Question to the Department for Science, Innovation & Technology:

To ask His Majesty's Government what plans they have to review the Research Excellence Framework process for universities, and whether they plan to replace it with a less onerous and more cost-effective process.

The next research assessment exercise, REF2029, will be completed in 2029. It is led by Research England and the Devolved Funding Bodies in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland. These funding bodies are engaging with the sector to lighten the bureaucratic burden wherever possible, for example by using existing data sets.

DSIT recognises the need to reduce bureaucracy across the research system as much as possible. The department is working with the sector and funders to achieve this.