The academic trade unions have forced employers to scrap plans to tie staff into a two-year pay deal, hoping that their claim for better salaries will be boosted next year by extra income from the introduction of top-up fees.
But despite the prospect of fresh talks in 2006, the employers' final offer for 2005 of 3 per cent was branded "hugely disappointing" by the three lecturers' unions.
The Association of University Teachers, lecturers' union Natfhe and the Educational Institute of Scotland all looked likely to recommend that their members reject the offer, raising the prospect of co-ordinated strikes in autumn.
In a joint statement, Sally Hunt, the AUT's general secretary, and Paul Mackney, Natfhe's general secretary, said: "This offer is hugely disappointing - 3 per cent is around the inflation level and is therefore hardly an increase at all.
"Employers accept that pay is low. The Prime Minister accepts that living costs have outrun academic salaries for 20 years - he cannot ask staff to subsidise universities indefinitely."
The first offer by the employers, 5 per cent over two years, made in May, was immediately rejected as "insulting" by all seven campus unions. The three academic unions had asked for more than 11 per cent for one year.
In the final pay talks in Glasgow late last week, this two-year deal was initially increased to 5.5 per cent - with 2.5 per cent in 2005 and 3 per cent in 2006.
But one academic union source said: "There is no way we were going to be tied into such a low two-year deal that includes the first year of top-up fees, which are expected to bring billions of extra funding. They would have had to make an offer in double figures for us to accept a two-year deal."
The Universities and Colleges Employers' Association said the final one-year 3 per cent offer was made in "a very tight financial situation" - with tight grants to universities from the Higher Education Funding Council for England. The current rate of inflation is 2.9 per cent.
Geoffrey Copland, Ucea's chairman, said: "Higher education institutions have still been able to offer a pay rise that is greater than inflation.
And with inflation rates forecast to fall still further, the value of this offer will continue to increase."
Dr Copland said the implementation of the new pay framework by August 2006, which puts all staff onto a single pay spine, "will see many staff receive further increases".
The deal did include significant improvements for the lowest-paid support staff in the sector.
Support staff union Unison said the offer included higher increases worth potentially up to 7.6 per cent for the lowest paid, when combined with a reduction in working hours taking place.
Support staff who are presently earning less than £11,500 a year will receive a flat-rate increase of £500; those earning between £11,500 and £12,500 will get £450; and those earning between £12,500 and £13,200 will get £400. These one-off rises will give lower-paid staff an increase of more than the minimum 3 per cent.
With the reduction of working hours, some manual staff will see their pay move from £5. an hour to £5.67 an hour - an increase of 7.6 per cent.
Unison was understood to have been furious that plans for a two-year deal were scuppered by the academic unions.
Christina McAnea, national secretary for Unison's education services, said:
"Employers indicated that more money might have been available in a two-year deal. Unison and the other support staff unions were disappointed that we were unable to explore this as the academic unions ruled out discussing this option."