Tag: Post92

  • Labour must not repeat history by sidelining research in post-92 universities

    Labour must not repeat history by sidelining research in post-92 universities

    As Labour eyes reshaping the higher education sector, it risks reviving a binary divide that history shows would weaken UK research.

    While there is much to admire in the post-16 education and skills white paper regarding the vision for upskilling the population, there are some more difficult proposals. There in the shadows lies the call for HE institutions to specialise, with the lurking threat that many will lose their research funding in some, but perhaps many, areas, in order to better fund those with more intensive research.

    The threat resides in the very phrasing used to describe research funding reform in the white paper, the “strategic distribution of research activity across the sector” to ensure institutions are “empowered to build deep expertise in areas where they can lead.” What is the benchmark here for judging whether someone can lead?

    It raises once again the question: should non-intensive research institutions – by which I largely here mean post-92 universities – undertake research at all?

    Since the paper came out, both Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology Liz Kendall and science minister Sir Patrick Vallance have stressed that this “specialisation” will not privilege the traditional elite institutions, with Sir Patrick describing as “very bizarre” the idea that prioritisation necessarily means concentration of power in a few universities.

    Liz Kendall echoes this logic, framing strategically focused funding as akin to a “no-compromise approach,” similar to investing more intensely in select Olympic sports to win medals rather than spreading resources thinly over many.

    Yet for many post-92 institutions, this re-engineering of UK research funding spells very real danger. Under a model that favours “deep expertise” in fewer, strongly performing institutions, funding for more broadly based teaching and research universities risks erosion. The very students and communities that post-92 universities serve – often more diverse, more regional, and less elite – may find themselves further marginalised.

    Moreover, even where teaching-only models are adopted, there is already private concern that degrees taught without regular input from research-active staff risk being perceived as inferior, despite charging similar fees. Pushing these providers towards a “teaching-only” role risks repeating a mistake we thought we had left behind before 1992, when polytechnics undertook valuable research but were excluded from national frameworks.

    Excellence and application

    When I wrote earlier this year that so-called “research minnows” have a vital role in UK arts and humanities doctoral research, the argument was simple: diversity of institutions, methods, locations, and people strengthens research. That truth matters even more today.

    Before 1992, polytechnics undertook valuable research in health, education, design and industry partnerships, amongst other things. But they were structurally excluded from national assessment and funding. In 1989, Parliament described that exclusion as an “injustice,” now it appears it may be seen as just. Yet it’s not clear what has materially changed to form that view, beyond a desire to better fund some research.

    The 1992 reforms did not “invent” research in the ex-polytechnics. They recognised it – opening the door to participation in the Research Assessment Exercise (RAE), quality-related funding and Research Council grants. Once given visibility, excellence surfaced quickly. It did so because it had always been there.

    In the 1996 Research Assessment Exercise – only the second in which post-92s could take part – De Montfort University’s Built Environment submission was rated 4 out of 5*. That placed it firmly in the category of nationally excellent research with international recognition, a standard many established pre-92 departments did not reach in that assessment panel. Indeed, the University of Salford topped the unit of assessment with 5*, just as City did in Library Studies. In Civil Engineering, the 5s of UCL and Bristol were also matched by City.

    In Physics, Hertfordshire with a 4 equalled most Russell Group universities, as did their score in Computer Science. In the areas of Linguistics and in Russian Thames Valley (University of West London) and Portsmouth earned 5s respectively, equalling Oxford and Cambridge. In Sports Liverpool John Moores and Brighton topped the ranking alongside Loughborough with their 5s.

    And it wasn’t just the ex-polytechnics that shone in many areas; the universities formed from institutes also did. The University of Gloucester outperformed Cambridge in Town and City Planning with their 4 against a 3a. Southampton Solent received a 4 in History, equalling York.

    The RAE 1996 results are worth recalling; as new universities who had previously not had the seed funding monies of the older universities, we certainly punched above our weight.

    Since their re-designation as universities, and even before, post-92 universities have built distinctive and complementary research cultures: applied, interdisciplinary, and place-anchored. Their work is designed to move quickly from knowledge to practice – spanning health interventions to creative industries, curriculum reform to urban sustainability.

