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Results and submissions

Introduction to the REF results

157 UK higher education institutions (HEIs) made submissions in 34 subject-based units of assessment (UOAs). The submissions were assessed by panels of experts, who produced an overall quality profile for each submission. Each overall quality profile shows the proportion of research activity judged by the panels to have met each of the four starred quality levels in steps of 1%.

Unit of assessment 25: Area Studies

Summary information

Number of submissions 23
Category A FTE staff submitted 579.82
Headcount of Category A staff submitted 616
Headcount of early career researchers 102
Number of outputs submitted 1,432
Number of outputs attributed to former staff 91
Number of case studies submitted 65
Research outputs
Number of outputs attributed Category A submitted staff Former staff
All ECR
Headcount
H/C
%
Percentage
Headcount
H/C
%
Percentage
Headcount
H/C
%
Percentage
1 258 42 53 52 22 45
2 142 23 25 25 17 35
3 104 17 14 14 6 12
4 68 11 4 4 3 6
5 43 7 5 5 1 2
Research doctoral degrees awarded
2013-14 2014-15 2015-16 2016-17 2017-18 2018-19 2019-20 Total
148.09 134.09 154.22 144.56 118.50 141.00 117.14 957.60
Research income (£M)
2013-14 2014-15 Average annual income Total 2013-14 to 2019-20
2015-16 to 2019-20 2013-14 to 2019-20
8.18 9.54 12.53 11.48 80.39
Research income-in-kind (£M)
2013-14 2014-15 2015-16 2016-17 2017-18 2018-19 2019-20
0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00

Average quality profiles for all submissions in the UOA (FTE weighted)

The rounding methodology described in Annex B of the 'Guidance on submissions' (REF 2019/01), has been used to produce the outcomes shown in the averages table. The average profiles are weighted by staff FTE to take into account the relative size of submissions in the overall outcome. They are produced by weighting the proportion of activity at each starred level for each submission by the FTE of Category A submitted staff. Submissions with 3 or fewer staff (headcounts) are excluded from the calculation of the average sub-profiles.

Percentage of submissions meeting the standard for:
4 star
4*
3 star
3*
2 star
2*
1 star
1*
Unclassified
U/c
Overall 44% 42% 13% 1% 0%
Outputs 41.5% 41.5% 15.3% 1.6% 0.1%
Impact 48.7% 39.3% 12.0% 0.0% 0.0%
Environment 46.7% 46.1% 7.0% 0.2% 0.0%
Average overall quality profile

Distribution of submission size and results for the UOA

Distribution of category A staff FTE
Distribution of quality profiles
Quartile information at UOA level
Profile type Quality profile
Minimum
Min
Lower quartile Median Upper quartile
Maximum
Max
Overall 4 star 20.00 33.00 41.00 53.00 72.00
Overall 4 star and 3 star 56.00 78.00 84.00 93.00 100.00
Overall 4 star, 3 star and 2 star 95.00 98.00 99.00 100.00 100.00
Outputs 4 star 20.00 33.30 37.80 45.80 77.80
Outputs 4 star and 3 star 60.00 78.30 84.40 90.60 100.00
Outputs 4 star, 3 star and 2 star 90.90 97.30 100.00 100.00 100.00
Impact 4 star 0.00 33.30 50.00 66.70 100.00
Impact 4 star and 3 star 0.00 75.00 100.00 100.00 100.00
Impact 4 star, 3 star and 2 star 100.00 100.00 100.00 100.00 100.00
Environment 4 star 0.00 0.00 32.50 65.00 85.00
Environment 4 star and 3 star 25.00 80.00 100.00 100.00 100.00
Environment 4 star, 3 star and 2 star 80.00 100.00 100.00 100.00 100.00