The average annual salary of vice-chancellors at the Russell Group of leading universities has exceeded £350,000 for the first time.
Basic pay for 20 vice-chancellors at the research-intensive institutions rose by 5 per cent to £350,500, up from £334,500, according to Times Higher Education. The increase came in a year when universities cut around 7,000 jobs and many institutions slipped into deficit.
Median total remuneration — including pensions, bonuses and other benefits — reached £397,000.
The highest-paid vice-chancellor was Prof Irene Tracey of the University of Oxford, who received a total pay package worth £666,000, up from £573,000 in 2023–24. Her salary increased from £410,000 to £427,000. Prof Tracey, a leading neuroscientist specialising in pain research, had previously turned down an 8 per cent pay rise but did receive the 2.5 per cent national pay award applied to all staff.
Her package also included £51,000 in payments in lieu of pension contributions and £188,000 for accommodation. This figure included £91,460 — more than half relating to previous years — reimbursing tax liabilities associated with her university-provided residence. Oxford University said such reimbursements will end after January 2026 following changes to the vice-chancellor’s living arrangements.
At the University of Manchester, new vice-chancellor Duncan Ivison received the largest pay increase, earning £150,000 more in salary and benefits than his predecessor. He was awarded a base salary of £350,000 — 35 per cent higher than the £260,000 paid to Nancy Rothwell, who held the post for seven consecutive years before retiring. The increase means Manchester no longer has the lowest vice-chancellor pay in the Russell Group.
That distinction now belongs to the University of Glasgow, where former principal Anton Muscatelli received total remuneration of £300,000. Glasgow was one of three institutions — alongside Newcastle and Durham universities — that did not increase senior leaders’ pay in 2024–25.
Jo Grady, general secretary of the University and College Union, renewed her criticism of senior pay, saying vice-chancellors were “accepting salary bumps and massive bonuses for themselves as the sector goes up in smoke”, adding that it “just beggars belief”.