The Transparent Approach to Costing (TRAC) is a standardised methodology providing information each year on the income and expenditure of UK universities to the UK Government's Office for Students.
TRAC takes into account financial and non-financial data, including:
- Financial Statements
- Academic time allocation (from the Academic Activity Survey)
- Space: area and weightings by type of space occupied*
- Staff (and student) FTE and headcount
TRAC provides the costing and pricing information to calculate the Full Economic Cost (FEC) of undertaking research projects.
*Distinct types of space are required because of the different costs of using and maintaining, for example, laboratories, workshops, lecture theatres and other buildings
