REF 2029 eligibility now separates two decisions that used to be bundled together: which staff contracts count towards an institution’s volume measure, and which individuals can have a research output submitted on their behalf. There is no staff census in REF 2029. Eligibility instead rests on Higher Education Statistics Agency (HESA) contract data and a per-output “substantive link” test, assessed across the 2025-26 and 2026-27 academic years.
REF 2029 eligibility is the set of criteria the four UK funding bodies (Research England, the Scottish Funding Council, the Higher Education Funding Council for Wales, and the Department for the Economy, Northern Ireland) use to determine which staff contracts count towards an institution’s research volume, and which individuals may have outputs credited to a submission.
- What changed from REF 2021 to REF 2029 staff eligibility?
- Who counts towards the REF 2029 volume measure?
- How does a substantive link differ from staff eligibility?
- How do fractional, joint and atypical contracts qualify?
- REF 2029 eligibility: answer-first Q&A
- What this means for research offices
What Changed From REF 2021 to REF 2029 Staff Eligibility?
REF 2021 required institutions to submit a named list of “Category A eligible staff” as of a fixed census date, under the REF 2019/01 Guidance on Submissions, and every named individual needed at least one output attached to them. REF 2029 removes both requirements.
Under the REF 2029 Section 3 Volume Measure guidance published by the funding bodies, institutions no longer submit staff information at all. Instead, the volume measure is derived directly from the HESA Staff record, averaging the percentage of a full-time-equivalent year (the Contract.CONFTE field) across academic years 2025-26 and 2026-27, with 2024-25 treated as a pilot collection year. This is a definitive, verifiable change, not a proposal under consultation.
| Feature | REF 2021 | REF 2029 |
|---|---|---|
| Basis of staff eligibility | Named “Category A eligible staff” list, fixed census date | HESA contract data, averaged across two academic years |
| Output requirement per person | Minimum one output per named individual | No minimum or maximum per individual |
| Who can be an output author | Category A staff only | Any individual with a “substantive link”, including research-enabling staff |
| Data submitted to the exercise | Institution-compiled staff census list | No staff list; volume derived from HESA REFQUALCON flags |
Who Counts Towards the REF 2029 Volume Measure?
The volume measure only counts contracts that HESA classifies as “Research Only” (Contract.ACEMPFUN 2) or “Teaching and Research” (Contract.ACEMPFUN 3). “Teaching only” contracts are excluded outright, even where an individual on such a contract would otherwise meet the research tests below.
Two tests then apply, per the REF 2029 Section 3 guidance:
- Significant Responsibility for Research (SRR) — for “Teaching and Research” contracts, where explicit time and resources are made available for independent research and this is an expectation of the role.
- Research Independence (RI) — for “Research Only” contracts, where the individual undertakes self-directed research rather than delivering someone else’s research programme.
Contracts meeting either test are flagged REFQUALCON in the HESA Staff record. Each institution must set out its SRR and RI identification process in an approved Code of Practice, and the criteria must be objective, inclusive and transparent — being named on outputs alone is explicitly not a sufficient indicator of eligibility.
The resulting volume measure then sets the output quota: the funding bodies multiply the volume measure by 2.5 at Unit of Assessment (UoA) level and round to the nearest whole number. A UoA with a volume measure of 10, for example, must submit 25 outputs across REF 2029’s 34 UoAs.
How Does a Substantive Link Differ From Staff Eligibility?
Staff eligibility and output eligibility are now decoupled, and conflating them is the most common source of confusion. Volume-measure eligibility (above) decides how many outputs a UoA must submit. A separate “substantive link” test decides which individuals may actually appear as the author or contributor credited on a submitted output — and these two groups do not need to overlap.
An eligible employment relationship, which establishes a substantive link, requires all of the following, as defined in the REF 2029 Contributions to Knowledge and Understanding (CKU) guidance:
- A minimum of 0.2 full-time equivalent (FTE) contract with the submitting institution.
- At least 12 months of continuous employment, as defined by Section 210 of the Employment Rights Act 1996 (or the equivalent Northern Ireland Order).
- A role descriptor that includes an explicit expectation of research activity — undertaking, enabling, or supporting research.
Because “research activity” is not restricted by profession, technicians, research managers and other research-enabling staff who meet these three conditions can have a substantive link to an output, even though their contracts never enter the volume measure calculation. Output eligibility rules — publication windows, open access compliance, and the cap on outputs per individual per UoA — are covered separately; the distinction to hold onto here is simple: a contract can count for volume without producing an eligible output, and a person can produce an eligible output without their contract counting towards volume.
How Do Fractional, Joint and Atypical Contracts Qualify?
Fractional and non-standard contracts are common in research administration casework. REF 2029 guidance addresses several scenarios directly:
- Joint HEI/NHS appointments are eligible if they meet the general criteria; the CONFTE returned depends on whether the HEI is the primary employer or one of two dual employers.
- Secondment to another UK HEI allows both the employing and host institution to submit the contract, provided the combined CONFTE across both does not exceed 100%.
- Staff on hourly or daily pay are eligible if they meet the SRR or RI tests, with CONFTE calculated under standard HESA Staff record guidance.
- Staff working wholly overseas are excluded, since the HESA Staff record covers UK-employed staff only; part-UK, part-overseas roles are counted only for UK-resident time.
- Multiple contracts at one institution have CONFTE calculated across all contracts combined, capped at 100%; audit will adjust any figure that exceeds this.
Research assistants — staff employed primarily to deliver someone else’s research programme — are excluded from the volume measure by default, but an explicit exception exists for research assistants who independently meet the definition of an independent researcher on a Research Only contract.
REF 2029 Eligibility: Answer-First Q&A
Who is eligible for REF 2029?
Two separate groups matter. Volume-measure eligibility covers HESA-recorded “Research Only” or “Teaching and Research” contracts with significant responsibility for research or research independence. Output eligibility covers anyone with a substantive link — a minimum 0.2 FTE, 12-month continuous contract with a research expectation in their role.
What period does REF 2029 cover?
The volume measure is calculated from HESA data across the 2025-26 and 2026-27 academic years, averaging CONFTE for eligible contracts. Outputs must be first made publicly available between 1 January 2021 and 31 December 2028, and impact must have occurred between 1 August 2020 and 31 July 2028.
What are the key changes for REF 2029?
The biggest change is the removal of the staff census: institutions no longer submit named staff lists. A “substantive link” now determines output eligibility instead of a fixed Category A list, and outputs from research-enabling staff — not just academics — can be submitted for the first time.
How do output eligibility rules differ from staff eligibility?
Staff eligibility (the volume measure) sets how many outputs a Unit of Assessment must submit. Output eligibility (the substantive link) determines whose work can be submitted. A contract can count towards volume without ever producing a submittable output, and vice versa.
What This Means for Research Offices
Research administrators now carry two distinct compliance obligations rather than one combined staff-list exercise. First, an approved Code of Practice must document objective, transparent processes for flagging SRR and RI contracts in the HESA Staff record — audits test both wrongful exclusions and wrongful inclusions, with CONFTE and output-quota recalculation as the penalty for either. Second, a separate policy is needed to evidence substantive links for anyone contributing outputs, including staff whose contracts sit outside the volume measure entirely.
For institutions used to REF 2021’s single census-based staff list, this is a genuine operational shift: eligibility now runs on a rolling, two-year averaged dataset, and research-enabling staff invisible to REF 2021 can now be credited with outputs. Codes of Practice drafted ahead of the 2025-26 and 2026-27 collection cycles should build in review points, since REF 2029 guidance modules remain subject to revision until formal finalisation in 2026.
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