The Research Excellence Framework (REF) is a national assessment of research quality co-ordinated by the Higher Education Funding Council for England.

Results of the last REF, which took place in 2014, confirmed the University of Reading's place as a world-leading research-intensive university. We were placed 19th in the UK by research intensity: a measure of quality adjusted by the proportion of researchers submitted. We were placed 27^th out of 154 institutions in the UK by research power - a measure of the quality and quantity of research.

The REF results confirm the University of Reading’s research strengths, particularly within the following REF subject groupings, known as 'Units of Assessment':

Agriculture, Veterinary & Food Science

Comprising work in the departments of Agriculture and Food, as well as some contributions from Clinical Health Science and Biological Sciences

• Ranked 4th in UK by Research Power
• Ranked 6th in UK by GPA ('grade point average' - the average of quality scorings)
• 45% of its research rated world-leading (4*)
• 85% of impact submission rated outstanding (4*)
• 100% of environment submission rated 4* (conducive to world-leading research).

Earth Systems & Environmental Sciences

Primarily comprising Meteorology, but also submissions from Geography & Environmental Science

• Ranked 3rd in UK by Research Power
• 51.1% of impact submission rated outstanding (4*)
• 60% of environment submission rated 4* (conducive to world-leading research).

Architecture, Built Environment and Planning

Comprising work submitted from Construction Management & Engineering and from Real Estate & Planning

Ranked 6th in UK by Research Power

• Ranked 8th in UK by GPA
• 41% of research rated world-leading (4*)
• 70% of impact submission rated outstanding (4*)
• 50% of environment submission rated 4* (conducive to world-leading research)

Business and Management

Comprising work from the Henley Business School plus submissions from Economics

• Ranked 16th in the UK (out of 101) by GPA
• 60% of impact submission rated outstanding (4*)
• 50% of environment submission rated 4* (conducive to world-leading research)

Typography

Research from the Department of Typography was submitted into the Unit of Assessment 'Art and Design: History, Practice and Theory'

• Ranked 1st in UK by GPA
• 56% rated research rated world-leading (4*)
• 70% of impact submission rated outstanding (4*)
• 80% of environment submission rated 4* (conducive to world-leading research)

Classics

Comprises work from staff within the Department of Classics

• Ranked 6th in UK by GPA
• Ranked 3rd in the UK by GPA for research outputs
• 37.3% of research outputs rated as world-leading (4*)

Read the results from our other Units of Assessment

Read our REF 2014 results in full on the HEFCE website