Faculty of Education:
Results of REF 2021

The Faculty of Education has been confirmed as one of the country’s leading departments for research in education in the 2021 Research Excellence Framework (REF).

The REF is the official system for measuring the quality of research in higher education institutions across the UK and the main yardstick used to assess universities’ research performance. The results of the most recent assessment cycle, which ran from 2014 to 2021, are published today (12 May 2022).

The overall quality assessment is strong, placing 61% of the Faculty’s work – when taken as a whole – in the very highest, four-star category; reserved for that which is considered “world-leading in terms of originality, significance and rigour”. The vast majority of the Faculty’s research work (88%) fell either into this category or under the three-star (“internationally excellent”) heading.

This places the Faculty among the top five education research departments in the country when ranked according to ‘research power’: the volume of research (usually measured as the total number of full-time equivalent staff submitted), multiplied by quality.

"These results reflect high-quality research and impact which links improving education to positive change on a far greater scale, and they are something of which everyone associated with Education at Cambridge can be justly proud."

Professor Susan Robertson, Head of Faculty

The Faculty’s research “environment” – a reference to the general provision and planning around research, the quality of facilities, the support given to researchers and the institution’s ability to attract research income – was ranked in the highest possible category, attaining the highest possible score. 80% of the Faculty’s score for research ‘impact’ beyond academia received a four-star rating, with the remainder receiving a three-star ranking.

Research outputs – such as journal articles, books, and other academic publications – are assessed separately as well as within the overall quality measure. 80% of all Faculty research outputs reviewed were rated either world-leading or internationally excellent.

Professor Susan Robertson, Head of the Faculty of Education, said: “These are excellent, encouraging results for education research at Cambridge. While we never stand still and always look to improve, it gives us an opportunity to appreciate and celebrate some of the genuinely brilliant research our community produces.”

“Behind these numbers is a REF submission which embodied our belief that education is inseparable from the biggest challenges facing society. It captured research that touched lives both in the UK and around the world; in places of education but also far beyond their walls. These results reflect high-quality research and impact which links improving education to positive change on a far greater scale, and they are something of which everyone associated with Education at Cambridge can be justly proud.”

The full REF 2021 results are now available. Information about some of the research projects covered in the REF 2021 submission, and their impact on communities around the world, is available on the Faculty website.