REF 2014

Essex ranks in the top 20 UK universities for research excellence and the top 5 for social science research. Our politics research has been first in the UK since rankings began in 1986.

The 2014 Research Excellence Framework (REF), the national assessment of research quality and impact, has reconfirmed our diverse strength in conducting world-leading research. We entered 14 different subject areas into REF 2014, and seven of these were ranked in the UK’s Top 20 for research excellence, across social science, science and the humanities.

The results are used by the UK’s higher education funding bodies to allocate around £2 billion each year to university research. Our research impact case studies demonstrate the benefits of this investment, highlighting how our research improves society and economic prosperity.

The REF replaced the national Research Assessment Exercise (RAE), which was last conducted in 2008.

Research excellence rankings

League table compilers use REF results in different ways to assess quality, intensity and volume of research at institutions.

At Essex, we focus on research intensity which we call ‘research excellence’. This measures the quality of research, its impact and the research environment (measured by Grade Point Average) and the proportion of staff submitted to the REF.

Research excellence league table

2014 intensity-weighted GPA rank order	Institution	Number of subjects (Units of Assessment) entered	Total number FTE staff submitted	% eligible staff submitted	Grade Point Average (GPA)	Intensity-weighted Grade Point Average
1	University of Cambridge	32	2,088	95	3.33	3.17
2	Imperial College London	14	1,257	92	3.36	3.09
3	University College London	36	2,566	91	3.22	2.94
4=	University of Bristol	31	1,138	91	3.18	2.90
4=	University of Oxford	31	2,409	87	3.34	2.90
6	London School of Economics and Political Science	14	532	85	3.35	2.84
7=	Queen’s University Belfast	28	868	95	2.99	2.83
7=	University of Southampton	26	1,113	90	3.15	2.83
9	University of Warwick	23	931	83	3.22	2.69
10	University of Edinburgh	31	1,753	83	3.18	2.65
11	Loughborough University	18	646	88	2.95	2.61
12	University of Glasgow	32	1,099	84	3.10	2.60
13	University of St Andrews	20	519	82	3.13	2.58
14	King’s College London	27	1,369	80	3.23	2.57
15	University of Strathclyde	17	558	84	3.04	2.56
16	University of Exeter	25	736	82	3.08	2.52
16	University of Kent	23	591	85	2.95	2.52
16	University of Reading	23	590	83	3.03	2.52
19	University of Essex	14	339	82	3.05	2.49

(Table excludes specialist research institutions the Institute of Cancer Research and the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, and the University of the Highlands and Islands which submitted less than 70 full-time equivalent members of staff)

Essex subject areas in the Top 20 for 'research excellence'

Politics 1st
Economics 5th
Art history 10th
Sociology 12th
Sports Science 13th
Philosophy 14th
Law 17th

In addition, Essex was ranked in the top 25 for History and for Business and Management.

Research quality rankings

Some media, including the Times Higher Education, put together rankings on the REF results that measure quality of outputs, impact and research environment without taking into account the proportion of academic staff whose work was submitted. They do this by using 'Grade Point Averages'.

Grade Point Averages (GPA)

The REF assesses the proportion of research submitted in each Unit of Assessment (or subject area) which meets the following quality criteria, represented in star ratings. From the proportions at each star level, a Grade Point Average is produced.

Using this measurement, which we call ‘research quality’, Essex ranks 32nd amongst UK universities.

Star ratings

4* = World leading
3* = Internationally excellent
2* = Internationally recognised
1* = Nationally recognised
U = Below standards of national recognition, or fails to meet published definition of research eligible for assessment

Research quality results table

2014 rank order by Grade Point Average	Institution	Number of UOAs entered	Grade Point Average (0-4)
1	Imperial College London	14	3.36
2	London School of Economics and Political Science	14	3.35
3	University of Oxford	31	3.34
4	University of Cambridge	32	3.33
5	Cardiff University	27	3.27
6	King’s College London	27	3.23
7=	University College London	36	3.22
7=	University of Warwick	23	3.22
9=	University of Edinburgh	31	3.18
9=	University of Bristol	31	3.18
9=	Queen Mary University of London	21	3.18
12=	University of Sheffield	35	3.17
12=	University of York	24	3.17
12=	University of Bath	13	3.17
15	University of Manchester	35	3.16
16=	University of Southampton	26	3.15
16=	Lancaster University	16	3.15
18	Durham University	23	3.14
19=	University of Leeds	33	3.13
19=	University of St Andrews	20	3.13
21	University of East Anglia	24	3.11
22	University of Glasgow	32	3.10
23=	University of Nottingham	32	3.09
23=	Newcastle University	28	3.09
23=	Royal Holloway, University of London	17	3.09
23=	Swansea University	18	3.09
27	University of Exeter	25	3.08
28=	University of Birmingham	33	3.07
28=	Cranfield University	3	3.07
30=	University of Liverpool	26	3.06
30=	Heriot-Watt University	12	3.06
32=	University of Essex	14	3.05
32=	Aston University	7	3.05

(Table excludes specialist research institutions the Institute of Cancer Research, the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, and the Liverpool School of Tropical Medicine)

Essex subject areas in the Top 20 for 'research quality'

Politics 1st
Economics 7th
Sociology 7th
Linguistics 8th
Philosophy 9th
Art history 10th
Psychology 13th

Research excellence and quality profiles for Essex subjects

Subject	‘Research excellence’ (intensity) ranking	‘Research quality’ (GPA) ranking	‘World leading’ 4* research %	‘Inter- nationally excellent’ 3* research %	‘Inter- nationally recognised’ 2* research %	Nationally recognised 1* research %	Below national recognition or doesn’t meet assessment criteria U
Social Sciences
Politics and International Studies	1 out of 56	1 out of 56	68	19	12	1	0
Modern Languages and Linguistics	35 out of 56	8 out of 56	40	43	14	3	0
Sociology	12 out of 29	7 out of 29	38	40	20	2	0
Economics and Econometrics	5 out of 28	7 out of 28	32	61	7	0	0
Business and Management Studies	24 out of 101	38 out of 101	17	55	25	3	0
Humanities
Art and Design: History, Practice and Theory	10 out of 84	10 out of 84	32	57	11	0	0
Philosophy	14 out of 40	9 out of 40	34	51	15	0	0
Law	17 out of 67	26 out of 67	23	48	28	0	1
English Language and Literature	35 out of 89	36 out of 89	29	46	22	3	0
History	21 out of 83	43 out of 83	19	52	27	1	1
Science and Health
Psychology, Psychiatry and Neuroscience	27 out of 82	13 out of 82	40	50	10	0	0
Biological Sciences	31 out of 44	35 out of 44	3	63	32	2	0
Computer Science and Informatics	29 out of 89	36 out of 89	22	49	25	4	0
Sports and Exercise Sciences, Leisure and Tourism	13 out of 51	27 out of 51	13	41	43	3	0