Implement Cambridge University Weighting or other local pay supplement in light of rising costs!
University of Cambridge Vice-Chancellor Deborah Prentice
Cambridge and Oxford are the most expensive places to live in the UK outside of London. Oxford University gives its staff an Oxford University Weighting payment of £1,730 a year to help offset the higher living costs in the city. Despite repeated calls from staff, Cambridge University does not offer Cambridge Weighting.
Despite the higher cost of living in Cambridge, the University refuses to recognise the fact that working in Cambridge requires greater pay to offset this cost. Average private rents now stand at £1,793 per month, more than 30% above the national average and the average house price is £477,000.
This is at the same time that the University has received a record breaking donation of £190 million for construction of a new school of Government, to which they are contributing £60 million from the University’s funds. This is on top of the significant income the University continues to receive from endowments and investments.
Cambridge has been designated a priority growth area by our government and the University is keen to fuel this growth through construction and investment in new schools, but refuses to do so through investing in its staff, even with the example set by Oxford.
Sign our petition and support the campaign for Cambridge Weighting now!
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University of Cambridge Vice-Chancellor Deborah Prentice
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[Your Name]
We, the undersigned, call upon the University of Cambridge to introduce a Cambridge Weighting — a pensionable local pay supplement for all staff — in recognition of the exceptionally high cost of living and working in Cambridge.
Cambridge is one of the most expensive cities in the United Kingdom. Average private rents now stand at £1,793 per month, more than 30% above the national average. The average house price is £477,000. Rising food, energy, and transport costs continue to erode real wages while the national pay award for 2025–26 was just 1.4% — well below inflation.
Despite these pressures, Cambridge remains the only one of the two ancient universities without a local pay supplement. In 2024, the University of Oxford introduced a pensionable Oxford University Weighting of £1,500 per year, raised to £1,730 in 2025 and extended to all non-clinical staff. Cambridge staff receive no equivalent.
We note the University's considerable financial resources. The endowment fund manages assets in excess of £4.5 billion, and annual philanthropic income has surpassed £200 million. In March 2026, the University announced a £190 million donation, to which it is contributing a further £60 million in matched funding. It is difficult to reconcile the position that the University cannot afford to invest in staff pay with the scale of resources available for other priorities. We expect to see a greater commitment to the people who keep this institution running, in line with comparable institutions.
We urge the Vice-Chancellor and University Council to enter into meaningful negotiations with Unite the Union to implement a Cambridge Weighting without further delay.
Thank you for your interest in this campaign. This petition will be shared with Professor Deborah Prentice Vice-Chancellor, The Old Schools, Trinity Lane, Cambridge, CB2 1TN