The UK REF team, working with the four UK funding and regulatory bodies and Jisc, has agreed a process that will allow participating higher education institutions to make amendments to REF-specific fields within the 2025/26 HESA Staff record collection without being charged a fee for doing so. This will take place through a post-collection fixed database with the amendments window expected to open in spring 2027.
Institutions are advised to continue assigning staff using the REF 2021 UoA descriptors to complete the 2025/26 Staff return. The amendments process will provide an opportunity to make any necessary corrections once the REF 2029 descriptors have been published, where these cannot be completed within the published 2025/26 Staff record data collection schedule.
The REF 2029 Units of Assessment (UoA) descriptors will be published in autumn 2026 as part of the Panel Criteria and Working Methods. While substantial continuity with REF 2021 is expected, some updates are being made to improve clarity and address ambiguities identified in REF 2021. These are being developed by the expert panels, who have been in conversation with their disciplines.
The process will apply only to the REF-specific Contract.REFQUALCON and Contract.REFUOA2029 fields for the 2025/26 Staff record. This process will not be available for the 2026/27 year. All other HESA data amendments will continue to be subject to the usual arrangements and fees. This is separate from any future REF audit-related amendments.
The amendments window is expected to open in spring 2027 and remain available until after submission of the 2026/27 Staff record, allowing providers to align data across both volume-contributing years.
We will publish full details on the process by autumn 2026.