Freedom of information (FOI) releases from UK Research and Innovation (UKRI)

This is a disclosure log of UK Research and Innovation's responses to freedom of information (FOI) or environmental information regulations (EIR) requests that might be of wider public interest.

If you can't find the information you're looking for, you can make a new FOI request.

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1,431 disclosures

  1. FOI2026/00467: MA taught programmes in Academic Year 1985/86 awarded a ESRC quota award

    Request received: 1 June 2026


    Could you please provide me with a list of MA taught courses in Academic Year Year 1984/85, 1985/86 or 1986/87 which the ESRC provided a quota of awards to support students to undertake these masters courses? This list would also identify the universities where the courses were offered?

    Published: 3 August 2026

  2. EIR2026/00456: SS5 Postcode Area - Flood and Subsidence Risk

    Request Received: 22 May 2026

    I am writing to request information under the Freedom of Information Act 2000 concerning any reassessment, reclassification, or alteration of flood risk and/or subsidence risk affecting properties within the SS5 postcode area.

    This request arises following difficulties obtaining household insurance cover, including refusals or restrictions from insurers where flood risk and/or subsidence concerns appear to have influenced underwriting decisions.

    Please provide the following information for the SS5 postcode area covering the last 10 years:

    1. Flood Risk Reviews and Reclassification

      • Details of any flood risk reclassification, rezoning, reassessment, or review affecting SS5.

      • Information regarding any changes to flood modelling, drainage assessments, surface water calculations, river or coastal flood categorisation, or other flood-related risk methodologies.

    2. Subsidence and Ground Stability Assessments

      • Copies of any reports, datasets, geological assessments, environmental studies, or technical analyses relating to:

        • subsidence risk;

        • clay soil movement;

        • ground instability;

        • shrink-swell risk;

        • historical land movement;

        • heave; or

        • structural ground movement within SS5.

    3. Risk Classification Methodologies

      • Copies of any maps, scoring systems, risk bandings, classification methodologies, or assessment criteria used to determine flood or subsidence risk within SS5.

      • Details of any recent amendments or updates to these methodologies that may affect insurance underwriting decisions.

    4. Communications with Third Parties

      • Details of any communications, meetings, correspondence, or data-sharing arrangements between your organisation and:

        • insurance companies;

        • the Association of British Insurers (ABI);

        • local authorities; or

        • property risk data providers
          relating to flood or subsidence classifications affecting SS5.

    5. Incident and Claims Data

      • Any recorded increase, trend analysis, or statistical information relating to incidents within SS5 involving:

        • flooding;

        • subsidence;

        • heave;

        • landslip; or

        • structural ground movement
          during the past 10 years.

    Please search documentation including emails, minutes of official meetings, hand written notes, reports, presentations, graphs, maps and other official documents both in electronic and paper form. Please include both internal and external communications.

    Should going back 10 years prove to be excessive (i.e. in that it would trigger the cost exemption under Section 12 FOIA) then please limit your search to a lesser period of time (i.e. 5 years or two years).

    Published: 3 August 2026

  3. FOI2026/00463: Women in Innovation Assessor Demographics and Professional Background

    Request Received: 22 May 2026

    I would like to request aggregated information relating to assessors involved in the Innovate UK Women in Innovation competition for 2026.

    Specifically, I request the following anonymised and aggregated information relating to assessors:

    1. The gender distribution of assessors.

    2. The age distribution of assessors (for example by age bands, if exact ages are not held or cannot be disclosed).

    3. The professional background or sector classification of assessors (for example: academic, investor, entrepreneur/founder, clinician, industry specialist, corporate executive, consultant, etc., according to whichever categorisation Innovate UK holds).

    4. The proportion of assessors with direct founder or startup experience.

    5. Any assessor training materials, guidance documents, or policies relating to:

    • unconscious bias,

    • equality/diversity/inclusion,

    • assessment consistency,

    • or evaluation criteria for Women in Innovation programmes.

    I am requesting aggregated and anonymised information only and am not seeking the identities of any individual assessors.

    Published: 3 August 2026

  4. FOI2026/00446: Innovation Assessment Structures Concerning Early-Stage Applicants

    Request Received: 20 May 2026

    Under the Freedom of Information Act 2000, I would like to request information relating to Innovate UK and/or DSIT innovation assessment structures concerning early-stage applicants and exploratory scientific projects.

    Specifically, I request any available information regarding:

    1. how “early stage” is defined within relevant Innovate UK assessment processes;

    2. the criteria used when assessing applicants considered “too early stage”;

    3. the proportion of rejected applications categorised as early-stage or insufficiently developed over the past five years;

    4. the proportion of funded applicants who already possessed:

    • laboratory facilities,

    • engineering teams,

    • existing prototypes,

    • institutional partnerships,

    • or prior significant funding;

    5. whether Innovate UK or DSIT maintains internal analysis regarding barriers faced by:

    • sole researchers,

    • micro-enterprises,

    • independent inventors,

    • or unconventional scientific applicants;

    6. any reports, policy discussions, or reviews concerning whether current innovation structures sufficiently support exploratory or frontier-stage scientific thinking.

    If some information falls under exemption categories, I would still request partial disclosure where possible.

    7. I would also appreciate clarification regarding whether Innovate UK assessment structures are primarily intended to support:

    • commercially mature projects,

    • or genuinely exploratory early-stage scientific capability.

