The gender pay gap at UCL is 3.4%

The University of London has the second highest pay gap in the UK


In 1878, UCL became the first university in England to admit women on equal terms with men. However, despite it being 50 years since the Equal Pay Act, there are still significant differences between the salaries of men and women in higher education institutions such as UCL.

A recent survey by the University and College Union (UCU) has revealed that the average salary for female academic-related staff at UCL is £42,019 and for male academic-related staff, £43,486  a salary difference of £1,467. This gives a gender pay gap of 3.4%. The gap was seen to be more significant in Russell Group universities.

Worse still the University of London was ranked second highest for its gender pay gap for academic staff. Female academic staff were revealed to have an average annual salary of £45,532 whereas male academic staff have an annual average of £65,641. That’s a whopping £19,109 difference, showing that female academic staff only earn 71% of the salary of their male counterparts.

With the progress of the gender pay gap in the last 10 years, it has been estimated that it will take until 2050 to close the gap entirely. UCU suggests that in order to tackle the problem, universities should agree join statements with UCU to close any gender pay gaps at their institution by 2020.

They have also suggested that higher education institutions undertake and analyse equal pay audits together with UCU and agree an action plan to address any gaps using specific objectives and deadlines.