Using HESA data to calculate REF 2029 volume measures

Initial Decisions outlined the funding bodies’ intention to calculate the volume measure for the next REF using data held in the HESA staff record and we can now confirm two elements of REF 2029 policy.

Policy update

1. HESA data will be used in the following ways in REF 2029:
   1. HESA data for academic year 2024/25 will be used as a pilot year for REF. This will provide an opportunity for HEIs to practice and test their approach to compiling HESA data that will be used to calculate REF volume measures. This data will not be used in volume calculations for REF 2029.
   2. HESA data for academic years 2025/26 and 2026/27 will be used to calculate volume measures for REF 2029. We will not use the data for academic year 2027/28 as HESA will confirm this in November 2028, which is too close to the end of the REF 2029 submission period to be built into our volume measure.
2. HESA SIGRES (Significant Responsibility for Research) data will be used at the person level, rather than the contract level. This is a change from REF 2021 where data at the contract level was used. This change is in keeping with the intentions of the 2016 Stern Review of the Research Excellence Framework which is where “significant responsibility” for research arose.

To co-develop the next level of policy detail, related to the use of HESA data for REF 2029, we are going to form a working group with representatives from HESA/Jisc and the community. We are planning to run a two-day workshop in the week commencing 8 July 2024.

Applications to register your interest in participating in the working group have now closed.

Volume measure calculation

Initial Decisions outlined the funding bodies’ intention to calculate the volume measure for the next REF using data held in the HESA staff record, with the continued use of the fields identifying staff with significant responsibility for research and research assistants.

Using HESA data:

• supports the funding bodies’ commitment to using the REF to provide insights into the health of research in HEIs in the UK
• supports the funding bodies’ commitment to break the link between individual staff members and unit submissions to REF
• provides a more accurate representation of a unit’s research capacity across the REF assessment period
• removes the requirement for institutions to compile and submit a formal list of staff for REF submissions. While establishing this process may initially require additional administrative effort, using average staff FTE over multiple years within REF assessment periods will enable institutions to build this into their “business as usual”

Issues that have been raised by the sector include:

• a short-term increase in administrative burden, including in the need to revise REF Codes of Practice
• complexity in mapping staff to a single Unit of Assessment, particularly concerning interdisciplinary research
• the proximity of the HESA data submission deadline to REF submission creating pressure and risking inaccuracy

Policy development

We will build a working group with HESA/Jisc and the community to co-develop our detailed approach to the use of HESA data and the creation of REF and HESA guidance for HEIs. This working group will operate under strict Chatham House rules to produce:

• a clear way forward on the key issues, a starting point for this list is provided below
• flags of any potential additional interdependencies that will need to be considered in broader policy development for REF 2029

We will finalise our approach with the REF Steering Group in October 2024.

Developing an equitable approach

We recognise that HEIs take different approaches to implementing HESA staff data guidance, depending on their focus and strategy. We will support this diversity in the approach we take for REF 2029 and the guidance we develop.

We will build a working group that represents a diversity of the perspectives and approaches across the sector, comprising people with deep knowledge of the complexities of using HESA data to calculate REF volume measures.

How to register your interest in participating

If you are interested in participating in the working group and can commit around a week’s worth of time between July and September 2024 (including an in-person two-day workshop in the week of 8 July 2024), please send a short email to info@ref.ac.uk by 24 June 2024 using the subject ‘HESA for REF volume measure working group’.

Please include the following in your email:

• Your name
• the HEI you work at (or name of your employer)
• confirmation you have the support of your institution to spend time working with us on this (we will cover travel and subsistence costs)
• provide a short outline of your experience of working with HESA data and the complexities you anticipate in using HESA data to calculate REF volume measures

We anticipate the working group having between 10 and 20 members and will select a group that includes representatives from:

• staff from inside institutions who are expert in institutional REF submissions processes AND staff who are expert in using HESA data and completing HESA returns, for example from an HR or planning team. This may result in multiple staff members jointly applying to attend from the same institution
• HEIs that have never submitted to REF before or have only submitted once. We are keen to hear from institutions who are new to the use of HESA data and to the REF
• research-intensive HEIs
• teaching-intensive HEIs
• post-92 HEIs
• at least one small, specialist institution

How we will manage your data

The information submitted here will be used to support the process for selecting participants in policy development workshops for the Research Excellence Framework (REF). Your personal information will be used to process your expression of interest and to contact you about your involvement. Data that identifies you will only be viewed by members of staff from UKRI (Research England), and external colleagues employed to support this piece of work. 

