Customize Consent Preferences

We use cookies to help you navigate efficiently and perform certain functions. You will find detailed information about all cookies under each consent category below.

The cookies that are categorized as "Necessary" are stored on your browser as they are essential for enabling the basic functionalities of the site. ... 

Always Active

Necessary cookies are required to enable the basic features of this site, such as providing secure log-in or adjusting your consent preferences. These cookies do not store any personally identifiable data.

No cookies to display.

Functional cookies help perform certain functionalities like sharing the content of the website on social media platforms, collecting feedback, and other third-party features.

No cookies to display.

Analytical cookies are used to understand how visitors interact with the website. These cookies help provide information on metrics such as the number of visitors, bounce rate, traffic source, etc.

No cookies to display.

Performance cookies are used to understand and analyze the key performance indexes of the website which helps in delivering a better user experience for the visitors.

No cookies to display.

Advertisement cookies are used to provide visitors with customized advertisements based on the pages you visited previously and to analyze the effectiveness of the ad campaigns.

No cookies to display.

REF Accountability Review: Costs, benefits and burden

Publication date: 17 Juli 2015 | Report language: EN

This report presents the results of the REF 2014 Accountability Review, which has considered the costs, benefits and burden for HEIs of submitting to the Research Excellence Framework (REF). The review includes consideration of the new impact element of the REF, making use of RAND Europe’s parallel evaluation of the impact submission process published by HEFCE in late March 2015. It has sought to establish whether and where there has been any significant change compared with RAE 2008, as detailed in the report of the RAE Accountability Review (2009).

The review entailed a comprehensive analysis of institutional costs for a carefully constructed sample population of 20 UK HEIs, covering all staff-related costs and related expenditure, both centrally and at the unit of assessment (UOA) level. The cost analysis was informed by a survey of REF Managers to gauge the relative importance of different costs and benefits as well as a series of interviews with Pro Vice Chancellors (PVCs) for Research, or their equivalents, to obtain a more strategic overview of the submission process.