London Daily

Focus on the big picture.
Monday, Aug 25, 2025

Oxford and UCL tipped to win lion’s share of grants in UK research audit

Oxford and UCL tipped to win lion’s share of grants in UK research audit

Northumbria soars up research excellence framework ratings of 76,000 academics used to divide up £2bn annual funding
British universities are producing a greater depth of world-leading research than previously realised, the results of a large exercise examining the output and real-world impact of 76,000 academics in the UK suggests.

The findings of the research excellence framework (REF), looking at work produced from 2014–2021, is based on rating nearly 186,000 pieces of academic research, with the results used to divide up about £2bn in annual government funding.

According to experts, the results show that Oxford and University College London are likely to get the largest share of government research grants based on the high proportion of their departments rated as “world leading”.

But the overall results showed a small decline in the proportion of top-class research by the “golden triangle” of Cambridge, Oxford and London universities, and showed larger pockets of high-quality research at smaller institutions.

The University of Northumbria was one of the biggest winners, with its research output in areas allied to health, such as nursing and engineering, receiving high proportions of top ratings.

Andrew Wathey, Northumbria’s vice-chancellor, said his university’s increase from 52nd to 28th in market share of future funding “moves us clearly into territory formerly the preserve of the Russell Group” of universities as a global force in research. “Northumbria is the first modern university to cross the clear blue water that separated the old and the new parts of the sector, and others are following,” Wathey said.

The two-year-long peer review found that 41% of research submitted was worthy of a “world leading” rating of four stars, while 43% received three stars as “internationally excellent”. The 2014 REF rated 22% of research as world leading but senior leaders said the increase was the result of improved submissions and changes in how the exercise was run.

Reforms since 2014 forced universities to include all academic staff with significant research involvement in their submissions. But it also them gave greater flexibility in how many pieces of research could be submitted for each member, including for staff whose careers had been disrupted during the period.

For the 2014 REF, about 52,000 academics submitted 190,000 pieces of work, while in 2021 76,000 staff submitted 185,600 pieces of research, including books and journal papers.

David Sweeney, the executive chair of Research England, said the reforms had made it impossible to compare the results. “I think we are seeing that research in the UK continues to be very, very strong, and perhaps a little bit stronger. But this is about a different measure,” he said.

Prof Dinah Birch, who chaired the REF’s arts and humanities review panel, said the differences were far-reaching. “This is a different exercise and lining up the REF 2021 results against those of 2014 will be misleading,” she said.

Birch said a “dizzying variety” of research was submitted. “Everything from the fiction of Anthony Trollope, to the nature of the particles that make up the substance of the universe, to the identification of new materials for manufacturing innovation,” she said.

Rankings calculated by Research Professional News, a specialist publication that tracks funding, found that Oxford’s “market share” of funding was likely to fall from 6.24% in 2014, after the previous REF, to 5.7%.

The rankings also showed that Lancaster and Loughborough universities had better results than two members of the Russell Group of research-intensive universities, with Lancaster above Queen’s University Belfast and the London School of Economics.

Sarah Richardson, editor of Research Professional News, said the REF outcomes were crucial in giving universities access to longer-term, more flexible streams of “quality-related” funding. “It’s crucial for universities and researchers because it pays for their ongoing costs, like salaries and early-stage seed funding for projects, and it helps them to plan for and invest in research capacity, rather than just financing research project by project,” Richardson said.

