19 October 2026 
Julia Ascott, Employment taxes specialist
What do employers want from the 2026 USS valuation? According to UCEA's analysis of responses from 81 institutions representing 93% of active USS membership, the answer is clear: stability. While there is no single view on the future direction of contribution rates, employers overwhelmingly favour avoiding future deficits, maintaining financial resilience and preserving USS as an open scheme. We've summarised the key findings from the report below.
UCEA were experiencing some difficulties with their website last week, if you cannot therefore access the link above, please find the main employer consultation response from UCEA here.
There was unanimous support for UCEA's proposed responses on the core technical aspects of the valuation, including the discount rate, funding assumptions, Statement of Funding Principles and wider valuation methodology. Employers broadly supported the proposed framework while emphasising the importance of proportionate prudence and recognising USS's ongoing status as an open scheme.
Stability emerged as the dominant theme throughout the consultation. Whilst 79% of respondents agreed that stability should remain the primary objective of the valuation, an even larger proportion (95%) considered avoiding future funding deficits and deficit recovery contributions to be important or very important. Benefit stability was also highly valued, with 90% of respondents rating it important or very important.
The findings suggest that employers are prioritising long-term predictability and resilience over short-term changes that could increase future funding volatility.
Employers generally favoured retaining a significant proportion of the scheme's surplus as a safeguard against future risks. 74% of respondents supported retaining surplus to provide resilience against adverse experience, while 79% supported retaining the bulk of the current surplus until at least the 2029 valuation, when the position on Conditional Indexation may be clearer.
This reflects a clear preference for maintaining financial resilience and reducing the risk of the scheme returning to deficit.
The greatest divergence of opinion related to contribution rates.
This reflects differing views on how best to balance current affordability pressures with long-term scheme stability and risk management.
Although the scheme's funding position has improved significantly, employers were generally cautious about using the surplus to fund benefit enhancements at this stage. 69% opposed allowing benefit improvements if contributions remain at around 20.6%, citing concerns around long-term affordability and future valuation outcomes.
Employers generally supported maintaining the current investment approach adopted by USS. 64% of respondents were comfortable with broadly maintaining the existing investment risk profile, while there was less support for either increasing or significantly reducing investment risk.
Many respondents viewed decisions on investment strategy, surplus retention, contribution levels and Conditional Indexation as interconnected and best considered as part of a long-term strategy.
The consultation found unanimous support for USS remaining an open scheme, alongside unanimous support for UCEA's position on Affordable Risk Capacity.
This underlines the importance employers place on USS's long-term sustainability and the advantages of retaining the funding and investment flexibility associated with an open scheme.
