This dataset includes the responses of principals in primary and secondary education to a survey in 2011, 2012 and 2013 about impact of school inspections in 8 countries.This dataset is created within the EU Life Long Learning-project ‘Impact of School Inspections on Teaching and Learning’. This study compares the effects and unintended consequences of school inspections in six European countries (the Netherlands, the UK, Austria, the Czech Republic, Ireland, Sweden). The project ran for a total of three years (January 2011-December 2013); each year principals in primary education and in secondary education in all the eight participating countries were asked to participate in an online survey. The survey includes questions on educational quality and change capacity in schools, changes made in the quality and change capacity of the school, inspection activities in the school, the school’s acceptance and use of feedback, the extent to which inspection standards set expectations and promote self-evaluations and choice/voice/exit of stakeholders in response to inspection reports.