Section 3: Overview

Introduction

The REF is the system for assessing the excellence of research in UK HEIs. It was first conducted in 2014 and again in 2021, replacing the previous Research Assessment Exercise (RAE). The next REF will complete in 2029. The purpose of the REF, the general principles governing its conduct and an overview of the REF framework are set out in Section 1: Overview of the Guidance on Submissions (hereafter referred to as the Guidance). 

Submissions and Units of Assessment

Institutions will be invited to make submissions by noon on 24 November 2028 into 34 Units of Assessment (UoAs). Section 4: Panel descriptors and Annex B: UoA descriptors and taxonomies of the Panel Criteria and Working Methods (hereafter referred to as the Panel criteria) provide descriptors for each main panel and UoA. Each submission must contain, in summary: 

• Contribution to Knowledge and Understanding: details of assessable outputs that the submitted unit has produced during the publication period (1 January 2021 to 31 December 2028). Outputs published after 1 January 2021 which were submitted to REF 2021 are ineligible for submission to REF 2029. The total number of outputs must equal 2.5 times the submitting unit’s volume measure. Rounding to the nearest whole number will be applied to give a whole number of outputs for submission
• Engagement and Impact (E&I): case studies describing specific examples of impacts achieved during the assessment period (1 August 2020 to 31 July 2028), underpinned by research in the period 1 January 2008 to 31 December 2028. The number of impact case studies (ICS) required per submission is determined by the volume measure and outlined in Section 6: E&I guidance in the Guidance
• Strategy, People and Research Environment (SPRE) quantitative data: data about research and professional doctoral degrees awarded and research income, related to the period 1 August 2020 to 31 July 2028. Data on the number of clinical academics employed by HEIs that undertake clinical duties in addition to academic duties (HESA flag Contract.CLINICAL coded either 1, 2 or 3) will also be required at institution level
• Strategy, People and Research Environment: two completed templates describing the research and impact environment and associated strategies at, respectively, an institution- (IL) and unit-level (UL), drawing on quantitative and qualitative indicators as appropriate, and related to the period 1 August 2020 to 31 July 2028

The generic eligibility definitions and data requirements set out in the Guidance apply to all submissions.  

Main and sub-panels

The REF will be a process of expert review, with an expert sub-panel assessing submissions made by HEIs in each of the 34 UoAs. The sub-panels will work under the leadership and guidance of four main panels and with expert support from two advisory panels, the People and Diversity Advisory Panel (PDAP) and the Research Diversity Advisory Panel (RDAP). Representatives from both advisory panels sit on each main panel.

The roles and responsibilities of the main and sub-panels are described fully in the REF members’ responsibilities and the Main and sub-panels pages of the REF website. The main and sub-panels will undertake their roles within the common framework for assessment set out in the Guidance and the Panel criteria in sections 4 to 10. The Panel criteria also set out any supplementary criteria that each of the main panels and its sub-panels will employ when assessing submissions.

In brief, the four main panels are responsible for:

• developing the panel criteria
• overseeing calibration
• ensuring adherence to the published procedures and consistent application of the overall assessment standards by the sub-panels
• working with the People and Diversity Advisory Panel and the Research Diversity Advisory Panel (PDAP and RDAP) and advising the REF team on assessment processes
• signing off the outcomes of the assessment

The sub-panels are responsible for:

• contributing to the criteria and working methods
• working within the agreed criteria in assessing each submission made in its UoA
• recommending the outcomes for each submission to the main panel

The criteria phase main and sub-panels were appointed by the four UK funding bodies through an open call for applications as described on the Panel recruitment and selection page of the REF website. 

The appointment of the main and sub-panels is being undertaken in two stages for REF 2029: 

• criteria phase: sufficient members were appointed in 2025 to ensure each main and sub-panel had appropriate expertise (including, for main panels, in interdisciplinary research (IDR), SPRE and the wider use of research) for contributing to the criteria development. This is a smaller group of members than the volume required to undertake the assessment, meaning that further full sub-panel members (and impact and output assessors) will join the sub-panels for the assessment phase. These members who joined for the criteria phase will contribute to the assessment of all elements of submissions (Contribution to Knowledge and Understanding, Engagement and Impact and Strategy, People, and Research Environment) in 2029
• assessment phase: additional sub-panel members will be appointed for the assessment phase of the exercise, to ensure each sub-panel has an appropriate volume of members who will contribute to the assessment of all elements of submissions. The needs of the panels will be considered ahead of this recruitment phase

The membership of the panels appointed for the criteria phase can be found in Panels on the REF website. Following advice from main and sub-panel chairs, where suitable applications were received, the funding bodies have appointed a proportion of the members who will join the sub-panels for the assessment phase. These members will take up their sub-panel roles in 2028 and are also detailed on the REF website.  

