Voluntary Severance Scheme

The University's ambitions and the performance levels necessary to achieve it are set out in The Way Forward. Highly skilled and highly performing staff are fundamental to delivering the improvement in University performance and to its long term sustainability in the new operating environment for Higher Education.

For our collective success, we need to ensure that we have and can retain a staff profile that can deliver excellence in research, in education and student experience and support our international and engagement agenda. Professional support across the University also needs to be focussed on services which enable the University to deliver its aims. The changes in overall performance expectations and in the way we will work are significant and may potentially be at a level which some members of staff are not comfortable with.  Individuals may also have personal reasons for considering a change of direction or of career.

The Scheme is designed to provide staff with an opportunity to take a personal decision regarding their future employment. It enables staff who may wish to leave their employment to do so with an appropriate compensatory payment.

In response to some queries, the University can also clarify that individuals who are able to access their pension and receive unreduced benefits may choose to augment pension benefits using the Voluntary Severance Scheme payment.