Demand for some funding opportunities can exceed available assessment capacity and available funding, placing pressure on applicants, research organisations, reviewers and UKRI. This can affect resource and assessment times.
Where appropriate, UKRI will use demand management measures to help manage application volumes. This supports timely, high-quality assessment and helps ensure that the effort invested by applicants, organisations and reviewers is proportionate to the opportunity.
Managing the volume of applications is a collective responsibility across the research and innovation sector. UKRI, submitting organisations and applicants all contribute to a healthy and sustainable funding environment where the effort in preparing and assessing applications remains proportionate to the likelihood of success.
All funding opportunities are competitive, however applicant interest often significantly outweighs the funding available. Applicants and organisations therefore also have an important role in ensuring that they are encouraging and supporting considered, high-quality applications that are well aligned to the funding opportunity.
UKRI utilises a range of tools to maintain a fair, efficient and sustainable funding system.
How we apply demand management
In most cases, UKRI seeks to manage demand through standard opportunity design and application processes. Further measures may be introduced depending on the level of demand and the individual funding opportunity.
Each funding opportunity will state whether demand management applies and which approach is being used.
UKRI uses a three-tier approach.
Standard measures
Standard measures include:
- providing transparent policies and expectations ranging from areas such as application resubmissions to individual eligibility
- ensuring application timelines support equality, diversity and inclusion and provide sufficient time between opportunity announcement and closing, including pre-announcing where possible
- avoiding unnecessary peaks in applications by removing deadlines on applicant-led responsive, curiosity-driven funding opportunities through our move to an always-open approach
Additional measures
In situations where there is an expectation of higher application demand, we may apply measures that help manage the volume of applications progressing through the assessment process.
Measures may include:
- expressions of Interest or outline applications where typically a high-level summary or shorter application is required
- shortlisting processes applied during assessment to determine which applications should progress through to further assessment stages
Application limits
Specific UKRI funding opportunities may limit the number of applications an organisation or individual can submit.
Different approaches may be used depending on the nature and aims of a funding opportunity. These can include, but are not limited to:
- proportionate caps that set application limits for organisations or individuals by using data or evidence to set ratios
- flat caps where a fixed number of applications are permitted by either organisation or individual
Demand management is only applied when needed, choosing the least intrusive tool, relevant to the scope of the funding opportunity, that protects fairness, quality and public value.
Research offices will monitor organisational-based application quotas. If you are applying for an opportunity with this type of demand management, you should speak to your research office first.
Applying application limits
We aim to set application limits when the funding opportunity is launched.
In exceptional circumstances demand management limits may be applied at a later stage. This includes situations where the number of applications received is significantly higher than anticipated, and subsequently disproportionately outweighs the available funding and the resource available to take the applications through the full assessment process.
Find out more about demand management
To ask a question about the demand management approach applied to a funding opportunity, refer to the ‘contact details’ section of the specific funding opportunity.
Last updated: 10 September 2026