Appointment of additional sub-panel members and assessors

We will make further appointments to the panels of sub-panel members and of assessors for Contribution to Knowledge and Understanding (CKU) and Engagement and Impact (E&I) in advance of the assessment year. This is to ensure the sub-panels have an appropriate breadth of expertise and number of panel members necessary for the assessment phase. Any updates to main and sub-panel membership will be reflected in the Panels section of the REF website. 

Assessors appointed to the sub-panels will undertake one of the following roles: 

• to assess the Engagement and Impact element of submissions and develop the Engagement and Impact (E&I) sub-profiles, alongside sub-panel members. These will be people with professional experience of making use of, applying or benefiting from academic research
• to assess research outputs and develop the Contribution to Knowledge and Understanding (CKU) sub-profiles, alongside existing panel members. These will be practising researchers with relevant expertise

Assessors will play a full and equal role to sub-panel members in developing the sub-profiles for the CKU or E&I elements of assessment. They will be fully briefed, take part in the full range of panel training, take part in calibration exercises and attend sub-panel meetings at which the relevant aspects of submissions are discussed.

A survey of institutions’ submission intentions will be carried out in 2027, which will inform additional panel membership appointments, including for both further full sub-panel members as well as CKU and E&I assessors.

Further members and assessors will be appointed by the REF Programme Board, following recommendations from main and sub-panel chairs. These will either be individuals with appropriate expertise who applied in the initial round of applications in 2025 or additional appointments from the second round of recruitment. This will include those with expertise in the use or benefits of research across the private, public and third sectors.

In recommending further panel members and assessors, sub-panel chairs will give consideration to enhancing the extent to which the overall body of members reflects the diversity of the research community. Analysis of the representativeness of panel membership will inform chairs’ considerations in this regard.

In early 2028, the main and sub-panels will consider the breadth and depth of each sub-panel’s current membership, in light of the survey of submission intentions. Each sub-panel will seek to identify:

• where the membership required to assess submissions should be expanded to ensure appropriate expertise in accordance with the anticipated volume of submissions
• where additional interdisciplinary expertise may be required to support and advise the sub-panel on the assessment of interdisciplinary outputs
• areas where additional expertise would be required to assess the range and volume of outputs indicated in the survey responses, including, as appropriate, expertise in the assessment of diverse output types
• areas where additional user expertise would be required to assess the range of impacts indicated in the survey responses

Before recommending the appointment of further members and assessors, sub-panel chairs will discuss the recommendations with their main panels. The following issues will be considered across each main panel: 

• the overall size of the sub-panel in the context of anticipated submissions
• the potential for interdisciplinary experts to work across sub-panels
• the potential for cross sub-panel appointments to cover cognate areas
• the need to ensure that ICS are given fair consideration, with the intention of ensuring that there is sufficient user expertise to review the range of likely ICS that will be submitted
• the identified expertise requirements in the context of the current sub-panel membership’s breadth and volume of expertise
• where assessors are recommended:
  • whether there is a sufficient body of activity requiring additional assessor appointment
  • whether serious workload issues or conflicts of interest for existing panel members have been identified, requiring an additional assessor for a particular subject area
• the potential for individual assessors to be appointed to two sub-panels where there is a significant overlapping body of work expected (and, if appropriate, the potential to appoint existing user members to also act as assessors for other sub-panels)

Once appointed, the names of sub-panel members and assessors will be published on the REF 2029 website alongside the current panel membership.

As the REF progresses, main or sub-panels may recommend to the funding bodies the appointment of a small number of members or assessors through the process outlined above, to provide further expertise where this is desirable and in accordance with the criteria for appointments.

Institution-Level Strategy, People and Research Environment (IL SPRE) Panel

An expert institution-level panel will assess all institution-level SPRE submissions from HEIs. The IL SPRE Panel is responsible for: 

• developing panel working methods
• ensuring adherence to published criteria and working methods in assessment
• liaising as appropriate with the main panels and advisory panels to seek advice, moderate scoring and ensure the consistent application of the overall assessment standards in the assessment of institution-level SPRE statements (ILS)
• signing off the outcomes of the assessment with the panel executive

The IL SPRE Panel will undertake its role within the common framework for assessment set out in the Section 7: SPRE guidance in the Guidance and the combined statement of panel criteria and working methods as set out in the Panel criteria. The panel will develop its detailed working methods once appointed and ahead of beginning assessment.

The appointment of the IL SPRE Panel will take place in 2027 through an open call for applications and through co-option of existing main panel SPRE experts onto the panel. The IL SPRE Panel will also include representatives from PDAP and RDAP as observers. Appointments will be made to ensure that the panel has an appropriate range of expertise and experience to assess the breadth of institutions submitting to REF 2029. Members will be appointed by the REF Programme Board.

