University vice-chancellors have been awarded pay boosts of up to £80,000 while decrying a cash crisis that they say will lead to higher tuition fees for students.
Data from the Higher education Statistics Authority revealed that while university chiefs on average received a five percent pay rise last year, some increased by up to 35 percent.
One in ten saw their pay packets rise by at least ten percent – including through bonuses and benefits-in-kind.
It comes after more than 140 institutions warned higher tuition fees were needed, as well as more funding from government, to ensure the higher education sector does not ‘slide into decline’.
Tuition fees have been frozen at £9,250 since 2017, but there are increasing calls for universities to increase the cap.
Professor Adam Habib (pictured), president of London University’s School of Oriental and African Studies (SOAS), received an £80,000 pay rise
The university reportedly had a deficit of £19.1 million in 2018-19, partly due to a drop in the number of overseas students, who pay higher tuition fees
But the number of staff receiving £100,000 or more in pay has more than doubled since 2020, from 4,112 to more than 10,000 this year, the Telegraph reports.
And the top-paid vice-chancellors are earning in excess of £400,000 – with the head of the London Business School topping the table at £451,000.
Last year Adam Habib, vice-chancellor of the School of Oriental and African Studies (SOAS) in London, received an £80,000 pay rise to £303,393, the paper reports – although the university says his basic salary increased by just 4.7 percent.
But the institution has faced a financial crisis in recent years, with a wave of cuts in 2020 leading to budgets being slashed and staff cuts.
The university reportedly had a deficit of £19.1 million in 2018-19, partly due to a drop in the number of overseas students, who pay higher tuition fees.
Former vice-chancellor of the University of Suffolk Prof Helen Langton saw her salary jump 21 percent to £248,000.
The university cited her ‘excellent performance’ and added the increase was designed to ‘bring it closer to the median salary of comparable universities’.
But in August, staff were warned that up to 15 jobs could be cut due to a cut in external funding.
And at the University of Wales Trinity Saint David, vice-chancellor Prof Medwin Hughes’ pay packet rose by 19 percent to £285,000 – comprised of an entitlement to accommodation and a one-off sum.
Former vice-chancellor of the University of Suffolk Prof Helen Langton saw her salary jump 21 percent to £248,000
Peter Neil, former vice-chancellor of Bishop Grosseteste University, saw his remuneration increase from £253,000 to £424,000, including more than £139,000 compensation for loss of office
Meanwhile two universities increased vice-chancellor pay by more than 60 percent due to hefty compensation for loss of post.
Peter Neil, former vice-chancellor of Bishop Grosseteste University, saw his remuneration increase from £253,000 to £424,000, including more than £139,000 compensation for loss of office.
In August, it was revealed two thirds of cash-strapped universities saw vice-chancellors taking pay rises last year.
Of 66 institutions known to be making redundancies or taking cost-cutting measures, 43 gave their vice chancellor a pay bump.
Some were awarded pay package boosts of up to 26 per cent, with many pocketing total deals worth well over £400,000 a year.
A spokesman for the Universities and Colleges Union (UCU), which represents more than 120,000 academics, lecturers and administrators, told the Telegraph: ‘There is a crisis in higher education caused by a funding model that is not fit for purpose.
‘We urgently need increased public investment and a no redundancies guarantee. Instead, we have university bosses that are paid eye-watering sums lobbying for a tuition fees increase.
‘Staff and students continuing to pay the price for problems they did not create simply cannot be allowed to continue, and the government cannot be seen to be enabling this, we need firm action now.’
