Within Wales, out of 31 subject areas submitted, Swansea University came first in Wales in 17 areas, and first or second in 24 areas. Research assessment areas for which Swansea University is first in Wales are:

• Allied Health Professions and Studies (Biomedicine)

• American Studies and Anglophone Area Studies

• Civil Engineering

• Classics, Ancient History, Byzantine and Modern Greek Studies

• Development Studies

• Economics and Econometrics

• French

• Health Services Research

• German, Dutch and Scandinavian Languages

• General Engineering and Mineral & Mining Engineering

• History

• Italian

• Iberian and Latin American Languages

• Metallurgy and Materials

• Physics

• Pure Mathematics

• Social Work and Social Policy & Administration

The RAE is an independent exercise run by the UK’s four higher education funding bodies.  It is used to benchmark research quality and guide research grant funding decisions.  The format for the 2008 results is different from the last RAE in 2001 when individual Units of Assessment received an overall grading from 1 to 5*.  In 2008, each Unit of Assessment receives a graded profile, awarded from Unclassified to 4*.  The definitions of these gradings are:

• 4* : Quality that is world-leading in terms of originality, significance and rigour

• 3* : Quality that is internationally excellent in terms of originality, significance and rigour

• 2* : Quality that is recognised internationally in terms of originality, significance and rigour

• 1* : Quality that is recognised nationally in terms of originality, significance and rigour

• Unclassified : Quality that falls below the standard of nationally recognised work

In the RAE 2001 a third of research areas at Swansea University reached international levels of excellence, achieving the top grades of 5 or 5*.  In 2008 the University has shown significant improvement with 47.5% of staff assessed receiving the highest 4* and 3* ratings for their work.  In the Times Higher Education Table of Excellence Swansea University jumped 13 places to 52nd from 65th, whilst Cardiff and Bangor Universities both fell in the rankings.  Swansea University put forward 90% of its research staff for assessment.  

The format will change again for the next RAE, with consultation and pilot schemes currently underway for the new Research Excellence Framework (REF), which will use metrics, such as the number of times published results are cited by peers, alongside peer review assessment.  Swansea University supports the ethos of independent research assessment and is already preparing to be involved in the new REF.