Once appointed, the names of IL SPRE Panel members will be published on the REF website.

Advisory panels

Two advisory panels provide advice and guidance to all expert panels throughout the exercise. The roles and responsibilities of both advisory panels, including the details of their remit and terms of reference, are described fully on the Panels section of the REF website. Membership of both advisory panels is also available on the REF website. 

People and Diversity Advisory Panel

The People and Diversity Advisory Panel is responsible for:

• advising the REF Steering Group on embedding consideration of people and diversity throughout the exercise
• advising on the development and delivery of inclusive REF 2029 assessment criteria
• contributing to the design and calibration of the REF 2029 assessment process
• maintaining an ongoing assessment of people and diversity considerations within REF 2029 and producing a publishable report on this at the end of the process 
• supporting the development and delivery of the REF Codes of Practice
• advising on the full REF panel recruitment processes
• contributing to the full REF panel training and ways of working 
• recommending further tasks as deemed necessary to fulfil the panel’s remit

Research Diversity Advisory Panel

The Research Diversity Advisory Panel is responsible for:

• advising the REF Steering Group on embedding consideration of diversity of research throughout the exercise 
• advising on the full REF panel recruitment processes 
• advising on the development and delivery of inclusive REF 2029 assessment criteria 
• contributing to the design and calibration of the REF 2029 assessment process and the review of the Codes of Practice
• maintaining an ongoing assessment of diversity of research considerations within REF 2029 and producing a publishable report on this, at the end of the process 
• contributing to the full REF panel training and ways of working, including provision of training and advice for the assessment of diverse output and impact types
• recommending and overseeing delivery of further tasks as deemed necessary to fulfil the panel’s remit, including oversight of the assessment of interdisciplinary outputs to ensure that agreed principles and processes for assessment are applied and that there is consistency in approach across sub-panels

Assessing submissions

As with previous REFs and RAEs, the assessment process is based on expert review. Each sub-panel will examine the submissions made in its UoA, taking into account all the evidence presented. Each sub-panel will use its professional collective judgement to form an overall view about each submission and recommend to the main panel an overall sub-profile for each of CKU, E&I and unit-level SPRE to be awarded to each submission made in its UoA.

The IL SPRE Panel will examine all institution-level SPRE submissions made, taking into account all the evidence presented. The IL SPRE Panel will use its professional collective judgement to form an overall view about each institution-level submission and award a sub-profile to each HEI.

The process of assessment at both unit and institution level is objective and evidence based but is not and cannot be purely algorithmic.

The primary outcome of the panels’ work will be an overall quality profile awarded to each submission, to be published in December 2029. An example overall quality profile is in Annex A: Quality profiles of the Guidance, and further details about the published outcomes and feedback that panels will produce are in sub-section 10., Section 1: Overview in the Guidance.

In forming their overall quality judgements, the sub-panels will assess three distinct elements of each submission – CKU, E&I and unit-level SPRE – against the following generic criteria. The IL SPRE Panel will assess institution-level strategy, people and research environment against the relevant generic criteria for that element of the exercise.

• Contribution to Knowledge and Understanding (CKU): the sub-panels will assess the quality of submitted research outputs in terms of their ‘originality, significance and rigour’, with reference to international research quality standards. This element will carry a weighting of 55% in the overall outcome awarded to each submission
• Engagement and Impact (E&I): the sub-panels will assess the ‘reach and significance’ of impacts on the economy, society, culture, public policy or services, health, the environment or quality of life that were underpinned by research conducted in the submitted unit. This element will carry a weighting of 25%
• Strategy, People and Research Environment (SPRE): the sub-panels will assess the unit-level SPRE statements (ULS) in terms of ‘vitality and sustainability’, including the approach to enabling impact from its research, and its contribution to the vitality and sustainability of the wider discipline or research base. The IL SPRE Panel will assess the ILS in terms of ‘vitality and sustainability’, including the approach to enabling impact from research. SPRE assessment will be informed by quantitative data in the form of standard analyses. The SPRE element will make up 20% of the overall unit quality profile. The SPRE element will consist of an ILS (weighting 60% of the SPRE score for each submitting unit) and a ULS (40% of the SPRE score for each submitting unit)

The generic definitions of the starred quality levels in the overall quality profile in each of the three sub-profiles are in Annex A: Assessment criteria and level definitions in the Panel criteria. All sub-panels will apply these generic assessment criteria and level definitions for each element in forming the sub-profiles to recommend to their main panel. The institution-level panel will apply the generic assessment criteria and level definitions in forming sub-profiles for the ILS.

