Skip navigation

Universities and Colleges Retirement Savings Scheme

Eligibility: All colleagues.

UCRSS is a defined contribution scheme (DC) which is administered by Aviva. A defined contribution pension is the most common type of pension. On retirement, the amount your defined contribution pension is worth depends on how much money you've contributed and the performance of your investments. A defined contribution pension works like a tax-friendly savings account.

A defined contribution plan is a type of retirement plan in which the employer, employee or both make contributions on a regular basis. Individual accounts are set up for participants and benefits are based on the amounts credited to these accounts plus any investment earnings on the money in the account.

Aviva Support for Members

Contribution Rates

Member Contribution Rate Employer Contribution Rate
 0%  7%
 1% 8%
2% 9%
3% 10%
4% 11%
5%+ 12%

Latest News and Features

hasan hamid founder of burger drop
PhD student Melanie Grimsley
university partnership
Greenland (credit Dr Sammie Buzzard)
Dr Juna Sathian
UUK Future Jobs event at Northumbria University
Professor Greta Defeyter OBE and Andrew Forsey OBE pictured outside 10 Downing Street.
Illustration of the ecosystem in Antarctica around 90 million years ago. Research shows that wildfires regularly occurred near the South Pole at that time. Credit:  James McKay (University of Leeds).
More events

Upcoming events

Next Stop Northumbria
The Past We Inherit. The Future We Build: Better Decisions Happen Together
Next Stop Northumbria

Page last reviewed: 4 August 2026

Next review due: 4 August 2027

Back to top