REF 2014 Success
King's has the highest GPA across UK law schools, with the highest quality submission and the highest proportion of world-leading 4* research.
The quality and impact of research in The Dickson Poon School of Law at King’s has been endorsed by the Research Excellence Framework (REF) 2014, a process of expert review to assess the quality of research in UK higher education institutions.
King’s is immensely proud of its achievement in Law. Today the results revealed that 100% of Law impact case studies and 84% of outputs were rated 3-4*, where 4* represents world-leading in terms of originality, significance and rigour.
The Dickson Poon School of Law submitted 42 faculty members – eight of which were Early Career Researchers - to the Law Unit of Assessment as part of the REF submission made in November 2013. The School’s GPA is 3.44 and 85% of the School’s environment statement is rated as world renowned.
Research from The Dickson Poon School of Law has a long tradition of public engagement and collaboration and has influenced policy and legislation. A new element of the REF 2014 was the requirement for higher education institutions to demonstrate the impact their research was having beyond academia on the economy, society, culture, public policy, services, health or the environment.
One case study profiled Professor Robert Blackburn’s research and evidence before UK parliamentary committees that have directly informed two historic constitutional changes: the
Fixed-term Parliaments Act 2011 and the
Succession to the Crown Act 2013. A senior parliamentarian described Professor Blackburn’s contributions to the Succession to the Crown Act as being ‘material and valuable contributions’ to some of the ‘most important constitutional reforms in the history of the UK’.
In April 2014 the Home Secretary announced major reforms of stop and search powers. Professor Ben Bowling has been researching police ‘stop and search’ practices since the late 1990’s. He has led a programme of theoretical and empirical research on the police power to stop and search people in public places. Through his engagement with the Equality and Human Rights Commission, police forces, civil liberties groups and communities, Professor Bowling’s research has informed public understanding, enhanced police accountability, and
contributed directly to the improvement in police stop and search practices.
The School has also made considerable contributions to the fields of medical law and ethics, trade and investment, human rights and more. Researchers at all levels are engaged in work that explores possible solutions to global problems.
Professor David D Caron, Dean of The Dickson Poon School of Law, said: 'These results point to the School’s dedication to rigour and innovation in both its teaching and research. The faculty at King’s focus their thoughts and energy on the deepest and most pressing questions in the law whilst simultaneously bringing their expertise to bear on confronting the global challenges for this and coming generations. We are privileged to have the very best students with us every day; it is our experience that great classrooms spark excellent research. We celebrate today’s recognition and take pride in our continued commitment to our vision for The Dickson Poon School of Law.'
Official REF rankings
Visit the REF 2014 website for the official figures on the Law Unit of Assessment REF 2014 results:
UoA 20 results (Law)
Further information
- Further information on the impact of our research can be found on our Research in Action pages
- Further information on King’s College London REF results across the university can be found here