At least £1 billion will be awarded to “significantly scale up” the UK’s Advanced Research and Invention Agency (Aria) in the four years up to 2030 under science funding measures revealed in the June spending review.

The uplift to the UK’s “high risk, high-reward” science agency, whose initial five-year budget was £800 million, was laid out in the full spending review document  shortly after chancellor Rachel Reeves outlined multi-year spending plans to the House of Commons on 11 June.

With the UK government’s overall research spending already confirmed at £86 billion over the four-year spending review period, hitting £22.5 billion annually by 2030, the Treasury document explained that the Department of Science, Innovation and Technology (DSIT) budget will rise to £16.5 billion in 2028-29, up from £13.9 billion in 2025-26. This represents an “average real terms growth rate of 2.8 per cent” up to 2029.

Of this, DSIT’s research and development (R&D) funding will hit £15.2 billion by 2029-30, it explains, stating that this funding “will flow to the world-leading scientists and innovators in UK businesses, universities and R&D institutions across the UK”.

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This spending will include £500 million for a R&D Missions Accelerator Programme “to break down barriers and accelerate the delivery of the government’s missions” and £410 million for a Local Innovation Partnership Fund to “support local leaders to drive innovation excellence across the UK”.

Over the weekend, “up to £500 million” was announced for the devolved funding scheme involving metro mayors, with the Treasury making clear that “£410 million falls between 2026-27 and 2029-30”.

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The Treasury document also says funding will be made available for UK Research and Innovation (UKRI) and for “association to Horizon Europe and its successor, supporting vital investment in universities, research institutes and businesses across the UK”.

Along with up to £750 million for a new supercomputer at the University of Edinburgh, some £2 billion will also be provided over the spending review period to “implement the AI Opportunities Action Plan in full” – a 50-point blueprint drawn up by Aria chair Matt Clifford.

This includes funding for AI fellowships and AI-focused university courses that will “enable a twentyfold expansion of the UK’s AI research resource capacity”, according to the spending review document.

Some £48 million will be handed to a programme to “drive collaboration with universities to expand AI course provision” – one of Reeves’ few mentions of higher education, although the chancellor said in the Commons that she was “proud” of the country’s “world-class universities”.

Institutions might, however, be concerned by the Treasury’s mention of its “intention to explore introducing a levy of higher education provider income from international students (to be reinvested into the higher education and skills system)” – a measure previously unveiled in the recent immigration White Paper.

“Final allocations for these measures will be set out in due course,” it added.

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The spending review has faced a mixed reaction from sector groups, with Alicia Greated, executive director of the Campaign for Science and Engineering, observing that Reeves’ statement was “welcome confirmation of the announcements made at the weekend that the UK R&D budget is being protected in tough fiscal circumstances”.

Noting that there are “several promising new initiatives that will need accounting for alongside existing commitments”, Greated said it “is important that we now consider the full detail of the spending review publications, as well as, critically, future departmental allocations”.

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Joe Marshall, chief executive of the National Centre for Universities and Business, said the “headline commitment to an £86 billion R&D budget over four years is critical” but noted that the “substantial increase in defence-related R&D spending – rising from £1.7 billion in 2025/26 to £2.4 billion in 2028/29 – signals a shift in the research landscape that will have significant implications for the kinds of projects funded”. 

Jo Grady, general secretary of the University and College Union, welcomed the “additional science and technology research funding” but cautioned that the extra money was “long overdue and will do little to avert the wider crisis in our universities”.

“This spending review is yet another missed opportunity to invest in further education and meet the country’s skills needs after years of funding cuts, job losses and falling pay,” she continued, adding: “We need more investment so the sector can recruit and retain the staff needed to deliver on the government’s ambitions.” 

John Womersley, former executive chair of the Science and Technology Facilities Council, warned that “a focus on the top-level numbers which look nice and big” and “some headline capital investments” should not obscure the likelihood that some research councils might need to cut funding in some key areas.

“There will be smiles [today] from UKRI and the minister but over the following months, it will become clear, bit by bit, that the nice big top-level numbers do not translate into nice budgets in many areas lower down,” he explained.

“But it will be the individual research councils that have to come out with this information,” he said.

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jack.grove@timeshighereducation.com