British Election Study 2027 to 2032: Closed ESRC Grant for the 2027 to 2037 Programme

British Election Study 2027 to 2032: closed ESRC opportunity

The Economic and Social Research Council (ESRC), part of UK Research and Innovation (UKRI), published this grant opportunity to identify the team and host institution that would lead the British Election Study (BES). The UKRI opportunity page now marks the call Closed. ESRC had to receive applications by 14 May 2026 at 4:00pm UK time, so this page is a historical reference to that completed competition, not an invitation to submit a late application.

No replacement round or later application deadline is confirmed on the official opportunity page. The page should therefore not be read as an open or rolling programme. Researchers interested in future BES work should monitor UKRI and ESRC announcements for a separately published opportunity rather than treating this closed record as current application guidance.

At a glance

The title of the call describes the initial funded period, but it is important not to confuse that period with the full strategic horizon. The successful applicant and host institution were expected to lead BES between 2027 and 2037, subject to likely future election dates. The initial application was about delivery up to 2032. ESRC said it would invite the successful team and host institution to apply for funding for the remainder of the programme, subject to performance, funding availability, and sufficient consistency in the delivery team and host institution. That possible later funding was not a second deadline announced on this page.

What the grant was intended to support

The BES is a politically independent data infrastructure for studying British politics, elections, and voting behaviour. The opportunity sought a team able to collect high-quality data at scale, preserve the value of the existing time series, and make the resulting material useful beyond one academic group. The intended users include domestic and international academics, the polling industry, media organisations, political parties, policymakers, lobby groups, charities, and educators.

The central activity was data collection connected to the anticipated 2029 UK general election in Great Britain, together with surveys aligned with local elections in England, Scotland, and Wales. The official specification also expected inter-election data collection, including pre- and post-general-election surveys, while allowing other collection points when a strong scientific or public-impact case could be made within the budget. BES does not collect data in Northern Ireland; the UKRI page notes that a separate Northern Ireland Election Study commissioning exercise was under way and asks applicants to consider how BES relates to that work.

The study needed to maintain a useful long-term series while allowing carefully assessed methodological development. Applicants were expected to address nationally representative samples of voters and, as far as possible, non-voters; the reduction of non-response bias; and coverage that supports analysis across Britain. Any change to questionnaire content or fieldwork method had to explain its benefits, trade-offs, risks, and approach to preserving comparability with previous BES data. The specification was open to mixed-mode approaches, but it required proper assessment of whether methodological changes would affect the time series.

The grant was for operating and improving the study as shared infrastructure, not for ordinary academic research that merely used BES data. Fundable activities included staff costs, data collection, distribution and promotion, engagement, collaboration, and related travel and subsistence. ESRC explicitly excluded standard research projects, writing up previous research, books and publications, literature surveys, unrelated conference attendance, and studentships. A credible proposal therefore needed to show how its costs served delivery of the data resource and its public and research use.

Funding and delivery expectations

The maximum project full economic cost was £4,900,000. ESRC would fund 80% of that FEC, with exceptions including subcontracted social surveys at 100% FEC. The official page describes the award as a maximum of 60 months from October 2026. It also says that the longer programme extends between 2027 and 2037, while the initial funding application should set out delivery up to 2032 and a strategic vision for the study up to 2036.

The budget needed to cover more than questionnaire design. Applicants had to plan for consultation with stakeholder communities, fieldwork, processing, publication, documentation, promotion, and collaboration with the other UK election studies. They also needed to account for the procurement rules attached to subcontracted social surveys. Surveys over £10,000, or £8,333 exclusive of VAT, were subject to external competition. Where a survey was expected to exceed £25,000, or £20,830 exclusive of VAT, the research organisation’s full tendering procedures applied. Applicants were asked to seek quotations from at least three potential fieldwork providers, or explain and evidence why that was not possible.

The data-release plan was a material part of the opportunity. Applicants needed to publish a release schedule within one month of the start of data collection. Final data had to be safely available as close to the relevant election as possible, no later than one year after the election and preferably within nine months. Data had to be deposited with the UK Data Service in line with ESRC policy, with user-friendly formats and documentation explaining the intended population, coverage, and known deficiencies. Proposals also needed to consider routes that would help a wider set of stakeholders use the data safely, including possible user-led AI applications.

