At AHRC, we know that turning research into real-world impact is rarely a straight line.
For over a decade, our FoF scheme has helped researchers bridge that gap in transforming arts and humanities insights into tangible change across knowledge exchange, skills, commercialisation, policy and public life.
Evaluating impact of FoF
In 2025, we commissioned an independent evaluation of the FoF scheme to understand the impact of this scheme and how it remains fit-for-purpose in 2025 and beyond.
Valued and effective
The findings were clear, FoF is a valued and effective part of our funding landscape.
Between 2015 to 2024, FoF awards leveraged an impressive £193 million in further funding, more than comparator schemes.
And 20% of FoF awards were referenced in 2021 Research Excellence Framework impact case studies, underlining the scheme’s potential and impact outcomes.
Untapped potential
But the evaluation also made one thing clear: there is still untapped potential, especially when it comes to driving economic impact, commercialisation and bold new pathways to impact.
So we’ve listened. And we’ve acted.
Evolving the scheme
We’re delighted to be sharing the evaluation report and its recommendations with you today alongside this blog post and would really encourage you to have a read.
Early in 2026, we’ll launch a refreshed scheme, which will aim to build on the existing strengths of FoF, while sharpening its focus to meet the evolving needs of our research community.
Why?
This isn’t a radical overhaul; it’s a thoughtful evolution, shaped by what we’ve learned and where we are heading.
We’re listening to the recommendations from the independent evaluation of the FoF scheme, especially around its economic impact and how it fits into the wider funding landscape.
We’re also building on AHRC’s growing commitment to commercialisation and knowledge exchange, and aligning with UK Research and Innovation’s (UKRI) strategic priorities and government missions. This includes a renewed focus on delivering value for public money and driving sustainable economic growth.
Clear ambition
At the heart of these changes is a clear ambition to prioritise transformational projects that deliver measurable, real-world impact. Projects that improve lives and livelihoods and show the full potential of arts and humanities research across the UK.
The revised scheme will continue to support a wide range of impact activities, from public engagement and policy influence, to skills development, licensing and company creation (spin-outs or social enterprise).
We’ll be asking applicants to articulate how their projects will create the conditions for lasting benefits from arts and humanities research, and how those benefits will be realised through funded activities.
Responding to the community
The FoF evaluation offered valuable insights from across the research and innovation landscape. Here’s how we’re responding:
Broadening perspectives
We’ll ensure assessment panels include expertise from outside academia, and we’re working to attract more non-academic reviewers in the long term to our Peer Review College.
Reducing administration
In line with UKRI policy, we’ll introduce partial randomisation for applications that meet quality thresholds and applications will go straight to an assessment panel. We commit to providing feedback to applicants following the panel.
Expanding eligibility
While we’re retaining the scheme’s ‘follow-on’ focus, we’re widening access to include projects funded through AHRC Impact Acceleration Accounts and refreshing language to provide greater clarity on how to apply.
Supporting commercialisation
We’ll launch our Impact Toolkit in early 2026 and encourage applicants to engage with professional support staff, for example with technology transfer offices where appropriate.
Broadening economic impact
We’re embracing a broad definition of how economic growth is generated including social enterprise models and indirect economic benefits like community resilience and cultural tourism.
Championing co-design
The revised scheme will continue to support collaborative, co-developed projects, while recognising that early-stage interventions may be better suited to other schemes like Curiosity awards. We want to support those who developed research with a pathway to impact but now need the specific additional resource to make it happen
Scaling ambition
We’re increasing the maximum award size to £150,000 and extending the duration to up to five years, enabling greater flexibility for a wider range of activities.
We’ll also provide clear guidance on eligibility and expectations, while continuing to empower applicants to define what impact means in their context.
Acting on evaluation recommendations
We’re genuinely committed to listening and acting on the recommendations and feedback from the evaluation, to make this scheme work for our community.
At the same time, we know it’s not possible to take forward every suggestion from the review.
We’ve worked hard to preserve the aspects of the scheme that the community values most and sought to ensure that multiple changes don’t risk diluting what makes FoF so effective.
Wider insights
We’ve made sure the wider insights from the review don’t go to waste and are being shared across AHRC and UKRI to help thinking and practice beyond the FoF scheme.
We hope you agree that our evolved scheme takes the best part of FoF confidently into the future.
We’ll continue to listen, learn and adapt so the scheme can keep evolving alongside the needs of our community.
What’s next?
We’ll launch the new funding opportunity in January 2026, with applicant webinars and guidance to follow to support applicants and research offices through the transition.
The planned timeline is as follows.
January 2026
The opportunity launches.
February and March 2026
Applicant webinars. Details on how to register will be available on the opportunity funding finder page once the opportunity is live.
June 2026
The first funding decision meeting.
June 2026 onwards
Projects commence.
This is an exciting moment, not just for AHRC, but for the arts and humanities research community as a whole. We’re proud of what FoF has achieved in over 15 years, and even more excited about what comes next.