# UK's Four Funding Bodies Confirm REF 2029 Rules, Drop a Two-Tier Submission Shortcut URL: https://edufabtech.com/news/uk-ref-2029-research-assessment-guidance-confirmed Section: News · Policy & Business Published: 2026-11-14 Publisher: EduFabTech (https://edufabtech.com) > The UK's four higher education funding bodies confirmed final guidance for the Research Excellence Framework 2029 on 11 November 2026, dropping a simplified submission option and resetting how outputs, impact and environment are weighted. On 11 November 2026, the four bodies that fund UK university research — Research England, the Scottish Funding Council, Medr (the Commission for Tertiary Education and Research in Wales) and the Department for the Economy in Northern Ireland — published the final guidance for the Research Excellence Framework 2029 (REF 2029). The document sets out how every UK university's research will be scored in the next national assessment cycle, which in turn determines how roughly £2 billion a year in public research funding is distributed among institutions, according to the REF 2029 announcement (2026). The REF runs on a multi-year cycle; the previous exercise, REF 2021, used its own guidance to score every submitting unit on three elements and combine the scores into a single profile per subject area. REF 2029 keeps that three-part structure but renames and reweights it: Contribution to Knowledge and Understanding (55%), Engagement and Impact (25%), and Strategy, People and Research Environment, or SPRE (20%), according to the REF 2029 guidance, Section 1 (2026). The guidance also drops a requirement that has applied since earlier cycles: impact case studies no longer need to be underpinned by research that reached at least a 2-star quality threshold. The REF 2029 guidance states plainly that "the requirement for impact to be based on research of at least 2 star quality has been removed," widening the pool of work that institutions can put forward as impact evidence. ![A bar chart compares the three REF 2029 scoring components by weight, showing Knowledge & Understanding at 55%, Engagement & Impact at 25%, and SPRE at 20%.](https://edufabtech.com/uploads/2026/11/uk-ref-2029-research-assessment-guidance-confirmed-2.png) *A bar chart compares the three REF 2029 scoring components by weight, showing Knowledge & Understanding at 55%, Engagement & Impact at 25%, and SPRE at 20%. — EduFabTech · Own work* ## What was dropped The most closely watched change is what did not survive consultation. An earlier proposal would have let institutions with only one submitting unit — a single subject area, or Unit of Assessment — file one combined SPRE statement covering both the institution and that unit. The funding bodies decided against it: every institution, large or small, must now submit separate institution-level and unit-level SPRE statements, assessed on their own, "to ensure parity" across the sector, according to Times Higher Education (2026). The guidance also records a first for the exercise: the four main REF panels agreed shared criteria and quality definitions that apply across disciplines, rather than each panel setting its own language, according to the REF 2029 announcement (2026). ## Dates that matter for submitting institutions The guidance fixes the periods that will count. Research outputs must have been published between 1 January 2021 and 31 December 2028. Impact case studies must describe impact occurring between 1 August 2020 and 31 July 2028, underpinned by research produced between 1 January 2008 and 31 December 2028. The submission deadline itself is set at noon on 24 November 2028, according to the REF 2029 guidance, Section 1 (2026). Helen Cross, chair of the REF 2029 steering group and director of investment and research at the Scottish Funding Council, said in the announcement that "UK universities are vital to the country's future prosperity, driving knowledge and innovation, and delivering real impact felt across the UK and the world." ![A side-by-side comparison contrasts the rejected proposal — one combined SPRE statement for single-unit institutions — with the confirmed rule requiring separate institution- and unit-level statements from every institution.](https://edufabtech.com/uploads/2026/11/uk-ref-2029-research-assessment-guidance-confirmed-3.png) *A side-by-side comparison contrasts the rejected proposal — one combined SPRE statement for single-unit institutions — with the confirmed rule requiring separate institution- and unit-level statements from every institution. — EduFabTech · Own work* ## A more cautious reaction from research-policy scholars Not every reaction was positive. Gemma Derrick, professor of research policy and culture at the University of Bristol, told Times Higher Education (2026) that the REF could be "a very powerful instrument for motivating change on the individual and institutional level," but added: "I don't really see that happening now. It is just [tinkering] around the edges, providing clarifications and processes." ## Why this is not only a UK story The REF is one of several national, government-run exercises that score a country's university research sector and tie the result to public funding — a model also used, in different forms, in Australia and New Zealand, according to CASRAI (2026). New Zealand's government confirmed in 2024 that it was permanently cancelling its own framework, the Performance-Based Research Fund, with the round scheduled for 2026 "not go[ing] ahead at all," and replacing it with a Tertiary Research Excellence Fund worth roughly NZ$315 million a year. Australia discontinued its Excellence in Research for Australia exercise in 2023 and, as of 2026, still has no finalised successor. Against that backdrop, the UK's decision to confirm a fixed framework, timetable and weighting more than two years ahead of submission gives its universities a planning certainty that institutions in some other systems currently lack. ## What it means for researchers and institutions For early-career researchers and research managers, the practical points are the weighting shift toward impact and environment, the removal of the 2-star underpinning-research rule for impact case studies, and the extra administrative load from filing separate institution- and unit-level SPRE statements rather than one combined template. Because REF scores shape block-grant funding across all four UK nations rather than any single university's income alone, the guidance is likely to influence how departments plan impact case studies and environment statements over the next two academic years, with the formal submission window closing at noon on 24 November 2028. ## Sources 1. REF 2029 team (Research England, Scottish Funding Council, Medr, Department for the Economy Northern Ireland). (2026). Guidance on Submissions, Section 1 – Overview. REF 2029 https://2029.ref.ac.uk/guidance/section-1-overview/ 2. Times Higher Education. (2026). REF 2029: two-tier submission plan dropped as guidance confirmed. Times Higher Education https://www.timeshighereducation.com/news/ref-2029-two-tier-submission-plan-dropped-guidance-confirmed 3. CASRAI Editorial Board. (2026). NZ Scraps PBRF, Australia's ERA Still Stalled. CASRAI https://casrai.org/news/nz-pbrf-cancelled-australia-era-replacement-limbo-2026 --- Source page: https://edufabtech.com/news/uk-ref-2029-research-assessment-guidance-confirmed Quote with a link to the source page. © EduFabTech.