Have your say on USS pension proposals

Universities Superannuation Scheme (USS) members will be consulted from 25 September on proposed changes to their pensions, which would see their benefits improve.

The proposed changes would reintroduce the pre-April 2022 benefit structure, which would come into effect from April 2024.

This is due to a positive forecast for the 2023 USS scheme valuation, which suggests a funding surplus of £7.6bn, compared to the deficit of £14.1bn reported in March 2020.

Proposed changes

The proposed changes to USS pension benefits would mean:

• A higher salary threshold for the Retirement Income Builder part of your pension, meaning members earning above £41,004 will see more of their payments go towards their guaranteed income after they retire.
• A higher accrual rate for your Retirement Income Builder and lump sum on retirement.
• A higher cap on future pension increases to allow them to better keep up with inflation.
• Lower pension contributions than those paid today – currently 9.8% for members and 21.6% by employers.

Read about the proposed changes in full on the USS members consultation document.

How to take part in consultation

The consultation period will begin at 09:00 on 25 September 2023 and run until 17:00 on 24 November 2023.

All colleagues who are either already USS members or eligible to join the scheme can provide feedback. An email was sent by our Pensions team on 14 September advising eligible colleagues how to do this.

All feedback received will be considered by USS before any decision on benefit changes is made.

Read more about the proposals and how to take part in the consultation on the consultation website from 25 September. The consultation website will also include a modelling tool to help members understand how the changes would affect them.

More information on pension options open to University of Reading staff can be found on the HR Pensions webpages.