Government must fully fund RAE results, says UCU

The union added that the government must recognise that high quality research is widely distributed throughout UK institutions and rewarded with proper funding. However, UCU said it was not alone in having concerns about the RAE process and warned institutions not to use what they may perceive as low scores as an excuse to downsize or consider redundancies.
 
UCU general secretary, Sally Hunt, said: 'Today's results confirm that staff in our universities and colleges continue to do so much to ensure the UK's proud international reputation is upheld. The calibre of research at UK institutions is incredibly high and academic and academic-related staff must be congratulated today for their hard work and excellent research.
 
'We are not alone in criticising what we see as a flawed process when it comes to the RAE and therefore do not believe the funding councils should go for excessive concentration in funding the RAE results. There is high quality research throughout the sector and it needs to be recognised and properly funded.
 
'We will be alert to any institutions that try to use the RAE results to downsize or make staff redundant, as we saw in some instances last time around. It is a shame that the original promise from the funding councils to publish the proportions of eligible staff alongside the final results has been scrapped.'