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.