Cost Allocation Methodology

The TRAC guidance requires that all costs that can be directly attributed to an activity, should be allocated in that way. For example:

• Access and Participation bursaries are allocated to Publicly Funded Teaching
• Overseas Agents fees are allocated to Non-Publicly Fund Teaching
• Research Grant expenditure is allocated to the relevant Research Funding category.

For costs that cannot be directly allocated, TRAC sets out the concept of cost pools, and the requirement for allocation via “robust cost drivers”. The cost drivers are refreshed annually, with other data refreshed every three years (Time Allocation Surveys, Estates data etc). The TRAC Oversight Group (TRACOG) has the responsibility for reviewing and confirming that the chosen allocation bases remain appropriate.

Approach at QM

The allocation of cost pools is achieved via a Primary and Secondary allocation. Both allocations are inevitably an approximation of the costs of delivery of Teaching and Research.

The Primary allocation apportions a cost to a school using one or more drivers (for example number of students, or staff numbers). For example, HR costs are allocated based on the school staff FTE as % of the total Staff FTE.

The Secondary allocation allocates the Primary allocation to the relevant activities within the school.

The TRAC team at QM update the drivers (for example student numbers, staff numbers) annually.