The expert reviewed Assessment Exercise includes the views of international experts in main academic subject areas. The results demonstrate that 54% of the research conducted by 52,400 staff submitted by 159 universities and colleges is either 'world-leading' (17 per cent in the highest grade) - or 'internationally excellent' (37 per cent in the second highest grade).
Taking note of the top three grades together (the third grade represents work of internationally recognised quality), 87% of the research conducted in UK institutions is of international quality. Nearly all remaining research examined is recognised as having ‘national quality’ in terms of originality, significance and rigour.
The Research Assessment Exercise was conducted jointly by the Higher Education Funding Council for England (HEFCE), the Scottish Funding Council (SFC), the Higher Education Funding Council for Wales (HEFCW) and the Department for Employment and Learning, Northern Ireland (DEL).
Professor David Eastwood, Chief Executive of HEFCE, stated:
"This represents an outstanding achievement, confirming that the UK is among the top rank of research powers in the world. The outcome shows more clearly than ever that there is excellent research to be found across the higher education sector. A total of 150 of the 159 institutions have some work of world-leading quality, while 49 have research of the highest quality in all of their submissions.
"The 2008 RAE has been a detailed, thorough and robust assessment of research quality. Producing quality profiles for each submission - rather than single-point ratings - has enabled the panels to exercise finer degrees of judgement. The assessment process has allowed them to take account of the full breadth of research quality, including inter-disciplinary, applied, basic and strategic research wherever it is located”
Key findings include:
- 1,258 of the 2,363 submissions (53% of total) had at least 50% of their activity rated in the two highest grades. These submissions were found in 118 institutions
- 84% of all submissions were judged to contain at least 5% world-leading quality research
- 150 of the 159 higher education institutions (HEIs) that took part in RAE2008 demonstrated at least 5% world-leading quality research in one or more of their submission
- 49 HEIs have at least some world-leading quality research in all of their submissions.
Read the complete RAE results here.
Content added on 20 Decemeber 2008.
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