Vice-chancellor bonuses growing despite sector funding crisis

Leaders of some of the UK’s top universities have continued to receive significant bonuses and other benefits despite the financial challenges facing the sector.

Recently published 2024-25 financial accounts have revealed the economic strain on a number of institutions, including those in the prestigious Russell Group, but many vice-chancellors have benefited from considerable pay packages and bonuses. 

Nottingham Trent University – which reported a £2 million deficit – paid its departing vice-chancellor Edward Peck a bonus of £66,000 in his last year in the job. This came after a £29,000 bonus in 2023-24, and a £27,666 bonus and £8,300 discretionary payment the year before that, equating to more than £130,000 in performance-related pay in three years.

This year’s bonus was in addition to Peck’s salary of £316,000. He also received £6,498 in holiday pay and £2,575 for travel and personal expenses, including almost £1,500 on train fares.

Peck, who is now chair of the Office for Students, received a total pay package of £435,000 in 2024-25 – up from £407,000 the year before.

Nottingham Trent University, which paid out over £9 million in compensation payments for staff redundancies last year, said the institution’s remuneration committee takes into account comparability to other university leaders and appropriate benchmarks outside of the sector, as well as the performance of the university against key performance indicators.

At the University of Oxford, Irene Tracey received a total pay package worth £666,000, which was up from £573,000 in 2023-24.

This included a salary increase from £410,000 to £427,000. Tracey, who turned down a previous offer of an 8 per cent salary increase, also received the 2.5 per cent national pay award to all staff. 

She was also awarded £51,000 in payments in lieu of pension contributions and £188,000 for her accommodation. This included a payment of £91,460, over half of which related to previous years, as reimbursement for tax liabilities on the property that Tracey lives in.

Oxford said this reimbursement will not apply after January 2026 following a change in the vice-chancellor’s accommodation arrangements.

Regent’s University London awarded its vice-chancellor Geoff Smith a total remuneration of £377,000 in 2024-25 – up from £296,000 the year before. This included a salary of £210,000, and a bonus of £145,000 at the private university.

Amanda Broderick at the University of East London received a £50,000 bonus, after a £36,000 bonus the year before. This was part of a total pay package of £388,000 in 2024-25, which was up from £356,000 the previous year.

UEL’s accounts said that discretionary performance-related payments are a contractual agreement as part of the salary package, with performance measured against a broad range of objectives.

At Teesside University, Paul Croney received a £43,000 bonus, which helped lift his total remuneration from £342,257 last year to £407,732 in 2024-25. A spokesperson said the university outperformed across all areas of business and delivered significant growth without incurring any debt.

Malcolm Press received £46,000 in performance-related pay from Manchester Metropolitan University this year, on top of £36,000 last year. The new head of Universities UK received a total of £387,000 in 2024-25.

At the London School of Economics and Political Science, Larry Kramer was awarded a £30,000 annual review contribution award as part of his £530,000 total remuneration.

London Business School paid its new dean Sergei Guriev a total of £707,000 – higher than any individual pay package awarded last year. This included a salary of £484,000, pension contributions of £70,000 and benefits of £145,000 – which are largely linked to the dean’s accommodation.

The accounts released so far also show a £5,000 bonus for Nishan Canagarajah at the University of Leicester, a £6,000 bonus for Jane Harrington at the University of Greenwich and a £10,000 bonus for Christoph Lindner at the Royal College of Art.

Jo Grady, general secretary of the University and College Union, said: “Vice-chancellor salaries are already eye-wateringly high; this Christmas they should do the charitable thing and donate their bonuses to the food banks that will be supporting far too many students.”