Why is the RAE important?

The Research Assessment Exercise (RAE) is a formalised method of assessing the quality of research in the UK's higher education institutions (HEIs).

The RAE is important because:

• It provides information on the quality of research in the UK;
  
• It will determine how more than £1.5 billion of research funding will be allocated by the Funding Councils to each HEI from 2009-10. For the period covered by the 2001 RAE (2002-3 to 2008-9), £10.1 billion in research funding was allocated according to the results;
  
• The universities with large volumes of high-quality research get a larger share of the money.

Back to menus