Pay data: three months to March 2026

Two research bodies have published pay data for the three months to the end of March 2026.

• Incomes Data Research focuses on the private sector and shows the median pay award remained at 3.5% in the three months to March 2026 (interquartile range: 3.0% to 3.8%).
• Brightmine in its analysis of 111 pay awards representing settlements for over 373,000 UK employees, found the median basic pay award was 3.5% for the three months to the end of March 2026. Almost 6 in 10 basic pay awards fall between 3% and 4% (inclusive), with 3.1%-3.99% the most common range (accounting for 31.3% of all awards).