REF 2029: two-tier submission plan dropped as guidance confirmed

Plans for smaller institutions to complete simplified submissions have been scrapped as final guidance for the Research Excellence Framework 2029 is released.

The final guidance on submissions, panel criteria and working methods has been published a year ahead of the November 2028 deadline for institutional entries. The REF, administered by the UK’s funding councils, will assess these to determine the distribution of around £2 billion in public research support each year.

After a final survey in the summer, the REF team has decided to scrap a proposed option for smaller institutions to submit a single, combined template for the Strategy, People and Research Environment (SPRE) element, which covers how universities can show that “their strategies support the people and environments that produce excellent research, engagement and impact”.

Instead, “to ensure parity”, all providers will submit institution-level and unit-level submissions. The funding councils said that REF panels would be “sensitive to the specific context in which single-UoA [Unit of Assessment] institutions operate”.

Meanwhile, for the first time the four main REF panels have agreed on shared criteria and quality definitions across disciplines.

The funding councils said that this approach “makes the criteria more inclusive of the full diversity of disciplines and research practices they cover, rather than a change to quality expected at each starred level”. The four main panels are on medicine, health and life sciences; physical sciences, engineering and mathematics; social sciences; and art and humanities.

Helen Cross, chair of the REF 2029 steering group and director of investment and research at the Scottish Funding Council said: “UK universities are vital to the country’s future prosperity, driving knowledge and innovation, and delivering real impact felt across the UK and the world.

“Across every discipline, researchers are producing work with weight and consequence far beyond the walls of any single university. REF is a powerful tool to understand the breadth and scale of what UK university research delivers.”

Speaking to Times Higher Education, Gemma Derrick, professor of research policy and culture at the University of Bristol said that the REF could be “a very powerful instrument for motivating change on the individual and institutional level”.

She continued: “I don’t really see that happening now. It is just [tinkering] around the edges, providing clarifications and processes.”

Detail has also been added to the REF timetable, with audit guidance planned for spring 2027. The REF team says that it expects to launch the submission system before the end of the year.

frances.jones@timeshighereducation.com