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Completing a course of study within higher education brings benefits on many levels. In terms of your future job, a degree can lead to increased earning potential, greater opportunities and a more rewarding career.
For those already pursuing their careers, a higher education course can increase your employment prospects, and many employers have woken up to the value of ongoing lifelong learning programmes for their staff.
Yet there is far more to higher education than just studying. Universities and higher education colleges are thriving social and cultural centres, with much to offer students of any age, nationality or social background. Many graduates would agree with the old cliché that your student days are the best days of your life. More...

Whether you have just left school or no matter what stage you are at in life, you can enter into further education or higher education.
There are numerous opportunities available; either:

• full-time or part-time courses
• vocational
• recreational
• degree level

• Further Education (nidirect) 
• Higher Education (nidirect) 
• Northern Ireland Further Education Colleges (nidirect contact section) 
• NI Education and Library Boards (nidirect contact section) 

Possible financial help
Alternatively, if you decide to stay on at school or go to college you may be able to get an Education Maintenance Allowance (EMA).

• Education Maintenance Allowance (EMA) (nidirect) 

Information on the departmental website
Departmental information on the DEL corporate website in respect of Higher Education and Further Education.

• Further Education (delni)
• Higher Education (delni). More...

The UK funding bodies are committed to supporting and promoting equality and diversity in research careers.

Equality and Diversity Advisory Panel (EDAP)
EDAP was established to advise the funding bodies, the REF team and the REF panels on the implementation of equality measures in the REF.
EDAP reviewed institutions' codes of practice on the selection of staff and produced a report of good practice found in the codes.
EDAP's final report on the measures to support equality and diversity in the REF will be published in January 2015.
EDAP terms of reference and membership
Download the Equality and Diversity Advisory Group and terms of reference as MS Word (47 KB)

Equality and diversity policies and procedures
The REF team implemented a number of equality measures to assist the funding bodies in taking forward their committment to equality and diversity:

• Panel criteria. The 'Equality briefing for REF panels' was provided to panels for use in developing their criteria and working methods.
• Individual staff circumstances. 'Panel criteria and working methods' sets out the arrangements for enabling staff whose circumstances had constrained their ability to work productively throughout the assessment period, to be returned with fewer than four outputs without penalty in the assessment. These arrangements were applied consistently across the exercise.
• Codes of practice. 'Guidance on submissions' sets out requirements for institutions to develop, document and apply a code of practice on the fair and transparent selection of staff for their REF submissions. Institutions submitted their codes of practice for EDAP to review, and these have been published on the REF website.
• Assessment criteria. In assessing the research environment element of submissions, The REF panels considered how the submitted unit promotes equality and diversity.
• Analysis of staff selection. The selection rates of staff for the REF will be analysed at sector level.

The equality measures for the REF were developed in consultation with the REF Equality and Diversity Advisory Group. More...

This page sets out summary data about each unit of assessment and analysis of the 2014 REF results as a whole.
General analysis
Analysis of the 2014 REF results and submissions at main panel and UK sector level:

• Submissions data
• Environment data
• Sector and main panel average results
• Comparison with 2008 RAE results
• Consistency across UOAs
• Outputs profiles and diversity
• Research income trends
• Institutional average results
• Institutional share of quality and volume. More...

The 2014 Research Excellence Framework (REF) is a peer assessment of the quality of UK universities' research in all disciplines. It replaces the Research Assessment Exercise (RAE), last conducted in 2008. 
The REF was undertaken by the four UK higher education funding bodies, who will use the REF results to distribute research funding to universities on the basis of quality, from 2015-16 onwards.
154 UK institutions made submissions in 36 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 defined below, in steps of 1%. More...

• Introduction
• View results online:
  • by unit of assessment
  • by institution
• REF 01.2014 Research Excellence Framework 2014: The results (December 2014)
• Download:
  • results. More...

The REF was a process of expert review. Institutions were invited to make submissions in 36 units of assessment (UOAs). The submissions were assessed by an expert sub-panel for each UOA, working under the guidance of four main panels.
The main panels oversaw the assessment, ensuring the assessment criteria and standards were consistently applied. They were responsible for signing-off the results recommended by the sub-panels. The main panels included international members to provide assurance about the international benchmarking of standards.
The sub-panels reviewed submissions according to a set of assessment criteria and level definitions. All sub-panels included research users that participated in the assessment of impact. Specialist advisers assisted with outputs in languages that the sub-panels were unable to assess.
The 'Panel criteria and working methods' sets out how the main and sub-panels carried out the assessment.
The members of the REF panels were appointed by the four UK funding bodies. The process used for appointing them are detailed in 'Units of assessment and recruitment of expert panels'. More...

The information on this page was published whilst the exercise was being conducted; this material is provided for background information only and will not be updated.

Categories

2014

• REF 01.2014 Research Excellence Framework 2014: The results (December 2014)
• REF 2014 - Key facts leaflet (December 2014)
• News item announcing the results of the REF (December 2014)
• Arrangements for the publication of results (April 2014)

2013

• Arrangements for the collection of final codes of practice and equality impact assessments (December 2013)
• Invitation to make submissions to the REF (March 2013)
• REF submission system user guide (updated September 2013)

2012

• REF Codes of Practice for the selection of staff: A report on good practice (October 2012)
• Invitation to complete the REF survey of submission intentions (July 2012)
• Summary of responses to the 'Consultation on draft panel criteria and working methods' (March 2012)
• Invitation to make requests for multiple submissions and for impact case studies requiring security clearance (February 2012)
• REF 01.2012 Panel criteria and working methods (January 2012)

2011

• Invitation to submit codes of practice on the selection of staff for the REF (December 2011)
• REF 03.2011 Consultation on draft panel criteria and working methods (July 2011)
• Analysis of panel membership (July 2011)
• REF 02.2011 Assessment framework and guidance on submissions (July 2011) (Printed copies available)
• Guidance to panels (July 2011)
• Equality briefing for panels (July 2011)
• REF 01.2011 Decisions on assessing research impact (March 2011)

2010

• REF 01.2010 Units of assessment and recruitment of expert panels (July 2010)

Other publications

• REF Codes of practice on the selection of staff: A report on good practice (October 2012)
• REF Research Impact Pilot Exercise Lessons-Learned Project: Feedback on Pilot Submissions - Technopolis (November 2010)
• Research Excellence Framework impact pilot exercise: Findings of the expert panels (November 2010). More...

The REF is the new system for assessing the quality of research in UK higher education institutions. It replaced the Research Assessment Exercise (RAE), last conducted in 2008.
The 2014 REF was conducted jointly by the Higher Education Funding Council for England (HEFCE), the Scottish Funding Council (SFC), the Higher Education Funding Council for Wales (HEFCW) and the Department for Employment and Learning, Northern Ireland (DEL). The REF was managed by the REF team, based at HEFCE, on behalf of the four UK higher education funding bodies, and was overseen by the REF Steering Group, consisting of representatives of the four funding bodies.
The primary purpose of REF 2014 was to assess the quality of research and produce outcomes for each submission made by institutions:

• The four higher education funding bodies will use the assessment outcomes to inform the selective allocation of their grant for research to the institutions which they fund, with effect from 2015-16.
• The assessment provides accountability for public investment in research and produces evidence of the benefits of this investment.
• The assessment outcomes provide benchmarking information and establish reputational yardsticks, for use within the higher education (HE) sector and for public information.

The REF was developed through evaluations of the 2008 RAE, pilot exercises and consultations with the sector. Further information about the development of the 2014 REF can be found in the background section. More...