Oxford spends record £1m on vice-chancellor salaries

THE UNIVERSITY of Oxford spent more than £1 million on bosses’ salaries and perks last year, despite its new vice-chancellor refusing a bumper pay rise.

The sum is understood to be the university’s highest ever expenditure on vice-chancellors in a single year.

It was paid out after Oxford awarded former vice-chancellor Dame Louise Richardson the equivalent of a year’s pay, or £423,407, on top of her usual salary as payment in lieu of her entitlement to take a sabbatical.

Dame Louise was also paid a salary of £176,000 for her final five months in the post between August and December 2022. Pension costs and perks, including a £23,000 bonus “in recognition of exceptional leadership during the pandemic” took her remuneration for the period to £289,000. Receiving an additional £423,407 payment in lieu of a sabbatical, she cost the university £712,000 during the 2022-23 academic year.

Prof Irene Tracey, who took over as vice-chancellor in January 2023, is paid an annual salary of £397,000. She has refused the 8.4 per cent pay rise awarded to Dame Louise in 2019 and has chosen to only take pay rises awarded to all higher education staff.

Prof Tracey was awarded £336,000 in pay and benefits for the seven months to Jul 31, pushing Oxford’s total spend on vice-chancellors over £1 million.

The figure was first reported by Times Higher Education (THE). The university’s financial accounts show Prof Tracey has waived her entitlement to a sabbatical when she stands down.

Charles Harman, independent chair of the committee, which sets the vice-chancellor’s salary, said: “The vice-chancellor’s pay is required to reflect the complex responsibilities of leading the world’s highest-ranked university in the face of ever-increasing global competition.”

Vice-chancellor pay has come under scrutiny as students have faced significant disruption to their studies since 2018. The average total pay package for vice-chancellors at top universities last year was £398,000, a three per cent increase on the previous year, according to analysis by THE of 18 of the 24 members of the Russell Group to have published their accounts.