Purpose of this document
1. This document is aimed at those in planning and finance offices who need to have a good understanding of how Research England’s quality-related research (QR) funding and higher education innovation funding (HEIF) grants are calculated. It provides a summary of changes to funding for 2024 to 2025 and explains in detail how the figures in the 2024 to 2025 grant data tables have been derived. Abbreviated references are used in this document; the full title or descriptions are given at the end. The content of this document is split into three sections to cover the following areas.
Section one explains where further information can be found and describes the process for handling data amendments. It also refers to the terms and conditions of funding which are detailed in a separate publication.
Section two describes the changes to the funding methods in 2024 to 2025 and the presentation of the grant data tables.
Section three contains a detailed description of each of the individual tables which form the 2024 to 2025 grant data tables and is intended to be a reference for anyone looking to understand how each allocation has been derived.
2. The accompanying Research England grant allocation data tables details our formula-based funding for individual higher education providers (HEPs). Each HEP can access their own grant data tables and the supporting documents through the Research England formula-based funding for 2024 to 2025 supporting information page.
Section one
Further information and requests for changes
3. Circular letter ‘Research England funding budgets 2024 to 2025’ (RE-CL-2024-06) describes the budget decisions taken by the Executive Chair with the endorsement of the Research England Council on funding for 2024 to 2025. This also provides a comparison to 2023 to 2024 allocations.
4. If you have any questions about your grant, please contact annualfunding@re.ukri.org
5. There may be circumstances in which HEPs wish to request changes to their allocations. Where HEPs believe that any change to their allocations is necessary, because of amendments to their data, they should contact us in good time. The process for this is described in the Amendments to data section.
Amendments to data
6. Research England operates on the expectation that the data signed off as correct by the head of provider is the final data that we will use. This is also consistent with published data.
7. Additionally, we will usually only amend data which affects the current allocations. Therefore, we will only accept amendments to signed-off data in the following circumstances:
- upon completion of any data audit
- where data errors are identified, which are assessed to be widespread, significant and have a material impact on Research England’s use of the data
- in exceptional circumstances
8. Any such amendments will be subject to an assessment process to judge whether the identified errors are all of the following:
- widespread
- significant: data must be substantially incorrect, and errors do not involve re-interpretation
- material: impact of the amendments has a material effect on the funding allocations for which it is used
9. Once an amendment has been assessed, we will not consider substantively the same amendment again. HEPs will be informed of the decision and will have an opportunity to appeal within a short timescale.
10. Requests to make any amendments to data in Higher Education Statistics Agency (HESA) Student and Finance records and Office for Students (OfS) Annual Financial Returns (AFR) must be submitted for review by a joint OfS and Research England data panel as follows:
- submit a completed error summary template, following the guidance for the joint process provided on the OfS website
- once a completed error summary template has been submitted, notify Research England by email to data_queries@re.ukri.org
11. Requests to make any amendments to data in HESA Higher Education Business and Community Interaction (HE-BCI) records must be submitted directly to Research England. Please email data_queries@re.ukri.org to raise your amendment request.
12. Data amendment panel meetings are held throughout the year, to fit in with the timescales needed to process data for OfS or Research England purposes.
Other changes
13. If you believe that the allocations should change for any other reason, such as for mergers, please contact data_queries@re.ukri.org
Research England terms and conditions of funding
14. The terms and conditions of funding set out the formal relationship between UK Research and Innovation and the HEPs that it funds in relation to funds administered through Research England.
15. These terms and conditions are applicable to funding provided to HEPs for the 2024 to 2025 academic year. The terms and conditions include those related to provision of data and compliance with governance and data assurance requirements.
16. HEPs should read the terms and conditions in conjunction with this publication.
Section two
Developments to funding methods for 2024 to 2025
17. The QR research degree programme (RDP) supervision fund allocations for 2024 to 2025 will be based on the 2023 to 2024 allocations, with any changes in budget for the fund reflected proportionally to the 2023 to 2024 allocations. See our circular letter issued on 27 June 2024 for further information.
18. There are no changes to the funding methods for the other research funding streams.
19. There are no changes to the funding methods or parameters used in the knowledge exchange funding streams.
Section three
Grant data tables
20. There are six grant data tables, which show how funding for the HEP has been derived. They are described in detail in this document, but in summary:
- Table A provides summary details of allocations of funding for QR and HEIF (largely derived from the calculations on subsequent tables). It also shows allocations for the Museums, Galleries and Collections Fund
- Table B shows the calculation of mainstream QR and London weighting on mainstream QR
- Table C shows the calculation of the QR charity support fund and QR business research element
- Table D would usually show the calculation of the QR RDP supervision fund. This will not be created for 2024 to 2025. See paragraph 17
- Table E shows the HEIF allocations
- Table F shows the parameters used in the HEIF allocations
21. In this document, each row and column of the published grant data tables is described beneath a sub-heading in the order that they appear in the tables. Explanatory text references:
- the published 2023 to 2024 grant data tables
- the HESA HE-BCI return
- data provided by Innovate UK
- the OfS AFR
22. Where any of the latter three sources are referred to, this is made clear in the text. Otherwise, references are to the published grant data tables.