    I request this information in the public interest regarding innovation accessibility, scientific governance, and the long-term effectiveness of UK innovation structures

    Published: 3 August 2026

  5. FOI2026/00347: Imerys British Lithium Company funding

    Request received: 21 April 2026

    I would like to request information relating to public funding provided to Imerys British Lithium Ltd and/or Reserach by British Lithium Ltd (Company Registration Number: 12725402). 
     
    Specifically, I request: 
    • Copies of grant award summaries and funding decisions relating to Imerys British Lithium Ltd or Research by British Lithium Ltd. 
    • The total value of Innovate UK funding awarded to these entities since 2017. 
    • Non-confidential sections of grant applications submitted by these companies. 
    • Project evaluation reports, progress reports, or completion reports produced as part of grant monitoring. 
    • Any internal Innovate UK assessments of the technology readiness level (TRL) of lithium extraction technologies proposed by the company. 
     
    If any material is considered commercially sensitive, I request that the non-exempt portions still be disclosed with appropriate redactions. If the request exceeds cost limits, please prioritise the release of grant summaries and evaluation reports. 

    Published: 28 July 2026

  6. FOI2026/00387: Usage of the AI Skills Hub

    Request received: 30 April 2026

    I am writing to request information under the Freedom of Information Act 2000 regarding the Government’s AI Skills Hub (aiskillshub.org.uk) 

     
    Please provide the following information, covering the period from the launch of the AI Skills Hub to the most recent date for which figures are available: 

     
    1. The total number of people who have registered for the AI Skills Hub. 

     
    2. The total number of people who have started at least one course, module or learning pathway through the AI Skills Hub. 

     
    3. The total number of people who have completed at least one course, module or learning pathway through the AI Skills Hub. 

     
    4. If available, a breakdown of registrations, course starts and course completions by month 

     
    5. Any website traffic figures held for the AI Skills Hub, such as  
    total visits or sessions; 
    unique users; 
    page views; 
    average session duration; 
    bounce rate; 
    monthly traffic figures; 
    most viewed pages. 

     
    6. Any internal dashboards, reports, briefings or summaries that discuss usage, uptake, engagement or completion rates for the AI Skills Hub. For the avoidance of doubt, I am seeking the most recent figures held by UKRI. 

    Published: 28 July 2026

  7. FOI2026/00432: UKRI Core Values

    Request Received: 19 May 2026

    UKRI has recently introduced its new 'core values' to be shared by all staff. At the same time, UKRI has highlighted significant financial pressures, resulting in cost reductions and funding constraints across several of its councils, notably STFC.

    With this context in mind, I would like to request the following information regarding the development and roll-out of these new core values:

    1. The total recorded financial expenditure allocated to the development, production, and implementation of these core values.

    2. A breakdown of this total figure separating external costs (e.g., external consultants, agencies, workshop facilitators, survey platforms, or printing/design materials) and internal costs (e.g., dedicated staff hours or internal project delivery budgets), if recorded.

    To clarify, I am not looking for a line-by-line itemised account of the project, but rather the total aggregated cost figures.

    Published: 27 July 2026

  8. FOI2026/00564: Global Talent visa endorsement decision-making

    Response received: 6 July 2026

    Please provide the following information concerning your role as an endorsing body for the Global Talent immigration route (and, where held, Tier 1 (Exceptional Talent)):

    1. For each calendar year from 2015 (or the earliest year held) to date: the number of Stage 1 endorsement applications assessed; the number endorsed; the number refused; and, where held, the number of endorsement review requests and their outcomes — broken down, where recorded, by Exceptional Talent versus Exceptional Promise [for ACE add: and by art form or sub-endorsing organisation].

    2. Where recorded, an annual breakdown of refusals by the criterion or criteria not met.

    3. Copies of the current internal guidance, assessment frameworks, scoring templates, or assessor instructions used to evaluate endorsement applications, and a description of the composition and selection of assessment panels (numbers and roles only; no names required).

    4. Copies of any internal quality assurance, calibration, or consistency-review documents concerning endorsement assessments, from 1 January 2020 to date.

    Published: 23 July 2026

  9. FOI2026/00415: AI Champions: Frontier AI Phase 1 Competition

    Request Received: 13 May 2026

    I would like to know what percentage of applicants into the AI Champions: Frontier AI Phase 1 competition were marked out of scope and how it compares to the overall IUK average.

    Please also state how many applications in total were marked out of scope.

    Published: 21 July 2026

  10. FOI2026/00398: MRC Panel PAN1408 Outcomes by Institution

    Request received: 6 May 2026

    information under the Freedom of Information Act 2000 regarding the MRC panel meeting referenced below: 
     
    • Panel Reference: PAN1408 
    • Panel Name: MRC – Gap Fund – September 2025 
    • Panel Date: 17 September 2025 
     
    I would be grateful if you could provide the following information in aggregated (non-identifiable) form: 
     
    1. The total number of applications submitted to this panel and their (£)value, grouped by applicant institution. 
    2. The number of successful applications and (£)value comparably grouped. 
     
    If possible, I would appreciate (1) and (2) in the format of a table with your calculation of the additional comparative information: 
     
    3. A summary table indicating, for each institution involved in making a submission, the number of applications submitted, the number funded, the value (£) of applications and awards, and the relative success rate (as a %) and relative value of funding awarded relative to the value of funding applied for (as a %). 
       
    I am not requesting any personal data relating to individual applicants, and do not need to know the size (£ value) applied for or awarded for individual applications/projects, though I recognise this will be available for institutions with only one award applied for (or awarded). I am happy for the data to be anonymised or aggregated as necessary to comply with data protection requirements. 

    Published: 20 July 2026