University chief salaries soar past £250,000 for first time

AVERAGE pay for university vice-chancellors has passed £250,000 for the first time, with more than 100 institutions offering pay rises in the past year, despite heavy criticism.

According to the Office for Students, average salaries rose ahead of inflation, from £245,000 to £253,000, with five heads paid more than £500,000, including benefits and severance pay.

Of 133 institutions included in the figures, 109 saw their top earners given pay rises – 13 had no change and 11 vicechancellors actually had pay reduced.

Of the 133 universities in England, 124 paid their heads more than the Prime Minister’s £150,000 salary.

Robert Halfon MP, chairman of the Commons education select committee, said: “At a time when students have to take out stonking loans, it seems incredible that vice-chancellors’ pay is so excessive. Student loans should be funding good quality tuition and employment outcomes, not the lavish lifestyles of vice-chancellors.”

Bath university came top of the list, with Dame Glynis Breakwell on £470,000. She has since resigned, but told the BBC she was “not embarrassed” by her pay packet.

Vice-chancellors appointed in the last year appear to have received substantially more than their predecessors. Dame Minouche Shafik, of the London School of Economics, is paid 22 per cent more and Prof Stephen Toope, Cambridge vice-chancellor, gets 25 per cent more. Prof Bashir Makhoul took home 41 per cent more at the University for the Creative Arts.

The rises came as student fees went up to £9,250 a year at many institutions. Nicola Dandridge, of the OFS, said: “Universities and individual vice chancellors need to be confident that they can justify the pay that they receive.”

Damian Hinds, the Education Secretary, said: “High pay must be justified by high performance.”