Research Assessment Exercise - Definition and Overview

The Research Assessment Exercise is an attempt by the government of the United Kingdom to evaluate the quality of research undertaken by British Universities. Each subject, called a unit of assessment is given a ranking by a peer review panel. The rankings are used in the allocation of funding each university receives from the government.

Previous RAEs took place in 1992, 1996 and 2001. The next is scheduled in 2008.

Scale

The 2001, 1996 the following descriptions were used for each of the ratings. The scale used in 1992 is given in brackets.

• 5* Research quality that equates to attainable levels of international excellence in a majority of sub-areas of activity and attainable levels of national excellence in all others.
• 5 (5) Research quality that equates to attainable levels of international excellence in some sub-areas of activity and to attainable levels of national excellence in virtually all others. (Same definition.)
• 4 (4) Research quality that equates to attainable levels of national excellence in virtually all sub-areas of activity, possibly showing some evidence of international excellence, or to international level in some and at least national level in a majority. (Same definition.)
• 3a (3) Research quality that equates to attainable levels of national excellence in virtually all sub-areas of activity, or to international level in some and to national level in others together comprising a majority. (Research quality that equates to attainable levels of national excellence in a majority of the sub-areas of activity, or to international level in some.)
• 3b (3) Research quality that equates to attainable levels of national excellence in the majority of sub-areas of activity. (Research quality that equates to attainable levels of national excellence in a majority of the sub-areas of activity, or to international level in some.)
• 2 (2) Research quality that equates to attainable levels of national excellence in up to half the sub-areas of activity. (Same definition.)
• 1 (1) Research quality that equates to attainable levels of national excellence in none, or virtually none, of the sub-areas of activity. (Same definition.)