Universities where 100 staff earn £100k
THE scale of pay largesse in Britain’s universities has been revealed in a study showing 22 of them pay more than 100 of their staff six-figure salaries.
While the vast majority are in the elite Russell Group of research-led institutions, three received the lowest possible rank for teaching standards.
Some universities have even larger numbers on generous pay packets.
Seven pay more than 200 staff £100,000 or more – while at three institutions more than 400 receive this amount.
The figures, revealed by the University and College Union (UCU), come after Lord Adonis attacked university senior staff’s pay levels earlier this week. He told the House of Lords that Dame Glynis Breakwell of the University of Bath, the highestpaid vice-chancellor in the UK, got a pay rise of 11 per cent this year to £451,000. Lord Adonis said it set an ‘example of greed’.
Analysis by the UCU reveals a large number of other universities are paying staff vast sums at the expense of students and the taxpayer. At oxford, 451 are paid £100,000 or more – while at Cambridge the figure is 409 and at University College London it is 444. other top payers include Imperial College, which has 381 staff on sixfigure salaries.
Among the 22, the London School of Economics, Liverpool and Southampton were given the lowest possible mark of ‘bronze’ in the Government’s new teaching standards rankings.
UCU general secretary Sally Hunt said: ‘When it comes to pay, it’s increasingly clear that it’s often one rule for university leaders and another for the rest of the staff.
‘Too many vice- chancellors and senior leaders are enjoying six-figure salaries while other university staff have their pay held down or find themselves on insecure contracts. Calls for pay restraint have clearly fallen on deaf ears and it’s time for a proper, transparent register of leadership pay and perks.’
Universities often say high pay for senior staff reflects performance. But a number of mid-ranking institutions also dole out sixfigure salaries. City University in London, which is ranked 42nd in the country according to the Complete University Guide, pays 106 staff £100,000 or more. Aberdeen, which is 40th, pays this to 61 staff, while Brunel, which is 47th, pays it to 35 staff. The UCU yesterday called for university bosses’ ‘pay and perks’ to be published in a register so they are open to public scrutiny.
Students now pay up to £9,250 a year in tuition fees, with that amount set to increase with inflation for institutions which can prove they have good teaching. Jo Johnson, the universities minister, has called for vice- chancellors’ pay to be curbed.
The average university boss’s pay package, including benefits, was £277,834 in 2015/16. John o’Connell of the Tax Payers’ Alliance said: ‘A considerable amount of taxpayers’ money goes into universities so taxpayers and students alike have every right to know how their money is being spent. on top of the generous salaries vice-chancellors enjoy many perks – free accommodation, living allowances and subsidised utilities – that those in the private sector could never dream of.’ A Russell Group spokesman said: ‘The work that universities do is vital and we need the right people in senior management roles.’