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College and university staff pay drops as pensions cuts bite

19 April 2012

Staff in colleges and universities across the UK are receiving reduced pay packets as the rise in their pension contributions takes effect.

The average university lecturer will lose almost £500 a year from their take-home pay, while an average earning teacher in a further education college will see their take-home pay shrink by almost £350 a year*.
 
The controversial changes imposed by the government at the start of the month will see members of the Teachers' Pension Scheme work longer, pay more into their pension each month in return for a reduced pensions package when they finally retire.
 
UCU is one of a number of unions that has still not signed up to an agreement with government over the changes and is currently considering further industrial action.
 
UCU general secretary, Sally Hunt, said: 'The government's punitive cuts to teachers' pensions are really starting to take effect now. The millionaires in the cabinet might not consider the losses our members are facing each month to be much, but that simply proves how out of touch they are.'
 
* According to the Annual Survey of Hourly Earnings (ASHE) from the Office for National Statistics the full-time mean average annual pay (2011) for a higher education teaching professional was £48,312 and for a further education teaching professional it was £35,216.

Last updated: 14 March 2019

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