Ref Impact - 'Too Much Weighting'

The Higher Education Policy Institute (Hepi) has issued a critique of the Ref. Although largely welcoming the proposals in the Consultation document, it calls for a rethink of the Impact requirement. In their press release, Hepi say that 'it seems unwise to attribute so great a weight to a feature that is in effect experimental'. Comparing it to the cultural changes following the 1992 assessment, Hepi's Director Bahram Bekhradnia said that 'this proposal needs to be handled extremely carefully...the proposed impact requirement will influence behaviour in ways that can only be speculated about at present.'