Research England has confirmed the new deadline for the REF as 31 March 2021 for all elements and advised that the impact assessment period will be extended to 31 December 2020.
The extension to the impact assessment period has been introduced explicitly to enable case studies affected by, or focusing on the current response to, COVID-19 to be assessed in REF 2021, however it has further been clarified that there is neither the requirement nor the expectation that all case studies report up to the end of the extended assessment period. Where the case study has not been affected by or focused on COVID-19, and particularly where additional activity or evidence from the extended period would not make a material difference to the case, it should not be seen as necessary to revise the Case Study.
Research England also intends to carry out a further review no later than 6 November 2020 to consider potential additional disruption in the event of a further, sustained outbreak.
The REF management team will in due course provide further guidance on the implications of the new timeframe and give information on any revised internal deadlines for preparations leading up to the submission date.
The full announcement and associated background information from Research England is available here: https://ref.ac.uk/news/march-deadline-confirmed-for-submissions-to-ref-2021