What Is the Latest on the 2025–26 Pay Negotiations at Imperial College UCU?

Imperial College UCU (the Imperial College branch of the University and College Union) has published its account of a joint trade union open meeting on pay for 2025–26. The branch's position, as set out on ucu.imperial.ac.uk, is that management's case for the pay offer does not hold up: the 4.5% increase in salary costs is described as fully explained by normal, predictable factors, management's own email is said to confirm a major rise in overseas student numbers (and therefore resources), and the financial scenarios used in negotiations are characterised as incompatible with one another.

What the branch says the open meeting covered

The page reports on a joint trade union open meeting framed around three questions: what was said, what was revealed, and what management is choosing to do next. The branch's published summary is organised into three arguments, each of which is a direct challenge to management's framing of the pay position.

1. The 4.5% salary cost increase is "normal and predictable"

UCU's first point is that the 4.5% rise in salary costs does not represent a new or exceptional pressure. The branch argues it is fully explained by ordinary, foreseeable factors — the kind of movement any pay round would produce — rather than by anything that should justify holding down pay.

2. Management's email and overseas student numbers

The second point concerns an email from management which, in UCU's reading, inadvertently confirms a major increase in overseas student numbers. Since overseas students are a significant source of income for Imperial, the branch treats this as evidence that resources are available, undercutting claims of affordability constraints.

3. Incompatible financial scenarios

The third point is procedural: UCU says management used financial scenarios during negotiations that were not compatible with each other. If the scenarios cannot be reconciled, the branch argues, they are not a reliable basis for the pay position being put to staff.

Why this matters if you are trying to follow the dispute

The page is a branch campaign and negotiating position, not a neutral record of the outcome. Read it as the union's account of what was said and what it intends to argue next. The three headings above are the branch's own framing, so the practical use of the page is to understand:

• what UCU is disputing (the justification for the pay position, not just the number);
• what evidence it is leaning on (salary cost drivers, overseas student recruitment, the consistency of management's financial modelling);
• where the argument is likely to go next, given the branch's stated view of what management is "choosing to do".

Related activity on the same site

The branch also publishes material beyond pay. A separate item covers a Joint Trade Unions Teaching & Research job family title consultation (autumn 2026): University Management Board asked UCU to suggest new titles for the research and teaching job families, UCU put forward a full proposal, and UMB subsequently proposed a set of titles that, according to the branch, adopt very few of UCU's suggestions. Those titles were to form the basis of negotiations with the joint trade unions in September 2026. This is a useful reminder that the site carries both pay campaign material and job-family/contract issues.

How to use the site

If you want the branch's current position rather than a summary, go to the source pages: the pay negotiations campaign section and the individual posts linked from the homepage. The branch's posts are dated and attributed, so you can track how the position develops across the pay round and the title consultation.