Timeline
| Winter 2017/18 | Panels are appointed. |
| Spring 2018 | Panels meet to develop criteria. |
| Summer 2018 |
Draft guidance on submission published setting out information required in institutions submission and generic definitions and criteria that will apply. Consultation on the panel criteria and working methods. Detailed guidance on developing Codes of Practice published. |
| January 2019 | Final "Guidance on submissions" and "Panel criteria and working methods" published. |
| 2019 | Complete preparation of submission systems. |
| Spring 2019 | Provisional deadline for institutions to submit Codes of Practice. |
| 2019 | Survey of institutions' submission intentions. |
| November 2019 | The College works on initial assessments of research independence and checking of staff lists. |
| November 2019 | Provisional date to publish Codes of Practice. |
| December 2019 | The College research-only staff are notified by HoDs of their REF specific research independence. |
| December 2019 - January 2020 | Staff can appeal research independence decisions and submit special circumstances. These will be considered by HoDs in the first instance and then the REF Equality Committee. |
| March 2020 | Full list of likely outputs for submission are prepared by Faculties by the beginning of March 2020. This is to allow for checking of bibliometrics and OA compliance. |
| March 2020 | Final list of likely impact case studies are finalised by the Faculties by end of March 2020. |
| Spring 2020 | UoA environment templates are drafted and reviewed by Spring 2020. The provider environment statement will be written in parallel. |
| Mid 2020 | Nominations and appointment of further panel members for assessment phase. |
| August 2020 | The College conducts a second round of independence assessment, after the census date (i.e. 31 July 2020). |
| November 2020 | Submission date is 27 November 2020. |
| 2021 | Panels assess submissions. |
| December 2021 | Publication of outcomes. |
| Outputs | First brought into the public domain between 01/01/2014 and 31/12/2020 |
| Impact | The assessment period for impact will be from 1/08/2013 to 31/07/2020 |
| Impact | Underpinning research first published between 1/01/2000 and 31/12/2020 |
| Environment | The assessment period for research income (assessed as part of the environment section) is from 1/08/2013 to 31/07/2020 |
| Staff | The census date for staff will be 31/07/2020 |