The UK Research Assessment Exercise: the evolution of a national research evaluation system

The Research Assessment Exercise (RAE) represents one of the most institutionalised forms of research evaluation in the OECD economies. It has become a primary means of concentrating resources for research in a relatively small number of universities. Its main purpose is to inform funding decisions, and the indirect effects come from the public signalling of quality. The RAE seems to have reinforced the traditional 'high science' ideals of British universities, encouraging greater coordination of research around traditional disciplinary concerns and inhibiting applied research. Debates among universities and policy-makers have led to a reshaping of the exercise. Its evolution into a highly elaborate procedure combined with its failure as a strategic policy tool to steer university research towards socio-economic impacts have led to its abandonment in its present form.