Jo Grady, general secretary of the University and College Union, said the REF was a drain on staff time and resources, describing it as “emblematic of a research culture obsessed with arbitrarily designating institutions or departments as winners or losers”.
Newsletter

Related Articles

0:00
0:00
Close
Vietnam Evacuates Hundreds of Thousands as Typhoon Kajiki Strikes; China’s Sanya Shuts Down
UK Government Delays Decision on China’s Proposed London Embassy Amid Concerns Over Redacted Plans
A 150-Year Tradition to Be Abolished? Uproar Over the Popular Central Park Attraction
A new faith called Robotheism claims artificial intelligence isn’t just smart but actually God itself
Deputy Prime Minister Angela Rayner Purchases Third Property Amid Housing Tax Reforms Debate
HSBC Switzerland Ends Relationships with Over 1,000 Clients from Saudi Arabia, Lebanon, Qatar, and Egypt
Sharia Law Made Legally Binding in Austria Despite Warnings Over 'Incompatible' Values
Italian Facebook Group Sharing Intimate Images Without Consent Shut Down Amid Police Investigation
Dutch Foreign Minister Resigns Amid Deadlock Over Israel Sanctions
Trump and Allies Send Messages of Support to Ukraine on Independence Day Amid Ongoing Conflict
China Reels as Telegram Chat Group Shares Hidden-Camera Footage of Women and Children
Sam Nicoresti becomes first transgender comedian to win Edinburgh Comedy Award
Builders uncover historic human remains in Lancashire house renovation
Australia Wants to Tax Your Empty Bedrooms
MotoGP Cameraman Narrowly Avoids Pedro Acosta Crash at Hungarian Grand Prix
FBI Investigates John Bolton Over Classified Documents in High-Profile Raids
Report reveals OpenAI pitched national ChatGPT Plus subscription to UK ministers
Labour set to freeze income tax thresholds in long-term 'stealth' tax raid
Coca‑Cola explores sale of Costa coffee chain
Trial hears dog walker was chased and fatally stabbed by trio
Restaurateur resigns from government hospitality council over tax criticism
Spanish City funfair shut after serious ride injury
Suspected arson at Ilford restaurant leaves three in critical condition
Tottenham beat Manchester City to go top of Premier League
Bank holiday heatwave to hit 30°C before remnants of Hurricane Erin arrive
UK to deploy immigration advisers to West Africa to block fake visas
Nurse who raped woman continued working for a year despite police alert
Drought forces closures of England’s canal routes, canceling boat holidays
Sweet tooth scents: food-inspired perfumes surge as weight-loss drugs suppress appetites
Experts warn Britain dangerously reliant on imported food
Family of Notting Hill Carnival murder victim call event unmanageable
Bunkers, Billions and Apocalypse: The Secret Compounds of Zuckerberg and the Tech Giants
Ukraine Declares De Facto War on Hungary and Slovakia with Terror Drone Strikes on Their Gas Lifeline
Animated K-pop Musical ‘KPop Demon Hunters’ Becomes Netflix’s Most-Watched Original Animated Film
New York Appeals Court Voids Nearly $500 Million Civil Fraud Penalty Against Trump While Upholding Fraud Liability
Elon Musk tweeted, “Europe is dying”
Far-Right Activist Convicted of Incitement Changes Gender and Demands: "Send Me to a Women’s Prison" | The Storm in Germany
Hungary Criticizes Ukraine: "Violating Our Sovereignty"
Will this be the first country to return to negative interest rates?
Child-free hotels spark controversy
North Korea is where this 95-year-old wants to die. South Korea won’t let him go. Is this our ally or a human rights enemy?
Hong Kong Launches Regulatory Regime and Trials for HKD-Backed Stablecoins
China rehearses September 3 Victory Day parade as imagery points to ‘loyal wingman’ FH-97 family presence
Trump Called Viktor Orbán: "Why Are You Using the Veto"
Horror in the Skies: Plane Engine Exploded, Passengers Sent Farewell Messages
MSNBC Rebrands as MS NOW Amid Comcast’s Cable Spin-Off
AI in Policing: Draft One Helps Speed Up Reports but Raises Legal and Ethical Concerns
Shame in Norway: Crown Princess’s Son Accused of Four Rapes
Apple Begins Simultaneous iPhone 17 Production in India and China
A Robot to Give Birth: The Chinese Announcement That Shakes the World
×