diff --git a/coordinator/ProcessorSurveys.py b/coordinator/ProcessorSurveys.py
index 4d5bb4b295c1b9dd7536929fb431094cf69f4e0f..bfc5e8a75a331e9be4a4a35dc1d2dcfb62085501 100644
--- a/coordinator/ProcessorSurveys.py
+++ b/coordinator/ProcessorSurveys.py
@@ -152,7 +152,8 @@ def process_in_job_survey(jobPath,status,config,component):
             continue
 
         # re-order columns to match first case (presumed standard format)
-        dfi = dfi[standard_columns]
+        # and fill missing columns with empty strings
+        dfi = dfi.reindex(standard_columns,fill_value='',axis='columns')
 
         logger.debug(f"Next processed form contains {dfi.shape[0]} records")