The Russell Group is publishing a series of short videos to help members of the USS pension scheme understand the series of changes to the scheme that have been approved by the USS Trustee.

The changes are being made to avoid significant increases in contribution rates for members and employers, whilst maintaining the scheme’s Defined Benefit /Defined Contribution hybrid model to provide members’ retirement incomes.

To support these changes, university employers are making commitments to underpin the scheme’s covenant worth some £1.3 billion. Other reforms include commitments to explore alternative scheme designs, including conditional indexation; a major review of how the USS pension is governed; and the development of a flexible, low-cost option for lower paid members of staff.

The first video examines the affordability of the scheme for members and employers, and can be viewed below:

The second video outlines the significant covenant commitments made by universities to underpin the scheme and can be viewed below:

A final video will be released shortly which explains moves to reform the governance of the scheme to ensure its long term sustainability.