Data: Grant rates continue to fall, new UKRI figures show

New annual grants data from UKRI demonstrates how the proportion of funding applications which are successful has continued to decline. The overall UKRI award rate for funding applications, training grants and fellowship was down to 19 per cent in 2025–26.

By way of comparison, the award rate was 44 per cent in 2015–16, though some of the earlier data made available does not include Innovate UK or Research England. The chart below shows the trend since 2019–20:

The release also demonstrates how 2025–26 saw sharp falls in the number of applications assessed (down to 19,082 from 27,669 the previous year), the number of awards made – which at 3,567 was fewer than half the number made in 2023–24 – and in total amount awarded. This latter measure fell by more than £2bn, to £5.1bn, having stood at more than £9bn in 2023–24.

UKRI says the fall in both number and value of awards is “consistent with policy funding decisions,” including its shift to commit less up-front funding to retain greater budget flexibility later in the current spending review period.

This, allied to the fact that major programmes from the previous spending review period were “winding down”, is presented as the reason for the decline in awards made.

The accompanying data tables provide a breakdown of application outcomes by individual research council or cross-UKRI funding stream. The lowest award rates for 2025–26 were in evidence at the Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council and the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council – both at 14 per cent – and the Medical Research Council, at 12 per cent. All have declined substantially in recent years.