Pay & Conditions review objectives

Commissioned by the Vice-Chancellor in January 2023, this review covers all University of Oxford staff and colleagues on joint appointments between the University and colleges.

I have heard the strength of feeling on pay and working conditions, and it is a priority for me to make sure the University is doing everything it can to support staff during these difficult financial times and to be an attractive place to work in the future. 

- Professor Irene Tracey, Vice-Chancellor 

Review objectives

The objectives agreed at the outset of the Pay & Conditions review in 2023, and articulated in the Project Charter, were to:

• Provide a benchmark on academic and research pay in comparison to our competitors within the UK and internationally; 
• Provide appropriate benchmarks on professional services and support pay; 
• Consider the full employee value proposition, rewards and benefits outside of pay – identify areas where we might do things differently, and where appropriate, provide benchmarks with Higher Education Institutions (HEIs) and other sectors including place of work, and policies such as volunteering; 
• Provide feedback on our investment in people: learning and development, career progression, and more; 
• Provide feedback on our salary structures and mechanisms for pay progression; 
• Provide feedback on our recognition schemes; 
• Consider approaches we might take as an institution to reduce the percentage of staff on fixed-term contracts; 
• Make recommendations for change and the development of a reward strategy; 
• Ensure the total reward and benefit offer and procedures are fit for the future.

View the Pay & Conditions project charter

Scope of review

The Pay & Conditions review covers all role types and contract types, across all of the University's divisions and central functions. 

This includes all academic roles (including all those on research pay grades 6-10 and the professorial pay grades, and clinical academic staff whose pay is aligned to the NHS pay scales) and the full range of professional services and support staff roles (including all technical staff and teaching and research support staff). Staff on short-term and casual contracts, and contracts with the University's Temporary Staffing Service, are also within scope.

Colleges are independent from the University in both their governance and terms and conditions of employment. While college-only staff are not within scope of this review, the colleges are represented on the Pay & Conditions Steering Committee and there are mechanisms in place to keep the Conference of Colleges updated on the review’s progress.

College staff have been kept informed about the progress of the review through the Pay & Conditions webpages and updates in the University Bulletin newsletter.