Durham is the UK’s top-rated university for research in theology and religious studies, according to the results of the 2014 Research Excellence Framework or REF (successor to the Research Assessment Exercise, last held in 2008), which are published today (18 December 2014). The REF was undertaken by the UK’s four higher education funding councils by means of a series of peer-review panels (theology and religious studies being unit of assessment 33), with research quality assessed from the perspective of outputs (i.e. publications, accounting for 65% of the score), social, economic, and cultural impact (20%), and research environment (15%). The outcomes of the REF will inform the distribution of funding for higher education research from 2015/16.
Quality was judged according to whether research was world-leading (4*), internationally excellent (3*), recognized internationally (2*), recognized nationally (1*), or unclassified (U). The 4* and 3* categories combined are likely to be commonly taken as an indicator of top-notch research, and, on this basis, 68% of UK research in theology and religious studies was so rated, 8% less than for all disciplines. Durham University headed the table for 4* and 3* research in theology and religious studies (at 85%), more than three times the score of the bottom ranked institutions, although it was pipped to the post by the University of Birmingham in terms of the proportion of its research in the subject which was 4*.
The following table summarizes the overall quality profile for theology and religious studies for each of the 33 higher education institutions (just over one-fifth of the total) which submitted for this unit of assessment, but sub-profiles for outputs, impact, and environment and the distribution of the 413 full-time equivalent staff entered for this REF unit of assessment can also be viewed at:
http://results.ref.ac.uk/(S(b301damae2a1plttxocljhf1))/Results/ByUoa/33
| % |
3*/4* |
4* |
3* |
2* |
1*/U |
| Durham |
85 |
50 |
35 |
14 |
1 |
| Exeter |
83 |
21 |
62 |
14 |
3 |
| Leeds |
82 |
33 |
49 |
18 |
0 |
| Cambridge |
80 |
34 |
46 |
19 |
1 |
| Birmingham |
79 |
51 |
28 |
17 |
4 |
| University College London |
78 |
37 |
41 |
22 |
0 |
| Edinburgh |
78 |
34 |
44 |
19 |
3 |
| SOAS |
78 |
29 |
49 |
20 |
2 |
| King’s College London |
76 |
39 |
37 |
18 |
6 |
| Cardiff |
76 |
33 |
43 |
21 |
3 |
| Lancaster |
75 |
42 |
33 |
23 |
2 |
| Kent |
75 |
38 |
37 |
23 |
2 |
| Manchester |
75 |
28 |
47 |
20 |
5 |
| Nottingham |
74 |
30 |
44 |
23 |
3 |
| Oxford |
72 |
34 |
38 |
24 |
4 |
| Sheffield |
72 |
21 |
51 |
28 |
0 |
| Aberdeen |
68 |
29 |
39 |
24 |
8 |
| National average |
68 |
28 |
40 |
27 |
5 |
| Bristol |
66 |
21 |
45 |
32 |
2 |
| St Andrews |
62 |
31 |
31 |
38 |
0 |
| Heythrop College London |
62 |
22 |
40 |
36 |
2 |
| Wales Trinity St David |
62 |
14 |
48 |
26 |
12 |
| Glasgow |
55 |
11 |
44 |
35 |
10 |
| Open |
53 |
18 |
35 |
47 |
0 |
| Canterbury Christ Church |
53 |
6 |
47 |
40 |
7 |
| Liverpool Hope |
46 |
9 |
37 |
38 |
16 |
| Roehampton |
43 |
16 |
27 |
45 |
12 |
| Winchester |
42 |
6 |
36 |
43 |
15 |
| St Mary’s Twickenham |
35 |
9 |
26 |
41 |
24 |
| Chester |
35 |
8 |
27 |
57 |
8 |
| Leeds Trinity |
34 |
0 |
34 |
32 |
34 |
| Gloucestershire |
33 |
3 |
30 |
52 |
15 |
| Newman |
26 |
0 |
26 |
28 |
46 |
| York St John |
25 |
2 |
23 |
57 |
18 |
By way of footnote, and nothing to do with the REF, some BRIN readers may be interested to know that this is the 700th post since the BRIN news blog started five years ago. It is the 49th for 2014, with 293 individual stories covered during the year.
