The Research Excellence Framework (REF) follows a set of submission rules. Here we analyse whether the submission rules of the impact element arguably shaped the submission sizes of the submitting units -- a group of academics researching on a specific subject area in higher education providers -- to the REF in 2014. The number of impact case…

Relatively little critical attention has been given specifically to 'assessments' and related processes in relation to race and racial inequalities in UK HEPs. Consequently, we know relatively little with regards to rather routine questions, such as: What are the assessment experiences of BAME students? To what extent is BAME student inclusion…

On the back of Research Excellence Framework (REF) 2021, this collection brings together a wide range of authors to consider what has worked well in evaluation of UK research, what could have worked better and where the UK's higher education system should go from here. Chapters in the volume include: (1) The REF: A hydra-headed beast or an…

One of the assessed research elements in the UK's Research Excellence Framework (REF) exercise in 2014 was the research environment. The quality of the research environment was assessed by expert peer reviewers who were given a set of quantitative factors to support their decision making. However, there is no systematic procedure to integrate this…

The UK's Research Excellence Framework (REF) is a system that is intended to evaluate the quality of the research produced by higher education institutes (HEIs) in the UK in three areas: quality of research outputs; impact of this research beyond academia; and research environment. For the next REF, the funding bodies have reviewed the importance…

This study charts the socio-geographic fragmentation of the economics discipline in the UK. It is revealed that the marriage of economics teaching and research is now limited to elite institutions located mainly in the south of the UK. None of the UK's new (post-1992) universities submitted to the Economics and Econometrics (E&E) unit of…

This paper reports on what has happened since Elliott ("Dynamic Assessment in Educational Settings: Realising Potential," 2003) in those applications of dynamic assessment that he considered. There continues to be two broad applications, one, largely researcher led, and the other, largely practitioner led, although there are examples of…

Within the Higher Education sector in the UK, it is acknowledged that the area of 'Assessment and Feedback' receives consistently poor levels of satisfaction from students when they complete module level feedback, course level feedback and the National Student Survey (NSS). There is evidence to suggest that this problem is pronounced within…

Drawing on Foucault's elaboration of neoliberalism as a positive form of state power, the ascendancy of neoliberalism in higher education in Britain is examined in terms of the displacement of public good models of governance, and their replacement with individualised incentives and performance targets, heralding new and more stringent conceptions…

With the push for evidence-informed policy and practice, schools and policy makers are now increasingly encouraged and supported to use and enagage with research evidence. This means that consumers of research will now need to be discerning in judging the quality of research evidence that will inform their decisions. This paper evaluates the…

As another year is approaching, the time seems appropriate to look back and reflect on all the things that have been done, and more importantly learned during 2014. Along the same lines, and in order to offer further food for thought, the IBE is happy to share with you its latest Thematic alert on the topic of assessment in education. More…

Inspired by Whitehead and McNiff's "living theory" approach and the "Thinking Schools International" programme, this paper focuses on issues surrounding self-evaluation practices in schools and research aimed at school improvement, with specific consideration given to grounded theory and action research. Specifically, the…

Traditionally there has been a tension between evaluation research and so-called pure research which has resulted in evaluation research seldom being recognized by the UK Research Assessment Exercises. The newly configured Research Excellence Framework (REF) will use similar criteria to judge research, notwithstanding the introduction of…

A new approach to researching school effects on higher education participation is proposed here, which combines insights from the school effectiveness field of research with sociological theories and concepts of schooling. In doing so, it draws attention to some of the problems with the dominant approach often taken in this area and attempts to…

The purpose of this article is to contribute to the debate on the notion of quality in higher education with particular focus on "objectifying through articulation" the assessment of quality by professional experts. The article gives an overview of the differentiations of quality as used in higher education. It explores a substantial…