Table A: summary of allocations
Summary of allocations
23. This section is a summary of the grant allocations shown in Tables B, C and E, together with funding for QR RDP supervision, national research libraries, and museums, galleries and collections. Where figures are not simply copied from the other tables, explanations of how the figures are calculated are given in paragraphs 24 to 26.
QR RDP supervision fund
24. QR RDP supervision fund allocations for 2024 to 2025, totalling £344 million, are based on the 2023 to 2024 allocations, with changes in budget for the fund reflected proportionally to the 2023 to 2024 allocations.
QR funding for National Research Libraries
25. This allocation, totalling £7 million, is for five libraries which were designated as being of national importance.
Museums, Galleries and Collections Fund
26. This allocation, totalling £14 million, provides support for museums, galleries and collections in the sector to help them serve the wider research community, where this costs them significantly more than meeting the needs of their own researchers and students.
Table B: Mainstream QR funds and London weighting
27. The table shows the breakdown of funds by Research Excellence Framework (REF) Unit of Assessment (UOA). Values in the table have been rounded for display purposes. The calculations are done to several decimal places, so there may be some rounding differences within the table.
28. A total of £1,265 million Mainstream QR is being allocated for 2024 to 2025. London weighting on mainstream QR is calculated as 12% for inner London and 8% for outer London of the Mainstream QR funds for each UOA. It totals £38 million for the sector.
29. This table is published exclusively as a .csv file.
UKPRN
30. This column shows the UK Provider Reference Number (UKPRN) of the HEP.
Provider
31. This column shows the name of the HEP.
Main Panel
32. This column shows the REF 2021 Main Panel to which each UOA belongs.
UOA and UOA name
33. UOAs are shown only where the quality profile has some activity at the three star or four star level. The multiple submission classification is shown where required.
Sub-profile
34. This column shows the sub-profile reflecting the three elements of outputs, impact and environment assessed in each submission.
Sub-profile percentages
35. These five columns show the sub-profile outcomes for each UOA. The percentages at each quality level match those published on the REF 2021 website.
36. Sub-profiles for submissions with fewer than three headcount staff submitted to the REF have been suppressed.
Volume
37. These five columns show the volume at each quality level to reflect the volume sub-profile for the UOA.
Total funded volume
38. The sum of the volume associated with levels four star and three star only in the volume sub-profile.
Quality-weighted volume
39. These five columns show the quality-weighted volume (notional staff full-time equivalent (FTE)) at each quality level to reflect the quality sub-profile for the UOA. The quality weightings are shown in Table 1.
Total quality-weighted volume
40. This column shows the weighted sum of the quality-weighted volume columns. The quality weightings are shown in Table 1.
Table 1: Mainstream QR quality weightings
| Quality rating | Abbreviated description | Funding weighting |
|---|---|---|
| Four star (4*) | World-leading | 4 |
| Three star (3*) | Internationally excellent | 1 |
| Two star (2*) | Recognised internationally | 0 |
| One star (1*) | Recognised nationally | 0 |
| Unclassified | Below the standard of nationally recognised work | 0 |
Mainstream QR funds (£)
41. For each UOA, this is calculated in proportion to each HEP’s share of the sector total quality-weighted volume.
London weighting on mainstream QR (£)
42. This is calculated as 12% for inner London and 8% for outer London of the Mainstream QR funds (£) for each UOA.
Table C: QR charity support fund and QR business research element
43. This table shows the calculation of allocations of research funding for:
- QR charity support fund
- QR business research element
44. The QR charities and QR business allocations are calculated in proportion to research income in the most recent four-year period (AFR20 to AFR23).
QR charity support fund
45. A total of £219 million is being allocated for 2024 to 2025. This is allocated based on the average of income reported to the OfS AFR20 to AFR23.
Research income from charities (£)
46. This is the sum of the following figures from the four most recent OfS AFR (AFR20 to AFR23).
AFR Table 5 research grants and contracts which is calculated as total research grants and contracts (Head 4) minus co-investment from external sources on funding council-funded projects (included in Heads 1 to 4 above) (Head 5) from the following sources:
- UK-based charities (open competitive process) (AFR Table 5 Column 2)
- EU-based charities (open competitive process) (AFR Table 5 Column 9)
- Non-EU-based charities (open competitive process) (AFR Table 5 Column 12)
AFR Table 6 against the heading Income for general research studentships from charities (open competitive process) (Head 4a).
Average annual income (£)
47. This is the average of the research income from charities from the most recent most recent four-year period.
London-weighted research income (£)
48. This is average annual income (£) multiplied by London weighting.
QR charity support fund (£)
49. This is London-weighted charities income (£) multiplied by rate.
London weighting
50. This is 1.12 for HEPs in inner London, 1.08 for those in outer London and 1.00 for other HEPs.
QR charity support rate
51. The rate of funding is approximately 19p per £1 of London-weighted charities income (£).
QR business research element
52. A total of £114 million is being allocated for 2023 to 2024. This is allocated based on the average of income reported to the OfS AFR20 to AFR23.
