Exeter University has agreed to raise the pay of staff on the first point of Grade A from £7.11 an hour to £7.45 an hour, following lengthy negotiations with UNISON.
The detail of implementing the change is being negotiated with the staff unions.
The university said it was “committed to providing pay and conditions of employment and a working environment which maintains our position as an attractive employer, locally, nationally and internationally.
“We are very aware of how wider economic conditions have affected people’s standard of living and hope this will go some way towards helping our lowest-paid members of staff.”
The university’s students union – the Guild of Students, which is a separate employer, also announced that it will introduce the living wage.
UNISON branch secretary Andy Holcombe said the agreement would make a significant difference to the quality of the lives of the many staff working at the university.
UNISON South West head of higher education Judy Wilson added that the agreement showed another university in the South West that saw the positive benefits of fair pay for itself, as an organisation.
“They and the branch should be applauded for this significant achievement,” she said. “I do hope that other universities in the south west that do not already pay the living wage will follow suit.”