USS pensions
Although Northumbria is officially locked into the Teacher's Pension Scheme (TPS), members might be surprised to hear that some of their colleagues actually pay into a different pension provider. The Universities Superannuation Scheme (USS) officially covers academic staff at so-called 'pre-92' institutions; its members who join Northumbria have the option to remain with USS rather than transfer their pension to TPS. There are a number of differences between the schemes, including the percentage of their pay that members pay into the scheme, employers' contributions (both of which are very minor differences), to the pension that we can expect on retirement (which seems to be growing). This outlines a few of the changes as they stood in 2016.