ResearchPlus responds to REF2029 announcement

Published: 10 December 2025

Commenting on the REF 2029 updates announced today, following the three-month pause, a spokesperson for ResearchPlus said:

“ResearchPlus welcomes the clarity of today’s announcement and agrees that it is a pragmatic way forward to support the core purpose of the REF: rewarding excellence in research and its impact, while ensuring the best use of public funds to enable research and innovation to thrive across the UK.

“In this time of critical need and opportunity for the UK, and knowledge economies across the world, we welcome this transparent, open, and measured scrutiny of research in the context of serving the public good. Today’s news brings much-needed certainty about the 2029 audit date and the principle of decoupling of staff and outputs.”

“ResearchPlus fully supports the stronger focus on strategy in the revised approach to assessing research environments and we have been proactive in identifying areas of strategic research strength and specialisation across our partnership. Investments by our ResearchPlus partners help to create thriving research environments, train highly-skilled professionals, and support growing knowledge economies. We value today’s statements as an affirmation of recognition for excellent research wherever it takes place.”

"There are some specific areas that require further development, and we would welcome the opportunity to work with the REF team to feed into these including, for example, the development of the new unit-level Strategy, People and Research Environment (SPRE) indicators."