    Applied and interdisciplinary strength was evident in 1996 in the high scores (4) in areas of Allied Health, (Greenwich, Portsmouth and Sheffield Hallam), sociology (4) (City), Social Policy (4) (London South Bank and Middlesex). Art and Design was dominated by post 92s, as were Communications and Cultural Studies (with 5s for Westminster and University of East London). In Music, City (5), DMU and Huddersfield (4) saw off many pre-92s.

    This is not second-tier research. It broadens the national portfolio, connects directly to communities, and trains the professionals who sustain public services. To turn these universities into “teaching-only” providers would not only weaken their missions, it would shrink the UK’s research base at the very moment that the government wants it to grow.

    Learning history’s lessons

    Research, which as we know universities undertake at a loss, has been subsidised over the last decades through cross subsidy from international student fees and other methods. Those who have been able to charge the highest international fees have had greater resource.

    But I wonder what the UK research and economic landscape would look like now if thirty years ago national centres of excellence were created following the 1996 RAE, rather than letting much of our excellent national research wither because there was no institutional cross subsidy available? Had that been undertaken we would have stronger research now, with centres of research excellence in places where the footprint of that discipline has entirely disappeared.

    There is a temptation to concentrate funding in fewer institutions, on the assumption that excellence lives only in the familiar elite. But international evidence shows that over-concentration delivers diminishing returns, while broader distribution fosters innovation and resilience. Moreover, our focus on golden triangles, clusters and corridors of innovation, can exclude those more geographically remote areas; we might think of the University of Lincoln’s leadership of advancing artificial intelligence in defence decision-making or agri-tech, or Plymouth’s marine science expertise. Post-92 research is often conducted hand-in hand with industry; a model that is very much needed.

    If the government wants results – more innovation, stronger services, a wider skills base – it must back promising work wherever it emerges, not only in the institutions the system has historically favoured.

    The binary divide was abolished in 1992 because it limited national capacity and ignored excellence outside a privileged tier. Re-creating that exclusion under a new label would repeat the same mistake, and exclude strong place-based research.

    If Labour wants a stronger, fairer system, it must resist the lure of neat hierarchies and support the full spectrum of UK excellence: theoretical and applied, lab-based and practice-led, national and local. That is the promise of the so-called “minnows” – not a drag on ambition, but one of the surest ways to achieve it. Sometimes minnows grow into big fish!

    Fund wherever there is excellence, and let that potential grow – spread opportunity wide enough for strengths to surface, especially in institutions that widen participation and anchor regional growth. The lesson is clear: when you sideline parts of the sector, you risk cutting off strengths before they are seen.

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  • The time for change is now: reducing pension costs in post-92 universities

    The time for change is now: reducing pension costs in post-92 universities

    This blog was kindly authored by Jane Embley, Chief People Officer and Tom Lawson, Deputy Vice-Chancellor and Provost, both of Northumbria University.

    It is welcome that the government’s recent white paper acknowledges the very real funding pressures on the university sector and outlines some measures to address them. It is rather disappointing, however, that one of the causes of that financial pressure recognised by both employers and trade unions – is somewhat sidestepped – namely the crisis in the post-92 institutions caused by the Teachers’ Pension Scheme (TPS). While the government has pledged to better understand the problem, this will presumably lead to a period of consultation before any new proposals come forward. The cost of TPS compounds the financial difficulty of many institutions, and the severity of the current situation means the moment for change is now.

    The TPS cost crisis

    At the beginning of 2025, we wrote a piece for this website that outlined the problem in general terms, and particularly, for Northumbria University. To briefly summarise, post-92 institutions are all required to enrol their staff who are engaged in teaching in TPS. The cost of TPS for employers (and employees) is rising, and having historically been similar to other pension schemes in the sector is now much more expensive than schemes such as the Universities Superannuation Scheme (USS) or the local Government Pension Scheme (LGPS). TPS employer contributions are now 28.68% whereas for USS they are 14.5%, and for Northumbria’s LGPS fund are 18.5%.

