This article presents the results of a national education sector innovation survey in Hungary. A conceptual and analytical framework for studying innovation processes in the education sector and a data collection tool were created in the framework of a research project on the emergence and spread of local/school level innovations (“Innova research”). Using this tool, data were collected from close to 5,000 educational units from all sub‐subsystems of the national education system. A composite education indicator was created, allowing for the comparison of innovation activity across various groups of educational units. The educational unit (e.g., schools, university departments) was used as the primary unit of analysis. Data show a relatively high level of innovation activity in all subsystems with significant differences between various groups (e.g., units with higher and lower organisational capacities or participating in top‐down development interventions with higher or lower intensity). Connecting the Innova database with data from the regular national pupil achievement survey also made it possible to analyse the relationship between innovation activity and performance.