Area of investment and support

Higher Education Innovation Funding

The Higher Education Innovation Funding (HEIF) supports knowledge exchange between higher education providers and the wider world that benefits society and the economy.

• Budget: £280 million
• Partners involved: Research England, Office for Students (OfS)

The scope and what we're doing

We provide funding for knowledge exchange via the £280 million Higher Education Innovation Funding (HEIF) to support and develop a broad range of knowledge-based interactions between higher education providers and the wider world, which results in benefits to the economy and society.

Aim

The aim is to create and sustain a range of knowledge exchange activities in response to demand across the economy and society.

It is designed to support and develop a broad range of knowledge-based interactions between higher education providers and the wider world, which results in economic and societal benefit to the UK.

What HEIF supports

HEIF supports and incentivises providers to work with business, public and third sector organisations, community bodies and the wider public, to exchange knowledge and increase the economic and societal benefit from their work.

We commission evidence from time to time to demonstrate the value delivered by our funding. This shows that HEIF provides a strong return on investment (PDF, 3.5MB), with £10 generated for every £1 of funding.

Further information on this evidence work can be viewed at the University Commercialisation and Innovation Policy Evidence Unit, including an Office for Students (OfS) commission looking at the key issues and methods for assessing the impact of this funding on student outcomes (PDF, 1869KB, University of Cambridge website).

Government priority for HEIF

The July 2025 guidance from DSIT for Research England funding stated that ‘HEIF funded activity should support the government priority of kickstarting economic growth.’

In October 2025 we announced that we would be reviewing the strategic direction of the HEIF programme. Building on the existing strength of the programme in delivering economic benefits, the updated direction set out in a circular letter to the sector will focus on delivery of the government mission of driving economic growth.

HEIF policies and priorities

The 2025 publication HEIF policies and priorities sets out in more detail the Government’s priorities that apply to HEIF, and Research England and Office for Students’ (OfS) policies and priorities for use of the funding.

Knowledge exchange and economic growth – a framework

To support the effective use of HEIF by institutions to meet the government’s economic growth challenge, we have commissioned advice from national KE metrics advisors, University Commercialisation and Innovation (UCI) Policy Evidence Unit. The novel framework considers university KE contributions to growth through the lens of four ‘dimensions’ of activity:

• strengthening growth drivers and easing bottlenecks in places and sectors
• commercialising and scaling knowledge and technologies
• supporting companies to innovate, compete, and scale
• enabling people to engage productively in the economy

An evaluation of the HEIF programme

The future development of HEIF will build on the insights gained through the 2022 Research England independent evaluation of the HEIF programme. The final report was published in February 2025.

Find out more about Higher Education Innovation Funding: evaluating value and impact.

Opportunities, support and resources available

How HEIF is allocated

The Higher Education Innovation Funding (HEIF) is allocated by formula to all eligible providers who meet the performance threshold, subject to acceptance by Research England of an accountability statement.

Eligibility criteria for knowledge exchange funding

The Research England terms and conditions set out the primary eligibility criteria to receive Research England funding.  Individual funding streams may be subject to further additional eligibility criteria which are linked to the objectives, intended outcomes and specific characteristics of activity relevant to that particular funding stream. The Research England criteria for eligibility for knowledge exchange funding sets out the additional criteria for higher education providers (HEP) to be considered eligible for formula funding through HEIF and as a minimum criterion for all KE funding.

HEIF policies and priorities

The 2020 publication HEIF policies and priorities (RE-P-2020-03) and relevant 2024 addendum documents detail government priorities and how these are addressed through HEIF policies and principles. In this policy publication we requested the submission of accountability statements.

Each individual accountability statement, assessed and approved by Research England, sets out a higher education provider’s plans for how they will use their HEIF allocations between 2021 to 2022, to 2024 to 2025, in relation to their strategic objectives and government priorities for knowledge exchange.

Accountability statements

The HEIF policies and priorities publication also requested the submission of new accountability statements for submission in spring 2026.

Each individual accountability statement, assessed and approved by Research England, sets out a higher education provider’s plans for how they will use their HEIF allocations between 2026 to 2027 and 2030 to 2031. These plans must align with the provider’s knowledge exchange objectives and demonstrate how their activities support government priorities.

Accountability statements from higher education providers that received HEIF funding during the previous accountability period (up to 2024 to 2025) have been published according to the relevant 2023 knowledge exchange cluster:

• arts cluster accountability statements
• cluster E accountability statements
• cluster J accountability statements
• cluster M accountability statements
• STEM cluster accountability statements
• cluster V accountability statements
• cluster X accountability statements

Knowledge exchange clusters were developed as part of the knowledge exchange framework (KEF) as a means to group English providers of higher education that have similar capabilities and resources available to them to engage in knowledge exchange activities.

How allocations are calculated for individual providers

To target knowledge exchange funding where it can support higher education knowledge and skills to have the greatest impact on the economy and society, we only give HEIF to providers with evidence of significant knowledge exchange performance and partnerships.

To judge this, we use data on the income received by an institution from its users (businesses, public and third sector services, the community and wider public) as a proxy measure for the impact of its knowledge exchange activities.

Read detailed information on how the formula for funding is calculated.

Frequency of allocations recalculations

Allocations are recalculated annually based on the latest data and to reward recent performance. However, we also moderate year-on-year changes to give providers a level of predictability so that they can draw up five-year knowledge exchange programmes.

Past projects, outcomes and impact

In 2021 we invited higher education providers in receipt of the Higher Education Innovation Funding (HEIF) allocations to provide us with up to two case studies of exemplar knowledge exchange projects or activities that have been supported by HEIF.

These case studies demonstrate the wide range of activities supported by HEIF and the societal, economic or student benefit achieved.  Submission of the case studies was entirely optional, and nothing should be inferred in relation to any provider who chose not to supply a case study.

Read the HEIF case studies from higher education providers.

In 2021 we commissioned analysis of financial and narrative data submitted by higher education providers through HEIF accountability and annual monitoring statements. Extracted data was used to explore trends in expenditure of HEIF funding and alignment with a number of themes. We also invited providers in receipt of HEIF to provide short case studies to demonstrate the value of HEIF.

Review of knowledge exchange funding

During 2022 Research England undertook a review of our approaches to knowledge exchange funding. We published the review in May 2023.

Who to contact

Knowledge Exchange Policy

Email: kepolicy@re.ukri.org

Governance, management and panels

Institutions receiving a HEIF or non-recurrent knowledge exchange funding allocation are required to provide an annual monitoring statement (AMS) to Research England each winter.

Annual monitoring for the 2024 to 2025 allocations is distributed and collected through the Research England Data Portal subject to the following timescales:

• AMS open: 1 December 2025
• AMS submission deadline: 18 February 2026

View the AMS guidance document for the most recent collection.

Any queries should be directed to kepolicy@re.ukri.org

Last updated: 29 October 2025