REF 2028
REF Initial Decisions
The four UK higher education funding bodies are publishing key decisions on the high-level design of the next research assessment exercise and outlining issues for further consultation. These decisions represent a shift towards a broader and more holistic approach to research assessment. You can find out more about the intial decisions here
REF Consultation
REF Key Decisions
- The next exercise will be conducted in 2028 with institutions providing their submissions in late 2027
- REF 2028 will have an expanded definition of research excellence. The three elements familiar from REF 2014 and REF 2021 have been renamed, their content adjusted and their weightings rebalanced to reflect this:
- People, culture and environment (25% weighting) replaces the environment element and will be expanded to include research culture
- Contribution to knowledge and understanding (50% weighting) replaces the outputs element. It will largely be based on assessment of research outputs, but will also include evidence of broader contributions to the advancement of the discipline
- Engagement and impact (25% weighting) replaces the impact element. It is similar to the impact element of REF 2014 and will consist of impact case studies and an accompanying statement
- REF 2028 will move further away from the assessment of individuals. There will be a new approach to determining research volume, where the number of staff with significant responsibility for research is drawn directly from the HESA staff record. The volume measure will be based on the average number of staff over a number of years
- In REF 2028 there will be no minimum of maximum number of outputs contributed by an individual. This is intended to increase inclusivity of the assessment and provide an environment which is supportive of researchers establishing themselves, or moving into academia