Research Excellence Framework (REF) 2021​

REF 2021 School of Sport, Exercise, & Rehabilitation Highlights

• Across the University, submission to unit 24 was the 5th largest submission, made possible by almost a four-fold increase in submitted staff compared to the 2014 exercise (14 to 53)
• 92% of our research is considered "World leading" or "Internationally Excellent" 
• 80% of our Impact Case Studies are regarded as “World leading" and 20% are "Internationally Excellent". The case studies have made a diverse contribution to the wider society across all our research themes. We have used exercise to improve health outcomes for people undergoing surgery, improve coaching practice in community and elite sport, and informed the physical preparation and recovery of elite athletes competing at the highest level
• 88% of our research Environment was judged to be "World Leading" or "Internationally Excellent" reflecting the investment in research staff and infrastructure to produce high quality research which has impact on an international level
• We are ranked 5th for Research Power, and Sport, Exercise, & Rehabilitation is considered a research powerhouse in the UK. Across the UoA, we had the biggest rise in overall quality

Overall, the University has had a meteoric rise in the rankings for overall quality along with the quantity of staff submitted. The submission translated to Northumbria being ranked 28th for Research Power and pleasingly for us, we achieved the best overall grade point average (GPA, 3.42) in the whole institution.

Our submission (Sport and Exercise Science, Leisure and Tourism – [UoA24]), showed the biggest improvement in the UK and we were ranked 12th for GPA and 5th for Research Power. This equates to a huge QR market share of 4.78%, increasing from 0.54% in REF2014. The breakdown of results for Outputs, Impact, and Environment in shown below (Figure 1).