Exeter VC among highest paid in UK

Uni big dogs came under fire last night as it was revealed that the average vice-chancellor takes home £247,428 a year.

Data published in the Times Higher Education magazine shows that uni chiefs’ pay and benefits have increased by an average of over £5,000 in the last year.

The highest paid prof is Oxford’s Andrew Hamilton, whose package last year was worth £424,000. This is almost three times the Prime Minister’s salary of £142,500.

Exeter’s Sir Steve Smith takes home £386,000 a year.

The top ten

By contrast, higher education staff received a flat rise of just £150. The year 2011/12 was the third consecutive year they got pay rises of less than 1%.

Sally Hunt, the University and College Union’s General Secretary described the figures as “embarrassing.”

“While staff have had to endure sharp real-terms pay cuts, those at the top have enjoyed rises,” she said.

“The lack of self-awareness from university leaders when it comes to their own rewards continues to be an embarrassment, especially when we consider the recent promises that their pay and perks would be reined in.”It looks very much like one rule for those at the top and one for everyone else.”

A spokesman for Universities UK claimed the salaries are in line with those in competing countries and comparable to similar-sized public and private organisations.