12 June 2025
We have published detailed guidance for the Contributions to Knowledge and Understanding assessment element for REF 2029, outlining important developments in how research outputs will be assessed and reflecting the framework’s evolution towards assessing the research and environment of institutions rather than individuals. We have also published the full Code of Practice guidance, updated and expanded from January 2025, which supports institutions in implementing approaches to REF.
Contributions to Knowledge and Understanding (CKU) guidance
This element is a central part of REF 2029, focusing on evaluating the quality of outputs submitted by higher education institutions. A fundamental change in REF 2029 is the further step towards assessing the performance of disciplinary areas within an institution, and away from focusing on individual researchers.
Key developments within the CKU guidance include:
- Decoupling individuals from outputs in the assessment: Building on changes introduced in REF 2021, REF 2029 breaks the link between individual staff members and submitted outputs. Institutions will no longer submit staff details, and outputs are not tied to a submitted author and should be submitted to the most appropriate unit of assessment. The policy aims to strike a crucial balance, it acknowledges individuals as the essential connection between institutions and the research outputs they submit, while aligning assessment with institutional level funding allocation and providing appropriate recognition for research enabled by the institution.
- Substantive link: Institutions must demonstrate a substantive link to the research output being submitted through an eligible employment relationship. This link ensures that only research enabled and supported by the submitting institution is eligible. For REF 2029 outputs may be submitted that have been produced by a wide diversity of roles, such as technicians, or research managers. Read more about how this policy has been developed in our blog.
- Focus on submissions that represent the breadth of research: There are no longer minimum or maximum output requirements for individual staff members. Institutions are instead required to demonstrate that their output submission is representative of the breadth of their research activity and strategy in a unit.
- New unit-level reduction process: Where, due to special circumstances, a unit seeks to submit fewer outputs than determined by the volume measure, this will be done at a unit-level rather than at the level of an individual staff member. This reduces burden for the sector and aligns with the shift to institutional assessment.
- Exceptions: Responding to sector feedback, the main panels will consider circumstances where exceptions would be appropriate to the substantive link approach. Exceptions will be considered in relation to longform and/or long process outputs only.
As outlined in the Initial Decisions, additional guidance will be published separately on the content of the disciplinary level evidence statements. This will allow learning from the PCE Pilot to be considered alongside the other assessment elements and allow panels to support the development of the activity.
REF Director Rebecca Fairbairn said:
“These changes mark a significant step forward in how we recognise and assess research in the UK. By moving away from rigid staff census dates and embracing a broader definition of eligible employment, we’re creating a more flexible system. Focusing on disciplinary areas rather than individuals allows us to better reflect the collaborative nature of research and include the vital contributions of all staff, including research support staff such as technicians. I’m grateful to all those who have engaged with the process to develop this policy and look forward to working with the panels as they develop the criteria.”
Updated Code of Practice Guidance
Accompanying the CKU guidance is updated guidance for the institutional Code of Practice (CoP). The CoP remains a mandatory requirement for participation in REF 2029. The updated guidance will assist institutions in developing their internal approaches and procedures for identifying staff contributing to the volume measure and for the selection of research outputs under the new decoupled framework and substantive link requirements. The CoP guidance reinforces the principles of robustness, transparency, and equity and inclusion in these processes. This includes guidance on developing an equality impact assessment for the CoP.
Find out more
Join our Town Halls to get an overview of the guidance and put your questions to the REF team.
- Code of Practice on Tuesday, 8th July 2025 1pm – 2pm
- Contributions to Knowledge and Understanding on Tuesday, 15th July 2025, 1pm – 2pm
Details of how to join these sessions are on our Get involved page.