Exposed: Gulf in Vice-Chancellor expenses as some claim five figures but others claim nothing

As teaching staff at UK universities strike over changes to their pension schemes, a series of Freedom of Information requests submitted by The Tab have revealed the extent of Vice-Chancellors' expenses.

Whilst some VCs appear to claim nothing from their universities, others racked up five-figure expense bills in 2017.

First class rail tickets, flights and visas are the continuously featured, but odd balls such as lampshades from one university and cork mats from another add to the ridiculous nature of these excel documents.

Stuart Croft, at Warwick University, claimed £16,305 in flights and accommodation in educational visits to Shanghai and more. Similarly, Sir Timothy O'Shea of Edinburgh, claimed £11, 273 in flights for institutional visits across the world.

Ed Byrne at King's College (£13,982) and Stuart Corbridge at Durham (£13,734) have similar totals and expenditure habits. Where Durham's VC likes good quality flights, Byrne expenses his wife's visas and iCloud storage monthly. He also is a fan of a cork mats to protect his dining table at £7.99 under 'miscellaneous'.

Hospitality is also a key favourite, with Adam Tickell from Sussex claiming £1,804 in lunches and travels. Kent University's V-C Julia Goodfellow loved a working breakfast, expensing a total of £999 for a majority of hospitality non-staff claims.

On the opposite end of the scale, Sir Keith Burnett at Sheffield expensed only £27 in the year 16/17 for one taxi after a meeting at the Athenaeum Club in London. It is a private member's club, but his membership is not seen on the document. Low totals are also seen for Cardiff University's Colin Riordan, who only expensed £299 on a trip in Beijing.

Some Vice-Chancellor's seemed to have expensed nothing at all, such as Koen Lamberts of York. His last expense is noted as November 2015, for £32.40 for a lunch. Exeter is similar, where Steve Smith has not filed for any expense claims since 2014.