    This means that for an academic salary of £57,500, in addition to NI costs, the employer pension cost is £8,300 per annum for USS, but for a TPS employee it is £16,500. Put simply, it is now considerably more expensive to employ a member of staff to do the same job in one part of the sector than another.

    The figures are striking. For every 1,000 staff, an institution would face more than £8M per annum of additional costs if their colleagues were members of TPS rather than USS. For Northumbria, given the number of colleagues we have in TPS, the additional cost of this scheme compared to USS is more than £11M per annum. To put it another way, the fees of more than 800 Northumbria students are fully consumed by paying the additional cost of TPS, versus USS.

    Why alternatives fall short

    There are ways that universities can find alternatives to TPS – institutions can take steps to employ their academic staff via subsidiary companies and reduce pension costs by using defined contribution schemes. This has multiple disadvantages for individuals as well as institutions – not least because colleagues employed by that mechanism are not counted within the HESA return, for example, and as such are not eligible for participation in the Research Excellence Framework or for Research Council funding. As such, colleagues employed via such mechanisms cannot fully contribute across teaching and research and may find it difficult to progress their careers or move between institutions in the future.

    At Northumbria, as a research-intensive institution, we did not consider the above to be a path we could take. As there are no clear proposals forthcoming from government we have had to seek recourse to a different solution.

    Northumbria’s strategic response

    As we predicted in our previous blog, individual institutions have no choice but to take control of the total cost of employment. Since then, at Northumbria, we have been thinking about how we might do just that. We have settled on an approach that follows a three-part solution, something which we believe offers flexibility and choice while managing the University’s pension costs down to an acceptable level in the medium to long term.  

    First, we are offering colleagues in TPS an attractive alternative – the main pension scheme in the sector, USS, following a recent agreement to change our membership terms. Over 200 colleagues at Northumbria are already members (having joined Northumbria with existing membership), and going forward, USS membership will be available to all our academic colleagues. Of course, we acknowledge that there are differences in the membership benefits of each scheme. USS is a hybrid scheme with defined benefits up to a threshold and then defined contributions beyond that. TPS is a career average defined benefit scheme. We will help our TPS members with this transition by providing personalised, independent financial information and guidance, as pensions are complex and any decision to move from TPS to USS will need careful consideration.

    However, we do need to be confident that we can address the very high cost of TPS employer pension contributions, and have recently begun discussions within our university about moving to a total reward approach to remuneration.

    Using the two pension schemes, we want to provide colleagues with the choice as to how much of their total reward they receive as income now and how much we pay in pension contributions.

    For each grade point in our pay structure, we are aiming to establish a reward envelope, based on the total cost of salary plus employer pension contributions, reflecting USS rather than TPS rates. As such, a colleague remaining in TPS would have no reduction in their salary, although they will, initially, have a total reward package that exceeds the envelope for their grade point.

    Our goal will be to increase the total reward envelope for each grade point each year by the value of the pay award determined via national collective pay bargaining. In this model, the cost of the total reward envelope will be the same, but colleagues will be able to choose how they construct their reward package based on their own personal preference or circumstances. Salaries for colleagues who are members of USS will increase in line with the rest of the sector. Those colleagues who choose to remain in TPS will not see an increase in their take-home pay, as this, plus the cost of their pension contributions, exceeds the envelope for their grade point. However, over time, when the value of the total reward envelope for colleagues in USS and TPS has equalised, the salaries for those choosing TPS will increase again.

    Looking ahead: a fairer, sustainable future

    We understand that many of our colleagues might find this change unpalatable; however, we feel the additional monthly cost of almost £1M cannot be justified. While to some this will be controversial, ultimately, our proposed approach will mean that over time (likely to be up to seven years) the reward envelope (or cost) for USS and TPS employees will have equalised and as such we will have eliminated the differential costs of employing these two groups of colleagues undertaking the same roles, and be on an equal footing with other universities.

