Johnson attacks rising pay of university VCS

Jo Johnson has criticised a Russell Group vice-chancellor over his salary, as he called on universities to set an example by showing “pay restraint”.

At the University of Buckingham, the universities minister said the “endless ratcheting up” of salaries was a “concern” as he appeared to single out Sir Christopher Snowden of Southampton University for his £352,000 pay package. While the vicechancellor’s salary for Southampton has risen by half since 2009-10, Sir Christopher took the job in 2015. His predecessor was Prof Don Nutbeam.

Sir Christopher spoke yesterday of his “disgust” at the new Teaching Excellence Framework, which ranks universities on standards of teaching quality and student satisfaction.