By purchasing additional annual leave you are agreeing to the terms set out in the Annual Leave Purchase Scheme Process and Guidance document.

What you need to know to buy additional leave

ALPS will allow eligible staff to voluntarily purchase additional annual leave, offering greater flexibility to suit your personal and professional needs.

Eligibility

You will not be eligible to participate if:  

• You are paid separately for your annual leave due to specific contractual terms. This includes, but is not limited to, term-time only contracts and hourly paid workers. 
• Deductions would reduce your salary below the National Minimum Wage (NMW).  
• Deductions would affect your visa eligibility by lowering your salary below the required threshold.  

Purchasing additional leave

You can purchase up to 36.5 hours (equivalent to 5 additional days) of leave per year (pro-rated for part-time staff). Once purchased, this additional leave will be added to your balance in Employee Self-Service (ESS). You can then continue to book purchased leave in the same way as regular annual leave.

Annual leave is calculated in hours, a usual working week (5 days) is 36.5 hours.  

Please note: When purchasing additional leave, the option in iTrent is labelled “Holiday buy/sell”, this is a default setting and this wording cannot be changed. However, the University is only offering the option to purchase additional leave. It is not possible to sell any unused leave back to the University.

Purchasing windows

For the 2025–2026 annual leave year, there will be one purchase window only. This will run from Monday 16 February 2026 to Saturday 28 February 2026.

In a typical year, there are two opportunities to apply to buy additional annual leave, usually August and February.

These purchase windows are set periods, and applications can only be made during these times. Exact dates will be confirmed before each leave year begins.

Some departments may need additional time to review requests and manage service needs. Please follow any timescales set by your department. If you are unsure, speak with your Line Manager or Head of Department for guidance.

Approval Process

Please ensure you discuss your intention to purchase additional leave with your manager to ensure they are able to manage workload in your absence. All requests are subject to your department’s approval and processes.

More information can be found in the Annual Leave Purchase Scheme Process and Guidance document.

Using the purchased leave

The additional leave can be used for anything you like. However, once you have purchased additional leave, this is valid only for the leave year it was bought for. Therefore, if you purchased leave in February 2026, this additional leave must be taken before 31 August 2026.

• Once approved, the purchase is final. We are not able to process refunds or cancellations on purchased leave.
• Standard carry-over rules apply: up to 36.5 hours (5 days), pro-rated for part time staff, may be carried into the next year. Any unused leave beyond this will be lost. More information on this can be found on the carrying over annual leave webpage.

More information on the scheme and using the additional leave can be found in the Annual Leave Purchase Scheme Process and Guidance document.

Salary deductions

Please use the Annual Leave Purchase Scheme calculator to understand how much your leave is going to cost.

• Annual Leave is calculated in hours and based on the number of hours you work each week.
• You can purchase up to 36.5 hours (pro rata for part time staff) additional leave.

Your calculation will be based on your salary as at:

• 1 September, with 12 equal monthly deductions from September to August.
• 1 March, with 6 equal monthly deductions from March to August.

If your grade or salary changes, the deductions will remain the same unless your salary reduces and deductions bring you under National Minimum Wage.

How these deductions can affect pay

Salary sacrifice deductions may affect your pay in certain situations. To understand how this may apply to you, please read the full terms of the benefit in the Annual Leave Purchase Scheme Process and Guidance document.

This includes guidance on:

• how deductions are handled during other types of leave (for example, family or sick leave)
• what happens during periods of nil pay
• the impact of leaving the University
• how pension contributions may be affected

How to apply to purchase additional leave

Before purchasing additional annual leave please ensure you have read and agree to the terms set out in the Annual Leave Purchase Scheme Process and Guidance document, and have used the calculator to understand and agree to the cost of purchasing additional leave.

You can only make one request per leave year. Please check that you are requesting the correct number of additional hours before submitting.

1. Discuss purchasing additional leave with your line manager, ideally providing information on when you plan to take the additional leave or how you intend to use it in addition to your normal leave balance.
2. Log in to Employee Self-Service (ESS) using your normal University username and password.
3. Select 'My time' on the left hand side menu, and select the 'Holiday buy/sell button'.
4. This will take you through to a new page, where you will be asked to complete the following fields:
   • Position name - this is a drop down option and should contain your role name.
   • Scheme - this is also drop down option which should only allow you to select 'Personal Annual Leave'.
   • Holiday period dates - these dates are set for the current annual leave year (1 September - 31 August).
   • Action - you will only be able to select 'Buy'.
   • At this point, there is a box which details the maximum hours you will be allowed to purchase, based on your FTE. If you are full time this will be 36.5 hours.
     
5. No of hours - please type here the number of hours you wish to purchase.
6. Press 'Save' at the bottom of the screen.
7. You will receive an automated email to confirm you have submitted to purchase leave. Please note this is not approval.

Next steps

• Your line manager will be sent details of your request for annual leave and will be asked to authorise, as per any other leave request.
• You will then receive an automated response to confirm whether the additional leave has been authorised or not.
• If the department approves your request, it will be sent to HR and Payroll to ensure that any salary deduction will not take you below the National Minimum Wage.
  • You will then receive an automated email to confirm that your purchase of additional leave has been approved.

ALPS as a salary sacrifice

This benefit is an opportunity for you to purchase up to 36.5 hours of additional leave, on top of your normal holiday entitlement.

If you purchase additional leave, this will be paid as a salary sacrifice and deductions will be made in equal instalments from your monthly salary. Salary Sacrifice means payments will come out of your gross salary before tax and National Insurance (NI) contributions are made. This means you will benefit from NI and tax savings.

If you apply to purchase additional leave you are agreeing to the terms set out in the Annual Leave Purchase Scheme Process and Guidance document.