    We anticipate that by adopting this approach USS will, in time, become the normalised pension scheme for our academic staff, as it already is across the pre-92 universities. Along with competitive pay, colleagues will be members of an attractive sector-wide scheme, with lower personal contribution levels resulting in higher take-home pay. Of course, we will keep the whole approach under review as the employer pension contribution rates change over time, and we will be actively engaging with our colleagues over the coming months to seek their views on our proposal and to shape our future plans.  

    Finally, we are also encouraging our colleagues to consider carefully whether to opt out of TPS and join USS now. In order to gain traction and make earlier progress, we are offering existing salaried staff in TPS the choice to move early, with the University recognising this decision via a one-off payment, which shares the longer-term financial benefit of this with the University. Colleagues may receive the value of the savings made over the first year – typically between £5,800 and a maximum of £10,000 – as a taxable payment or via a payment into their pension, subject to a number of conditions in relation to their future employment.

    As we have outlined, the time for change is now, and we cannot wait for the outcome of a consultation or for the government to decide how it will seek to address this obvious disparity in the sector. Ultimately, we believe that moving towards a total reward approach, as outlined above, is advantageous for both the University and for our colleagues. It provides choice – no one will be forced to leave TPS, and as such, colleagues can continue to choose to receive the benefits of that scheme by more of their total reward being paid in pension contributions than salary. Or colleagues can choose to access more of their total income now in their salary, while joining a hybrid pension scheme that is already in place across the sector and which delivers defined benefits, and defined contribution benefits for higher earners. We believe that this is a novel approach to what has been, for some time, an intractable problem in the sector.

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  • Securing the Future: The case for Pension Reform in Post-92 Institutions

    Securing the Future: The case for Pension Reform in Post-92 Institutions

    • By Fiona Hnatow, Chief People Officer at the University of Portsmouth.

    In an era of mounting financial pressures across the UK higher education sector, the University of Portsmouth has not been immune to these difficulties. However, through considered efficiency programmes and an innovative approach to pension reform, we are emerging from the initial financial pressures into a stronger and sustainable position.  As one of the largest Post-92 institutions in the UK, the University plays a vital role in the local and national economy. With nearly 4,000 staff and 29,000 students, 6,000 of whom are international, the University is not only a major employer in the Solent region but also a hub of innovation, research and global engagement.

    In 2024 alone, the University contributed an impressive £1.4 billion to the UK economy, including £658 million in the Solent region and £505 million in Portsmouth, supporting over 8,800 jobs locally. These figures underscore the University’s critical role in regional development and its broader impact on the national landscape.

    By early 2023, it became increasingly clear that the UK higher education sector was heading towards a financial crisis. A combination of declining undergraduate and international student applications, rising utility and employment costs and inflexible pension obligations created a perfect storm, particularly for Post-92 universities.

    One of the most significant financial burdens facing these institutions is the Teachers’ Pension Scheme (TPS). Mandated by the Further and Higher Education Act 1992, Post-92 universities are required to offer TPS to all academic staff, with no option to opt out. In contrast, non-Post-92 institutions can offer alternative schemes, such as the Universities Superannuation Scheme (USS), which carry significantly lower employer contribution rates.

    As of April 2025, TPS employer contributions rose from 23.68% to 28.68%. This means that employing an academic on a £50,000 salary now costs Post-92 institutions nearly £9,000 more per year than their competitors. With further increases projected in 2026, the financial strain is only expected to intensify.

    The Reset Programme: A Strategic Pivot

    Recognising the urgency of the situation, the University of Portsmouth launched its ‘Reset’ programme in early 2023. This comprehensive initiative was designed to reduce both staff and non-staff costs, streamline operations and build a digitally enabled, efficient institution. The goal: to ensure both operational and financial sustainability in the face of unprecedented challenges.