Research income from businesses (£)
53. This is the sum of the following figures from the OfS AFR from the most recent four-year period (AFR20 to AFR23).
AFR Table 5 research grants and contracts which is calculated as total research grants and contracts (Head 4) minus co-investment from external sources on Research England funded projects (included in rows 1 to 4 above) (Head 5) from the following sources:
- UK industry, commerce and public corporations (AFR Table 5 Column 6)
- EU industry, commerce and public corporations (AFR Table 5 Column 10)
- Non-EU industry, commerce and public corporations (AFR Table 5 Column 13)
Average annual income (£)
54. This is the average of the research income from businesses from the most recent four-year period.
QR business research element (£)
55. This is average annual income (£) multiplied by the rate.
QR business research element rate
56. The rate of funding is approximately 19p per £1 of average annual income (£).
Table D: QR RDP supervision fund
57. This will not be created for 2024 to 2025. See paragraph 17.
Table E: HEIF allocations
58. This shows the calculation of HEIF allocations.
2020 to 2021 income (£)
59. These are the income figures as reported in the HESA HE-BCI record 2020 to 2021, OfS AFR 2021, or as supplied to us by Innovate UK.
2021 to 2022 income (£)
60. These are the income figures as reported in the HESA HE-BCI record 2021 to 2022, OfS AFR 2022, or as supplied to us by Innovate UK.
2022 to 2023 income (£)
61. These are the income figures as reported in the HESA HE-BCI record 2022 to 2023, OfS AFR 2023, or as supplied to us by Innovate UK.
HE-BCI survey
62. This shows the reported income, as reported to HESA on the relevant HE-BCI survey, identified as follows:
- income from contract research: total value of contracts (HE-BCI Table 1, Head 2h)
- income from consultancy: total income (HE-BCI Table 2, Head 1h)
- income from equipment and facilities: total income (HE-BCI Table 2, Head 2h)
- income from regeneration: total programmes (HE-BCI Table 3, Head 1f)
- income from intellectual property: sub-total IP income (HE-BCI Table 4, Head 3d)
- income from small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in the above categories
63. Income from SMEs in the above categories is the sum of the following figures:
- contract research (excluding any already returned in Head 1 and research councils), Total value with SMEs (HE-BCI Table 1, Head 2b)
- consultancy, Total value with SMEs (HE-BCI Table 2, Head 1b)
- facilities and equipment related services: organisations involved and income, Total value with SMEs (HE-BCI Table 2, Head 2b)
- intellectual property (IP) income (including patents, copyright, design, registration and trademarks), non-software licenses income, SMEs (HE-BCI Table 4, Head 3a.i.)
- IP income (including patents, copyright, design, registration and trademarks), software licenses income, SMEs (HE-BCI Table 4, Head 3b.i.)
- IP income (including patents, copyright, design, registration and trademarks), other IP income, SMEs (HE-BCI Table 4, Head 3c.i.)
Innovate UK – KTP income
64. This is the relevant value of KTP (Knowledge Transfer Partnerships) income, as reported to us by Innovate UK.
Income from NCB provision
65. This shows the reported income for non-credit bearing (NCB) course fees, as reported to the OfS on the AFR for the most recent three-year period (AFR21 to AFR23), identified as follows:
- analysis of income: course fees and education contracts analysed by domicile, mode, level and source, non-credit bearing course fees (AFR Table 6, Head 2).
Total per year
66. These are the relevant sums of the incomes figures in the previous eight rows.
Total weighted qualifying income
67. This is the sum of the following:
- 2020 to 2021 income (£) total per year multiplied by 2
- 2021 to 2022 income (£) total per year multiplied by 3
- 2022 to 2023 income (£) total per year multiplied by 5
HEIF allocation
Main allocation (£)
68. This shows the total main allocation (subject to the parameters as shown in Table F).
Top-up allocation (£)
69. This is the amount of top-up allocated, distributed among the HEPs at the cap of main allocation, based on their shares of qualifying income, calculated according to the HEIF allocation method (subject to the parameters as shown on Table F).
Total allocation (£)
70. This is the sum of the main allocation and top-up allocation.
Explanation of abbreviations and terms
AFR
Annual Financial Return: the finance return collected by the Office for Students
Department
In relation to QR RDP supervision fund ‘department’ means a group of staff and their research activity returned in a single submission within one subject UOA, irrespective of whether this forms a single administrative unit within the HEP.
FTE
Full-time equivalent
HE-BCI
The HESA Higher Education and Business and Community Interaction return, used to inform knowledge exchange funding
HEIF
Higher Education Innovation Funding
HEP
Higher education provider
HESA
Higher Education Statistics Agency
KTP
Knowledge Transfer Partnerships (income as reported to us by Innovate UK)
OfS
Office for Students
PGR
Postgraduate research
QR
Quality-related research (funds)
RDP
Research degree programme
REF
Research Excellence Framework. REF 2021: The results are available on the REF website.
UKPRN
UKRI
UK Research and Innovation
UOA
Unit of assessment, used in the REF and research funding method