Joining UCU is easy
- All academic and professional staff from Grades I and upwards are eligible to join UCU.
- Hourly-paid teachers are also eligible to join UCU at low subscription rates.
- Postgraduates who do not work can join as student members free of charge.
Why join UCU?
The branch represents academics, lecturers, teachers, trainers, researchers and professional staff at the University. We have over 2000 members and are part of a national union with over 130,000 members.
As a branch:
- We represent and support our members, individually and collectively.
- We negotiate your pay, pensions and workloads.
- We secure and improve your terms and conditions.
As a union we campaign to improve our members’ workplaces. We work on a range of Higher Education policy concerns: workload and stress; anti-casualisation; research conditions; fair pay in education; university governance and equality issues.
How much does it cost?
UCU subscription rates
UCU Subscription rates run each year from 1 September to 31 August. The subscriptions are made up of a national levy which covers all national and regional activity plus a small local subscription which covers the cost of our Branch Administrator and any other local costs. Changes to the national rate are approved at UCU Congress annually; local increases are approved at a Branch General Meeting.
The subscription rates for 2024 – 25 are given below (no changes to local subs this year):
| Band | Annual income | Monthly rate | Local rate: (inc in monthly rate) |
| F0 | £60,000 or above | £32.88 | £2.40 |
| F1 | £40,000-£59,999 | £28.72 | £2.40 |
| F2 | £30,000-£39,999 | £24.80 | £2.20 |
| F3 | £22,000-£29,999 | £19.50 | £2.00 |
| F4 | £15,000-£21,999 | £10.48 | £0.00 |
| F5 | £5,000-£14,999 | £4.54 | £0.00 |
| F6 | Below £5,000 | £1.00 | £0.00 |
Retired/Attached Members £3.08 (£0.00 local rate included in monthly rate)
For UCU membership information go to your membership.