Update on national pay negotiations
Posted on behalf of: University of Sussex
Last updated: Wednesday, 30 July 2025

Colin Shipp, Executive Director of Human Resources, wrote to all staff earlier today, Wednesday 30 July. You can read the full text of his email below.
Dear Colleague,
Further to updates on the Staff Hub in May and July, I wanted to provide an update on the national pay negotiations between the Universities & Colleges Employers Association (UCEA) and the trade unions.
The Dispute Resolution Procedure outlined in our July update has now been exhausted. Agreement between UCEA and the trade unions could not be reached, however, UCEA has been clear that this pay award reflects the ongoing financial difficulties in the higher education sector. UCEA has now asked all member universities to implement the pay increase of 1.4% on all points on the pay spine from 1 August 2025.
The HR team is now taking steps to implement the pay increase. This will be reflected in the August payroll, and the new salary scales will be available on the HR webpages shortly.
Kind regards,
Colin Shipp
Executive Director of Human Resources