator?

Yes. The Interview Pack bolt-on lets your chosen interviewer work on-platform, while the externally facilitated service delivers the full cycle through Boardforms practitioners.

Board evaluation comparison

Board Evaluation Approaches, Compared

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Five common ways to run an annual board performance review — from spreadsheets and survey tools to portal modules, external consultancy, and purpose-built evaluation software. The table below scores each approach on formal structure, rigour, speed to report, board-pack quality, and overall value.

Criterion	Boardforms	ManualProcess	SurveyPlatforms	Board Portal Modules	Traditional Consultancy
Formal Degree to which the evaluation follows a documented, auditable governance process.	Fully	Limited	Limited	Good	Fully
Rigor & independence Quality, independence and anonymity of the evaluation process.	Good	Weak	Varies	Varies	Strong
Time to report Time taken to produce a board-ready report after responses close.	Minutes	> 1 Week	< 1 Week	Days	> 2 weeks
Board-pack output quality Quality and usefulness of the final report for board discussion.	Excellent	Poor	Poor	Basic	Varies
Overall value Total cost and effort required to produce a high-quality evaluation.	Excellent	Poor	Poor	Moderate	Moderate

Externally Facilitated by Boardforms

Rating:

Approach-by-approach notes

Short summaries of each approach — what it involves, where it works well, and the trade-offs to weigh before choosing.

Purpose-built for UK board evaluations

4.8/5

Boardforms Self-administered

Templates mapped to UK Corporate Governance Code expectations, anonymous director workflows, and board-pack-ready reporting from £2,000 per entity per year — or externally facilitated from £4,000.

Spreadsheets, Word, and shared drives

1.4/5

Manual Process

Low software cost but heavy manual collation. Hard to guarantee anonymity, version control, and a consistent board-ready narrative year on year.

SurveyMonkey, Microsoft Forms, etc.

2.0/5

Survey Platforms

Fast to distribute questionnaires but not designed for governance evaluations — limited board templates, weak longitudinal reporting, and outputs that still need substantial secretariat rework.

Evaluation features inside board portals

3.2/5

Board Portal Modules

Convenient if you already pay for a portal suite, but evaluation depth and reporting flexibility vary widely — often bundled into broader platform fees.

External facilitators & advisory firms

3.4/5

Traditional Consultancy

High-touch and credible when led by experienced practitioners, but day-rate models can make annual evaluations expensive and less repeatable without a dedicated platform behind the work.

Common questions

Is a spreadsheet enough for a UK Corporate Governance Code evaluation?: Spreadsheets can capture responses, but they rarely provide the documented process, anonymity controls, and board-pack-ready outputs that Provision 21 expects from a formal and rigorous annual board performance review (evaluation).
How does Boardforms compare on cost?: Self-administered Boardforms starts at £2,000 per entity per year. Externally facilitated evaluations start at £4,000 per evaluation year — typically far below open-ended consultancy engagements for comparable rigour.
Can we combine Boardforms with our own facilitator?: Yes. The Interview Pack bolt-on lets your chosen interviewer work on-platform, while the externally facilitated service delivers the full cycle through Boardforms practitioners.

See the difference on a live evaluation.

Book a demo to walk through templates, anonymous director workflows, and board-pack reporting — mapped to formal and rigorous expectations.

sales@boardforms.com