Outcomes of the University's Pay & Conditions review

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When I took up office as your Vice-Chancellor in January 2023, I set out my commitment to reviewing pay and conditions across the University, to shift the dial in the culture of how we invest in people at Oxford. Today, I’m very pleased to share the first outcomes of that review.  This has been an ambitious project, examining the breadth of our pay, benefits, support for wellbeing and development, and reward and recognition. 

We knew we couldn't do it all at once because whatever we do has to be affordable and sustainable, and as you know finances are limited. But the action we'll be taking signals the strength of our ambition for the years to come. We will be investing an additional £129 million in people as a result of this review over the next five years.

The plan of action Council approved on 13 May focuses on areas prioritised for more immediate action by our Pay & Conditions Steering Committee and where the greatest need has been identified. We need a pay and conditions framework that’s rooted in our institutional pursuit of excellence, attracting and inspiring the brightest minds to teach, learn and deliver world-leading research as part of this diverse and international community. 

We heard the strength of your feelings on many different issues in this review. On pay and financial benefits you highlighted the high cost of living in Oxford, a need for more progression opportunities, and significant recruitment challenges in some areas. 

We’re already an Oxford Living Wage employer. From 1 August this year we will introduce a pensionable Oxford University Weighting up to the value of £1,500 a year, for all staff on grades 1 to 10 of our main salary and grading structure.  

For Associate Professors on grade 10a, the scale will be uplifted by one increment from bottom to top, so that every Associate Professor moves up the salary scale by one increment or around 3% on 1 August. That's on top of any standard incremental progression due on 1 October and any nationally negotiated inflationary pay rise. An equivalent to two additional scale points will be built into revised merit pay structures we’re developing through the Academic Career and Reward Framework project. There's more on how this applies to joint appointments on the website. 

And for research staff, further adjustments will be made to extend the top of the discretionary scale for each grade from 6 to 10 by one point. We recognise the difficulties the costs of the work visa and NHS surcharge bring for international staff joining the University, and we will be providing financial support to ensure we can continue to diversify our community and attract the brightest minds to teach and carry out world-leading research at Oxford. 

Look out for the details of how these changes will be applied and what they mean for you, on the website and in the updates to follow. 

Now on benefits beyond pay. Action will be taken across family leave, housing, transport, childcare, support for staff on fixed-term contracts and international colleagues, and a range of measures to support work-life balance, health and wellbeing and professional development.

For example, we’re changing the culture around our reliance on repeat fixed-term contracts. We’re extending paternity leave from 2 to 12 weeks and introducing more flexibility around parental leave; and on housing, we’re introducing interest-free, short-term loans to help new starters secure rental accommodation, together with a new Staff Accommodation Service. 

The Pay & Conditions review has also shone a light on the ongoing workload pressures in many areas of the University, and we’re addressing that from many angles, including by ramping up work on our new Academic Career & Reward Framework, which should go through formal consultation in the new year. Better management of workload continues to be a key priority and we will be investing more in supporting and equipping our line managers and supervisors and identifying and sharing best practice to make this happen. 

Please take some time to visit the Pay & Conditions webpages where you’ll find all the detail, including anticipated timelines for each of the measures to be put in place. There will also be a chance to find out more and ask any questions at a Pay & Conditions event coming up soon – details of that will follow shortly from the Events Office. 

My huge and heartfelt thanks to everyone who has been involved in this review from start to finish – to the Steering Committee, the project team, all of you who got involved by sharing your perspectives, ideas and expertise, to our friends and colleagues at the colleges, to our university and divisional committees, and my colleagues on Council.  

There is so much that is great about working for this university, but we know there are areas where you’d like us to do more. I hope we can work together on what this means for us all, as a collegiate university community.  

The package of measures announced today marks a significant commitment to change. It lays foundations on which a truly market-leading people strategy can be built for the future.  

There’s much more I hope we'll be able to do, on the back of this review.  And my commitment, as your Vice-Chancellor, is to keep those conversations going. 

Thank you, stay well, and have a great summer ahead.