News

HEFCE grant increase reflects Durham’s research strengths

(7 March 2006)

Durham University’s allocation of government funding for 2006-07 has risen by 4.1%, reflecting the strength of its research and teaching quality.

The rise is worth an extra £2.6M on top of the current year’s grant and brings it up to £61,439,000. This represents less than half of the University’s total income which also comes from teaching fees, research awards, consultancy payments and other commercial earnings. The grant from the Higher Education Funding Council for England (HEFCE) is broadly in line with expectations. The proportion of the total grant that is based on research quality has risen to 37.5% compared with 29% five years ago. The high number of subject areas (20) at Durham that were rated Grade 5 or 5-star in the latest Research Assessment Exercise, works to the University’s advantage in the formulae used by HEFCE for calculating the grant. Durham had the 15th largest cash increase in England, not including money for extra student numbers – which Durham did not apply for. The funding covers Durham activities in the city and at Queen’s Campus Stockton. It is part of the £6.7 billion shared out to 132 higher education institutions and 145 further education colleges, running more than 1,001,000 full-time equivalent taught student places.