In Section 6: Assessment criteria – CKU, Section 7 – Assessment criteria – E&I and Section 8: Assessment criteria – SPRE in the Panel criteria, the main panels provide a descriptive account of these generic assessment criteria. These are provided to inform their subject communities on how the panels will apply the criteria and definitions in making their judgements. These descriptive accounts should be read alongside, but do not replace, the generic definitions.

Contribution to Knowledge and Understanding (CKU)

As set out in Section 4: CKU guidance in the Guidance, each submission must include a set number of research outputs, equal to 2.5 times the volume measure, derived from the total CONFTE of REF-qualifying contracts identified in the HESA staff record, in the years 2025 to 2026 and 2026 to 2027. Rounding to the nearest whole number will be applied to give a whole number of outputs for submission, with .5 results rounded up. The total number of outputs for return may be adjusted, as appropriate, if a unit reduction request is approved on the basis of equality-related circumstances (see sub-section 3.5., Section 2: Submissions in the Guidance).

An underpinning principle of the REF is that all types of research and all forms of research output shall be assessed on a fair and equal basis. Panels have been instructed to define criteria and adopt assessment processes that enable them to recognise, and treat on an equal footing, excellence in research across the full range of diverse research, wherever that research is conducted; and to identify excellence in different forms of research endeavour including interdisciplinary and collaborative research, while attaching no greater weight to one form over another. Full detail on the approach to IDR can be found in sub-section 2., Section 5: Assessment criteria – submissions in the Panel criteria.

Sub-section 5.3., Section 4: CKU guidance in the Guidance sets out the generic definition of research and the definition of research diversity is in sub-section 2., Section 1: Executive summary in the Panel criteria. Annex B: Output glossary and Annex C: Glossary of research practices in the Guidance provide a glossary of the different output types and research practices that may be submitted and are intended to highlight the diversity of research outputs that may be submitted in any UoA. These examples are provided for guidance only and do not represent a definitive list; any assessable form of output that embodies research is eligible for assessment.

Engagement and Impact

Section 6: E&I guidance in the Guidance sets out the generic submission requirements in relation to ICS, including the number of case studies required in each submission (paragraph 6.0.1.), the eligibility criteria for ICS (paragraphs 7.0.1. to 7.0.3.), and a template and guidance on completing ICS (sub-section 9. and sub-section 10.).

The generic definition of impact for the REF given in the Guidance is broad, and any impact that meets this definition is eligible for assessment. The definition of engagement is given in sub-section 4 in Section 6: E&I in the Guidance. The scope for discussion of engagement as part of ICS is outlined in sub-section 2., Section 7: Assessment criteria – E&I in the Panel criteria and examples are provided in Annex C: Additional guidance on ICS development in the Panel criteria. These are provided to inform subject communities and should be read alongside, but do not replace, the generic definition in the Guidance. These examples are not intended as a definitive list.

The main panels’ criteria statement in Section 7: Assessment criteria – E&I and examples in Annex C: Additional guidance on ICS development , both in the Panel criteria, provide guidance on the forms of evidence that would be appropriate for submissions to include in ICS.

Strategy, People and Research Environment

Section 7: SPRE guidance in the Guidance sets out the generic requirements for the SPRE element of submissions, which comprise:

• quantitative data on research and professional doctoral degrees awarded, number of clinical academics and research income
• the ILS
• the ULS

Section 8: Assessment criteria – SPRE in the Panel criteria provides guidance on the forms of evidence that would be appropriate for submissions to include in both the ILS and ULS. Both qualitative and quantitative indicators are welcomed, but there is particular guidance on where quantitative indicators should be provided, where applicable. The templates for the ILS and ULS can be found in Section 7: SPRE guidance in the Guidance.

The REF panels will form a SPRE sub-profile by assessing the information submitted in the SPRE templates, informed by the SPRE quantitative data submitted. When the REF team provides submissions to sub-panels, we will supply a standard analysis of the quantitative data submitted, as well as a summary of the submission structure including the distribution of submitted outputs against substantive links and distribution of submitted outputs against the relevant broad research areas taxonomy, in respect of each submission in that UoA, and aggregated for all submissions in that UoA (see sub-section 4., Section 7: SPRE guidance in the Guidance). Sub-panels will consider these data within the context of the information provided in the ULS, and within the context of the disciplines concerned. The IL SPRE Panel will also receive quantitative data for the institution level as described in the paragraph 4.1., Section 7: SPRE guidance in the Guidance. The IL SPRE Panel will consider these data within the context of the information provided in the ILS and within the context of the size and mission of the institution. Sub-section 12., Section 8: Assessment criteria – SPRE in the Panel criteria, indicates how the data analyses will be used in informing the assessment of the research environment.