Research England is a council of UK Research and Innovation (UKRI). Further information on how we use personal data, and how you can exercise your rights as a data subject, can be found in the UK Research and Innovation privacy notice (https://www.ukri.org/privacy-notice/). UKRI complies with current data protection law in the UK and we process and handle personal information in accordance to this. Your personal information will not be used/shared for any other purpose without your specific consent. UKRI reserves the right to publish and share anonymised summarised information. 

Timeline

• June 2024 – activity launch and call for participation
• week of 8 July 2024 – a two-day workshop with the community to co-develop the approach
• October 2024 – HEIs submit data to HESA for academic year 2023/24 according to the guidance published by HESA (this data will not be used for REF 2029)
• Autumn 2024 – HESA data policy details confirmed for REF 2029
• October 2025 – HEIs submit pilot year data to HESA for academic year 2024/25 (not used for REF 2029 volume calculation)
• October 2026 and 2027 – HEIs submit data to HESA for academic years 2025/26 and 2026/27 (used for REF 2029)
• October 2028 – HEIs submit data to HESA for academic year 2027/28 (not used for REF 2029 volume calculations)
• November 2028 – HESA confirms data for academic year 2027/28
• Autumn 2028 – REF 2029 submission deadline

Issues for consideration

The starting point for the working group’s focus is outlined in the list of issues below, (we anticipate the working group will expand this list).

• Significant Responsibility for Research – Those staff recorded in HESA as having Significant Responsibility for Research will be included, and volume will be calculated on person level data. However, there remain some questions to work through:
  • In Initial Decisions it was outlined that variations in how non-academic staff are currently captured in HESA create challenges to robustly use this data for REF 2029. As outputs from staff without significant responsibility for research can be included, what can we do now to strengthen this data for future research assessment exercises?Is further clarification around ‘Significant Responsibility for Research’ needed now that we are working at the person not contract level?For some institutions, not all staff are contracted to the HEI, how will they be included?Do there need to be any further additions or exemptions, for example, in relation to some UoAs or some types of institution?
  • Is guidance needed for HESA staff data submissions for the years between REF cycles?
• Robust submissions – The community has raised concerns that there may be opportunity for HEIs to manipulate staff allocation to manage thresholds for outputs or impact case studies. Technical decisions relating to HESA data have the potential to open up routes for game playing. How far might this be mitigated?
• Using HESA staff data from academic year 2027/28 – HESA will confirm data for academic year 2027/28 in November 2028, which we think will be too close to the closure of the REF 2029 submission period to be built into our volume measure. This group might explore potential uses for this data in other elements of the exercise.
• Burden for the sector – The move to using HESA data is about long-term burden reduction. Where or how might any burden created in the short-term be minimised?
• Reflecting sector change – What clarity is needed for institutions that have opened, closed, merged, or separated, or where institutes may have moved from one HEI to another? What sort of process might be needed to contextualise or review volume calculations for institutions which have changed shape significantly during the two years of data capture? How might a small unit exemption process address this?
• Corrections – HEIs have asked for flexible approach to implementation of the new approach to calculating volume measures for REF2029. How can we work with HESA and the sector to develop a fair and low-burden approach to this?
• Codes of Practice and Audit – How will this be checked, approved and audited?
• Substantive link – While this is a separate policy question (as outputs rather than the people producing outputs will be submitted to REF 2029), the definition of ‘substantive link’ may impact how institutions return HESA staff data. This will be particularly relevant to those on secondment, honorary contracts and those on practice-based contracts.

If you have any questions, please contact us at info@ref.ac.uk with the subject line ‘HESA data policy’.