ESRC wanted the successful team to promote the resource actively. That meant rapid initial dissemination after an election, accessible findings for people outside academia, proactive engagement at UK and local levels where appropriate, and clear signposting before and at data releases. Collaboration within the ESRC election-studies portfolio was described as essential for meaningful comparisons across UK elections. The application needed to explain how the team would work with the other studies, where common questions or standards would help, and where the BES design needed to remain tailored to its own electoral context.

Governance was another delivery requirement. The successful award holder had to appoint an independent advisory board to advise on the award’s activities, strategy, and programme of work. The chair would be appointed in consultation with ESRC, and the board’s membership needed to follow the ESRC Research Funding Guide. The host was expected to publish membership details, terms of reference, and meeting frequency. Applicants also had to explain other governance arrangements and how they would incorporate community views. Monitoring plans included an updated timeline, deliverables list, and risk register at the start of the grant, six-monthly written updates, and Researchfish reporting.

Who could apply

The official eligibility wording was broader than the earlier version of this page suggested. The opportunity was open to organisations with standard eligibility and to organisations based overseas. Because ESRC was the lead funder, international researchers could apply as a project co-lead (international). Other international collaborators, along with UK partners not based at approved organisations, were to be included as project partners. Only the lead research organisation could submit the application to UKRI, and the project lead was responsible for completing the Funding Service application.

Eligibility was only the starting point. The specification called for a team and host institution capable of delivering a politically independent national data infrastructure and engaging credibly with stakeholders in the relevant political systems. Applicants needed to demonstrate that the host was well placed to run BES and provide the research environment and infrastructure required for the work. The host statement of support needed to address its commitment to hosting and running the investment, along with any aligned funding or additional support that would add value.

A strong team would need complementary capabilities: election and political research, survey design and sampling, quantitative analysis, data management, secure processing, public communication, and grant administration. Prior BES experience could be useful, but the official requirements focused on the ability to deliver the stated objectives and work packages. International participation was possible within the permitted roles, while the lead organisation still carried responsibility for the submission and hosting arrangements.

How the closed cycle worked

Applications for this cycle had to be prepared and submitted through the UKRI Funding Service. The opportunity was not run on the Joint Electronic Submissions (Je-S) system. The project lead had to confirm their role, sign in or create a Funding Service account, select and verify their organisation, and answer the application questions in the online form. Responses could be saved and completed later, or prepared offline and copied into the service. Where the service requested an upload, applicants had to follow its upload instructions.

The official sequence required the lead to check the completed application in read-only view, send it to the research office for checking, address any returned edits, and allow the research office to submit the checked application to UKRI. Only the lead research organisation could make the submission. Research-office and finance teams checked hosting arrangements and financial eligibility, but the applicant remained responsible for compliance with the opportunity requirements. UKRI stated that applications could not be made after 14 May 2026 at 4:00pm UK time, and submitted applications could not subsequently be amended.

The application questions covered the value and vision for BES between 2027 and 2037, the approach for managing and delivering the initial 60-month infrastructure period, team capability, resources and cost justification, data management, ethics, impact, collaboration, governance, and related requirements. The application had to explain how its work packages would produce high-quality data, support comparison across UK elections, and promote use by research and wider stakeholder communities. It also needed a realistic implementation and risk plan rather than a promise to carry out unrelated research with the award.

What to do now

There is no live application action for this record. The deadline has passed, the official page marks the opportunity Closed, and the page does not announce a successor round. Do not send a late application through the Funding Service or treat the archived £4,900,000 figure as money currently available to new applicants.

The useful next step for a prospective future team is to monitor the official UKRI opportunity page and ESRC notices for a new call. A later opportunity would need its own confirmed status, eligibility wording, funding terms, application route, and deadline. Until such a notice appears, the facts that can safely be carried forward from this record are the programme’s intended 2027 to 2037 horizon, the initial funding period up to 2032, the importance of the anticipated 2029 general election and local-election surveys, and the need for robust data infrastructure. Those facts do not turn the closed 2027 to 2032 application cycle into an ongoing programme.

For historical research, this page remains useful because it records what ESRC asked the successful team to deliver: a nationally useful and politically independent study, timely and well-documented data releases, collaboration across the UK election-studies portfolio, responsible stakeholder engagement, and governance capable of sustaining the resource. For any future application, use the new official notice as the controlling source and re-check every requirement rather than copying the closed cycle’s instructions forward.