Before making its recommendations for changes to the next REF, the Stern Review looked at REF 2014 and highlighted some of the problems and issues that arose from it. They are summarised below, but click here if you would like to read the full report.
- Cost
REF 2014 was an expensive business costing an estimated £246 million – 133% more that RAE 2008 and about 2.5% of the funds distributed. The majority of this cost (£212 million) was borne by the HEIs. The rest was divided between the four UK funding bodies and the cost of the panellists.
- Gaming
There was potential for ‘gaming’ i.e. playing the system in REF 2014. The following practices were highlighted:
- Institutions hiring staff to enhance their REF return as the census date approached
- recruiting overseas staff on fractional contracts who were submitted to REF, but contributed very little to the institution.
In some areas, this led to:
- a highly selective submission to REF that was not a true representation of the overall research activity.
- Exclusion of other good research staff who did not fit the HEI selection strategy
- Salary inflation for those the HEI’s wished to recruit/retain, but not for others.
UCA REF 2021 