"Our very strong REF 2014 performance entrenches the IOE's leadership position. I am particularly pleased that we entered more early career researchers than the size of the entire entry from the next highest performer in education."
Professor Chris Husbands
Director of the UCL Institute of Education
Read about our teaching reputation
- Academic standards
Research reputation
The UCL Institute of Education (IOE) is judged to be the world's leading centre for education and applied social science.
No.1 in the world
We are currently ranked number one for education worldwide.¹
Moreover, the latest official assessment of research quality in UK universities (REF 2014) ², confirms our dominant position in UK education research: 48% of the IOE's research was rated as 4* [world leading], with 74% of the IOE's impact case studies ranked as 4*; the IOE scored a maximum possible 4* score of 100% for its research environment.
Our performance was stronger than in the last research assessment exercise. In the 2008 exercise, the average score for IOE research activity was 2.9. In 2014, our average score was 3.21 – a remarkable performance given that we entered the same number of staff for assessment.
The best measure of the IOE's overall influence and quality is perhaps 'research power': average score multiplied by the size of the entry. On this measure, our research power score was well above 2008, and more than four times higher than the next best performer.
UCL as a whole has performed outstandingly, and on the key measure of research power tops the table ahead of Oxford, Cambridge, King's College London and Imperial. The IOE's performance within UCL is strong: our average score at 3.21 matches UCL's of 3.22.
The IOE conducts around a quarter of the educational research carried out in UK Universities. We are also the second highest recipient of social science research funding among UK higher education institutions.
Our research is funded by a diverse range of organisations including research councils, charities, government departments and international agencies. The IOE's income from research projects was £12.2 million in 2013-14, reflecting a high level of success in a competitive funding environment.
¹ 2014 QS World University Ranking
² 2014 REF results