Created on: 10 Apr 2026
Staff working in higher education in the UK have faced several years of significant and successive real-terms pay cuts as pay awards have repeatedly failed to match inflation.
This, coupled with a cost of living crisis, has resulted in worsening living standards for university staff. Last year, university staff received one of the worst pay awards given to workers in the UK, and far below those awarded to comparable professions.
The 1.4% awarded to university staff stands in stark contrast to the 4% awarded to teachers, the 3.6% awarded to nurses and other healthcare staff in the NHS, with doctors receiving awards starting at a minimum of 4% and in many cases higher, and the 3.25% on average awarded to civil service staff.
Pay awards for university staff are increasingly out of step with the rest of the UK workforce and do not come close to matching inflation.
