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Advocates of the policy of taking cash from grade 4 departments to fund increases elsewhere fail to understand (or choose to ignore) the fact that the quality of research in a department rated 4a is, in all probability, exactly the same as that in a department rated 5c. The only difference is that the 4a department played by the research assessment exercise rules and submitted everyone who was research active, while the 5c department played the RAE game, leaving out research-active people in order to maximise the grade.

The new funding allocations have rewarded the RAE game players and penalised those who did what Hefce told them to do.

Andy Ellis
Pro vice-chancellor for research
University of York