HE negotiations 2026-27

Joint higher education unions heads of claim 2026-27

The 2026-27 round of New Joint Negotiating Committee for Higher Education Staff (JNCHES) has begun, with negotiations scheduled to take place from Tuesday 31 March 2026. 

UCU has submitted our full claim to the Universities and Colleges Employers' Association (UCEA) on behalf of the five joint HE unions.

You can read the full claim here [365kb].

The heads of claim can be read here [199kb].

Our asks for this year include a pay uplift that is above inflation to begin to address the successive years of pay erosion that our members have faced; progress on the previously agreed negotiating groups relating to casualisation, workload, equality pay gaps and pay spine reform; and joint work to avoid redundancies across the sector. 

The key asks are:

• an increase on all pay points of at least RPI + 3% or £3,000, whichever is higher
• an increase to bring the minimum hourly rate of pay to £15/hour and for all HEIs to become Foundation Living Wage employers
• a review of the New JNCHES pay spine, in line with the already agreed terms of reference for the working group
• UCEA to work with the unions to develop meaningful and inclusive career pathways for professional services staff
• UCEA to work with the joint trade unions to avoid job losses including by tackling the 'hidden redundancy' crisis impacting casualised staff
• UCEA to jointly work with the trade unions to lobby government on higher education funding reform
• to convene meetings of the Scottish sub-committee of New JNCHES.

The three negotiating meetings for JNCHES 2026-27 have been confirmed as follows: 

• Tuesday 31 March 2026
• Thursday 9 April 2026
• Wednesday 13 May 2026

We will keep you updated on the outcome of these talks.