2024/25 pay award to be deferred

The nationally agreed pay award for 2024/25 will now be deferred at Reading, saving up to £4.5m, as part of measures to return the University to a better financial position.

This measure is critical for delivering the urgent savings we need to make to offset our recruitment income not reaching our ambitious targets. With ongoing external financial pressures, in common with other institutions, we must now make some cost savings more urgently.

The University Council has confirmed that it expects the University make enough savings to ensure that the deficit in 2024/25 does not exceed that of last year. This means we must make savings of around £10m this year.

Deferring the nationally agreed pay award could mean substantial progress in our efforts to return to a better financial footing.

Watch the September all-staff talk with an update on our financial position

What is the pay award?

The University and Colleges Employer Association (UCEA) negotiates annual pay awards on behalf of the university sector, including Reading, in a process known as New JNCHES.

In July 2024, UCEA announced the outcome of the 2024-25 negotiations process. It outlined a final offer from university employers of a phased pay uplift of 2.5% to 5.7% depending on an employee’s grade, alongside commitments to review the pay spine and carry out joint work on contract types, workload and pay gaps. You can read the full story on the UCEA website.

As part of the terms of this process, each participating institution has the discretion to delay the nationally agreed pay increase for up to 11 months where there are extenuating circumstances.

In light of the difficult financial position that we and many other institutions in the sector are in, the University Executive Board has decided to delay the implementation of the pay award.

Deferring the pay award for the maximum allowed 11 months (implementing it in July 2025) could lead to savings of around £4.5m. In order to realise the benefit of these savings, we do not expect to be able to backdate the award when it is implemented at Reading.

The University has discussed this decision with both the Reading branch of the University and College Union (UCU) and Staff Forum.

What’s next?

We will continue to monitor our financial position on a quarterly basis, with a view to implementing the pay award earlier than July 2025 if at all possible.

This decision does not affect annual incremental pay increases, so all colleagues who are eligible to move up a spinal point in our pay scale in 2024/25 will do as normal. We will also be reinstating the various reward processes that were deferred for a year, as planned

If you are unsure about what this could mean for you, speak with your line manager or contact your HR Business Partner for advice.