    The Reset programme introduced a series of targeted workstreams over an 18-month period, including:

    • Creation of a staffing subsidiary (UASL) to employ new staff under a more affordable pension scheme.
    • Voluntary Severance Scheme to reduce the need for compulsory redundancies.
    • Enhanced vacancy management, filling only business-critical roles.
    • Non-pay budget reductions, including cuts to travel, training, printing, and consumables.
    • Removal of budget contingencies during annual planning.
    • Policy changes to limit professional accreditation and subscription costs.
    • Professional services reviews to centralise functions and reduce staffing levels.
    • Academic restructuring, including faculty mergers and rebalancing student/staff ratios.
    • Contracted services reviews to improve value for money.
    • Student retention initiatives to reduce withdrawals and protect tuition income.

    UASL: A Bold and Necessary Innovation

    In August 2024, the University launched University of Portsmouth Academic Services Limited (UASL), a wholly owned subsidiary created to employ new academic and professional services staff. While maintaining existing terms and conditions, UASL introduced a new Defined Contribution (DC) pension scheme through Aviva, offering a 12% employer contribution for permanent staff and 6% for casual staff. Additionally, the National Employment Savings Trust (NEST) scheme was introduced for casual workers, primarily students.

    This move was not taken lightly as the University recognises how important pensions are to attract and retain staff. However, it was essential to avoid the unsustainable costs associated with TPS and the Local Government Pension Scheme (LGPS). Importantly, all staff employed before August 2024 retained their existing pension arrangements, helping to maintain strong relationships with unions such as UCU and Unison.

    The TPS, and its statutory imposition on Post-92 providers, is a throwback to when institutions like the University of Portsmouth, as former polytechnics, were administered by their local authority. At the time, it made sense. But in the thirty years since we achieved full University status, it has become impossible to justify the retention of this outdated system. It is clear that those bodies responsible for setting and monitoring higher education funding, who are admittedly not known for their responsiveness, have failed to adapt to the realities of the higher education landscape. When vast swathes of the sector are faced with a worsening financial position, many of those being post-92 institutions, it is baffling that this outdated system remains to hinder determined efforts to manage institutional finances.

    The results have been significant. In 2024/25 alone, the University is on track to save over £1 million, with projected savings rising to £2.8 million in 2025/26 and £4.4 million in 2026/27. Moreover, the new pension schemes have proven attractive, particularly to early-career professionals, international staff, and those on lower salaries—groups that had previously opted out of TPS due to affordability concerns.

    Balancing Innovation with Risk

    While the creation of UASL has delivered substantial financial benefits, it has also introduced new challenges. Notably, Research England and UKRI have begun placing restrictions on the eligibility of subsidiary-employed academics for research funding and participation in the Research Excellence Framework (REF). This poses a significant risk to the University’s research ambitions and its ability to compete on a national and global scale.

    Despite these concerns, the University had to weigh the risks of innovation against the very real threat of insolvency. Without decisive action, the financial outlook would have been dire. In 2023/24, the University had budgeted for an income of £321 million but achieved only £304 million, resulting in a £9.2 million deficit—despite achieving £19.7 million in Resetsavings. For 2024/25, the budgeted income is £290.5 million, with a projected deficit of £2.9 million, inclusive of £24 million in planned savings.

    A Call for Sector-Wide Reform

    The University of Portsmouth’s experience is not unique. Many Post-92 institutions across the UK are being forced to consider similar measures, simply to remain viable. In Scotland, the government has stepped in to support institutions facing equivalent pension cost increases, highlighting the uneven playing field across the UK.

    The University is now calling on the Department for Education and the UK Treasury to reform elements of the Further and Higher Education Act 1992 that tie Universities to an outdated, restrictive and overly costly pension scheme and advocates for greater flexibility in pension arrangements. Such reform would allow institutions to manage their finances more effectively, attract and retain top talent, and avoid widespread job losses and regional economic disruption. Our view is that it is wholly unfair that the Government have subsidised schools and further education colleges in England to compensate for the rising cost of TPS, yet Higher Education Institutions have not.

    Conclusion: Leading Through Change

    The University of Portsmouth has demonstrated that with strategic foresight, bold decision-making, and a commitment to collaboration, it is possible to navigate even the most challenging financial landscapes. However, we continue to advocate that reform is urgently needed for the good of the sector as a whole, to ensure long-term sustainability.

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