As we look ahead to 2026, The R&D Community is entering a pivotal phase in its evolution.

Since our founding over four years ago, our mission has remained consistent: to raise standards and support ethical, high-quality R&D advisory work through training, support, and community.

What has evolved is the environment in which we all operate, one defined by increasing technical complexity, heightened compliance scrutiny, and a growing need for shared understanding across the R&D ecosystem.

Our 2026 strategy is a direct response to that reality.

It is intentional, evidence-led, and shaped by what we hear from our members.

A Strategic Shift towards member-driven training requirements

Until now, our services have developed organically across training, certification, community, and support. While that breadth has served us well, 2026 marks a shift in emphasis.

Going forward, we will place greater strategic focus on training and certification, while continuing to maintain strong community and support foundations.

However, we’ll move away from a “us-led” model towards a customer-driven, market-led approach. Rather than us deciding what training we think the sector needs, we will increasingly design bespoke, outcome-focused training that directly addresses the real challenges faced by advisory firms, accountants, and in-house teams.

Why This Matters: The Case for Deeper, Smarter Training

Several structural factors underpin this strategic direction.

First, despite multiple rounds of reform, the UK R&D tax relief landscape remains complex and, in many areas, is becoming more so. Legislative changes, the merged scheme, evolving interpretations, and ongoing compliance activity mean that high-quality training is not becoming less important; it is becoming essential.

Second, HMRC’s compliance activity over recent years has had unintended consequences. While many specialist advisors remain active, many regulated accountants, particularly those operating at lower claim volumes, have reduced their service or withdrawn from R&D work altogether due to the perceived risk and complexity. This has created a confidence gap in the market, one that targeted training and support can help to address.

Third, some of the professional bodies themselves have recognised this need. Our collaborations with ACCA and ATT reflect a shared objective: ensuring that professionals entering or re-engaging with R&D advisory work do so with their eyes open, fully aware of the technical, procedural, and ethical challenges involved.

 

What We’re Delivering in 2026

  1. Advanced R&D Certification

In September 2026, we will launch our Advanced R&D Certification, sitting above the existing 14-week R&D Certification that we introduced in 2024.

This is not a deeper version of the same content. Instead, it will focus on five new, high-impact areas:

  • Eligibility in Software (informed by recent FTT decisions)
  • Advanced R&D accountancy concepts and more complex calculations
  • Enquiries, ADR, and First-tier Tribunals
  • Responsible and ethical use of AI in preparing R&D claims
  • Contracted-out R&D under the Merged / ERIS schemes, including overseas expenditure restrictions and exemptions

Given the depth and complexity of this content, we anticipate that the programme will feature more rigorous assessment methods, augmenting multiple-choice testing with written, manually assessed outputs. Initial cohorts will be capped in size to ensure that we can give people the highest level of attention and feedback.

  1. Professional Body Partnerships

We will formally launch two awareness-level courses with ATT and ACCA in early 2026. These courses are designed to ensure that professionals understand not just how the R&D schemes work, but whether and when it is appropriate for them to provide this service.

Importantly, all content developed for these professional bodies will also be accessible to R&D Community members – although there may be small costs associated with this to cover oversight or administrative work by the professional bodies.

Throughout 2026, we will gather feedback on these initial courses in order to refine their content and delivery. In time, this could lead to the development of other materials and learning pathways for the professional bodies.

  1. Support to Enterprise-level firms

During 2026 we expect to work with a top-ten UK accountancy firm to help systemise their R&D training and translate other internal IP into training. This could start with areas such as Patent Box and adjacent innovation services.

The key principle here is community benefit: where appropriate, training developed in collaboration with large firms will be made available to all of our members, allowing everyone to benefit from and learn about other areas of specialist advice.

  1. Technology-Enabled Delivery

To support this expansion without compromising quality, we are in the process of adopting new technologies for video and audio generation. These reduce low-value production tasks and focus our human effort where it matters most: course design, clarity, and accuracy – and talking to our members.

This is not about delegating important tasks to AI. It is about using technology in sensible ways to improve scalability, consistency, and accessibility, while maintaining the high standards our members expect.

  1. Laying the Groundwork for Deeper HMRC Engagement

By the end of 2026, with advanced certification live and feedback from members of the professional bodies, we believe we will be in a strong position to offer HMRC a credible proposition: co-designed training that supports shared understanding across industry and government.

We believe that if HMRC and (at least some of) the advisory firms had access to common training, this would help to equalise understanding and standards between those preparing claims and those checking them.

 

Your Role in Shaping What Comes Next

Of course, none of this works without buy-in from our members.

In early 2026, we will be holding member check-ins to understand their evolving needs, challenges, and priorities. We’ll also be inviting our members to review and shape our course outlines before development begins, ensuring that the resulting courses are a good fit for what they need in practice.

This is the power of a genuine community: one firm’s challenge becomes a shared solution; one insight raises standards for all.

 

Want to get involved? You can join our Newsletter, book a call with our Founder to discuss your requirements.