We report on a study of the place of research on supportive, palliative and end-of-life care within the United Kingdom Research Assessment Exercise of 2001 and 2008. Sixty-seven Higher Education Institutions in 2001 and 66 in 2008 contributed work to the Research Assessment Exercise relevant to supportive, palliative and end-of-life care. This comprised 16 subject areas in 2001 and 25 in 2008, and was generated by 178 authors in 2001 and 176 authors in 2008. Seven 'high-intensity groups' of concentrated research activity were identified in 2001, and eight such groups in 2008. Between the years little growth occurred in contributions to the Research Assessment Exercise relating to supportive, palliative and end-of-life care, and the 'high-intensity groups' remain relatively fragile. With one exception, there is no concentration of effort in clinical studies relating to the medical aspects of supportive, palliative and end-of-life care. By 2008 there were still less than 40 university academics in the UK with major commitments to research in supportive, palliative and end-of-life care, as measured by their Research Assessment Exercise participation.