Research Excellence Framework 2021
1st in the UK for English Language and Literature research and 7th in the UK for Modern Languages and Linguistics research (Times Higher Education Supplement).
REF 2021 RESULTS
REF 2021 represents the School’s strongest performance to date in the UK’s Research Excellence Framework, with a remarkable 98% (English Language and Literature) and 88% (Modern Languages and Linguistics) of our research outputs classified as ‘World-Leading’ or ‘Internationally Excellent’.
ENGLISH LANGUAGE AND LITERATURE (UoA27):
79% of our work overall was graded at ‘World-Leading’, 19% ‘Internationally Excellent’, with a 59% increase in our research power since REF 2014. Our ‘Research Environment’ was graded 100% at 4*, and our ‘Impact’ scored 87.5% at 4* and 12.5% at 3*.
View a detailed breakdown of results for English Language and Literature.
MODERN LANGUAGES AND LINGUISTICS (UoA26):
53% of our work overall was graded at 4* (‘World-Leading’), 35% at 3* (‘Internationally Excellent’), with a 56% increase in our research power since REF 2014. 67.5% of our ‘Research Environment’ was graded at 4* and 32.5% at 3*, and our ‘Impact’ scored 83.3% at 4*and 8.40% at 3*.
View a detailed breakdown of results for Modern Languages and Linguistics.
OUR RESEARCH IMPACT
100% of our research impact was graded as ‘world leading’ or ‘internationally excellent’ in REF2021.
Our research has a long-standing commitment to working with partner organisations and communities in order to bring about change. We lead the way in innovation, and we have held some of the first Knowledge Transfer Partnerships to be awarded nationally in English Literature and Creative Writing. Our impact work has a diverse focus on:
- Telling the Whole Story: Building inclusive collections, exhibitions and outreach at Seven Stories, The National Centre for Children’s Books
- Poetry as a driver of business Innovation: Westpark Residential Development
- Poetry, place and national belonging: expanding the curriculum and diversifying cultural institutions
- The Newcastle Centre for the Literary Arts and the Devolution of British Poetry
- Challenging negative perceptions of immigrants and their languages in Northern Ireland’s education and heritage sectors.
PREVIOUS RESULTS
REF 2014 produced the following results for our School.
ENGLISH LANGUAGE AND LITERATURE (UoA29):
View a detailed breakdown of results for Unit of Assessment 29.
MODERN LANGUAGES AND LINGUISTICS (UoA28):
View a detailed breakdown of results for Unit of Assessment 28.