Update on the 2026-27 New JNCHES pay round
15 Sep 2026
The national negotiations are continuing, with further updates on this year's pay award to follow.
Following UCEA's Full and Final Offer in May, the five recognised higher education trade unions, EIS, GMB, UCU, UNISON and Unite, consulted their members over the summer on the proposals for the 2026-27 New JNCHES pay round.
The outcome of those consultations was that members of all five unions rejected the pay element of the offer.
On Wednesday, 9 September, the trade unions formally invoked the New JNCHES Disputes Resolution Procedure (DRP). In line with the national process, UCEA has arranged two meetings under the DRP, which will take place on 15 September and 23 September.
As previously communicated, it was not possible to implement a pay uplift from 1 August 2026 while the national pay negotiations remained unresolved. The University remains unable to implement any pay award until the formal JNCHES process has concluded.
We recognise that colleagues will be keen to understand the outcome of these negotiations and the impact on this year's pay award. We will provide a further update as soon as the 2026-27 pay round has concluded, including the timetable for implementation.
Any agreed pay increase will be backdated to 1 August 2026
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