University Rich List 2019 Jeremy Hutton October 2019 Introduction Universities are funded by both taxpayers and students (including graduates) directly. Because of this mixed form of funding, it often seems that the university sector is spared the scrutiny usually applied to other public sector institutions. In 2018, however, the Office for National Statistics re-classified student loans so that they could only partially be classified as loans in government financial returns. This means that the loans would partially count towards the deficit. The reasoning behind this decision was that the ONS concluded that a “significant proportion” of student loans would never be repaid and as such should count as government expenditure.1 For British taxpayers, this is a matter of great concern. Every year the government loans students over £16 billion, with just 30 per cent of full-time undergraduate loans expected to be repaid in full. By 2050 the total government liability will have grown to approximately £450 billion.2 Despite the clear benefits of a strong higher education sector, this ever-growing debt will place a burden on future generations of taxpayers. This is not the only challenge facing the higher education sector. The Universities Superannuation Scheme, the main pensions scheme for universities, has amassed a £5.7 billion deficit.3 In response to attempts to modify the scheme to reduce this, lecturers across the UK took to the picket lines for 14 days in 2018 at a cost to students of 575,000 teaching hours.4 This may be repeated later this year. This research presents total remuneration data from 120 universities for 2016-17, 2017-18 and 2018-19 to highlight that senior pay at many British universities is soaring. Furthermore, there are only small correlations existing between the number of highly paid staff at a university and student satisfaction and employment rates. This research should help students press for the best value from their tuition fees, as well as help taxpayers hold universities to account for the money they are spending. The data from the different years has been presented as an average figure. Due to variable data, the years used for the average may vary. Turn to the methodology section at the end of the paper for a more detailed explanation on this. To see the full data set, click here 1 Office for National Statistics, New treatment of student loans in the public sector finances and national accounts, 17 December 2018, https://www.ons.gov.uk/economy/governmentpublicsectorandtaxes/publicsectorfinance/articles/newtreatmentofstudentloansinthepubli csectorfinancesandnationalaccounts/2018-12-17 (accessed 23 September 2019). 2 House of Commons Library, Student loan statistics, 28 June 2019, https://researchbriefings.parliament.uk/ResearchBriefing/Summary/SN01079 (accessed 23 September 2019). 3 Universities Superannuation Scheme, Report and Accounts for the year ended 31 March 2019, page 5. 4 Times Higher Education, Pensions strike forces UK universities to reset examinations, 28 March 2018, https://www.timeshighereducation.com/news/pensions-strike-forces-uk-universities-reset-examinations (accessed 27 September 2019). 2 [email protected] Key findings § Across 120 universities, there was on average 3615 staff in receipt of over £100,000 each year in total remuneration. § Of these there were 762 staff being remunerated over £150,000. § Russell Group universities reported much higher numbers of highly paid staff than other university groups and unaffiliated universities. On average over 2016-17, 2017-18 and 2018-19, Russell Group members remunerated 185 members of staff over £100,000, and 63 over £150,000. § The average numbers for an unaffiliated university meanwhile are 27 staff receiving over £100,000 and five staff receiving over £150,000, with MillionPlus and University Alliance institutions lower still. § The University of Edinburgh reported the greatest number of high earners, reporting that 335 staff received over £100,000 in total remuneration, of which 118 receive over £150,000. The university with the second highest number of staff receiving over £100,000 was the University of Manchester, with 331 receiving over £100,000. The London School of Economics had the second highest number of staff receiving over £150,000, with 117. § Universities with more staff paid over £100,000 fared better in student satisfaction surveys, though no such correlation exists in terms of the number of staff paid over £150,000. Conversely, there is no clear correlation between universities with more high paid staff and employment rates post-graduation. § There is a strong correlation showing that the greater the number of highly paid staff a university has, the higher the average earnings of a graduate. This trend is consistent at both the £100,000 and £150,000 level, it is however much weaker in the case of the highest earning university staff. § Oxford and Cambridge did not provide the full information requested and so have been excluded from the data. Cambridge did provide remuneration data which excluded pension contributions showing that 357 staff were paid over £100,000 in 2017-18. Oxford meanwhile paid 331 staff a base salary in excess of £100,000. Had total remuneration data been provided it is likely these institutions would have topped the university pay rankings. ffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffff [email protected] 3 Data tables Table 1: average number of highly paid staff by university group, 2016-17 to 2018-19 University group Receiving over £100,000 Receiving over £150,000 MillionPlus 10 3 University Alliance 24 5 Russell Group 185 63 Unaffiliated 27 5 Table 2: average number of highly paid staff by level of student satisfaction, 2016-17 to 2018-195 Satisfaction (%) Receiving over £100,000 Receiving over £150,000 Less than 80 37 21 80-89 42 9 More than 89 48 11 Table 3: the ten universities with the most highly paid staff on average by £100,000 and £150,000, 2016-17 to 2018-19 University Staff receiving over University Staff receiving over £100,000 £150,000 University of Edinburgh 335 University of Edinburgh 118 University of Manchester 331 London School of 117 Economics University of Cardiff 250 University of Manchester 101 University of Glasgow 246 University of Glasgow 66 Queen Mary University, 207 University of Cardiff 62 London City, University of 178 City, University of London 54 London University of Newcastle 159 Queen Mary University, 52 London University of Leeds 158 University of Dundee 50 University of Dundee 133 Institute of Cancer 23 Research University of York 127 Cranfield University 22 5 Office for students, National Student Survey results 2019, https://www.officeforstudents.org.uk/advice-and-guidance/student- information-and-data/national-student-survey-nss/get-the-nss-data/ (accessed 23 September 2019). 4 [email protected] Table 4: average number of highly paid staff by rates of students in employment or further education rate after six months, 2016-17 to 2018-196 Employment or further education Receiving over £100,000 Receiving over £150,000 (%) Less than 90 36 10 90-95 46 12 More than 95 39 8 Chart 1: average number of highly paid staff by graduate average earnings at age 29, 2016-17 to 2018-197 140 120 100 80 60 40 20 0 Less than £25,000 £25-30,000 £30-35,000 £35-40,000 £40,000+ £100,000 and £150,000 Graduate earnings at age 29 Number of employees recieving over Staff receiving over £100,000 Staff receiving over £150,000 Table 5: the top five universities with the greatest year-on-year increase in staff paid over £100,000, 2016-17 to 2018-198 University Increase in staff University Increase in staff receiving over £100,000 receiving over £150,000 University of Liverpool 55 London School of 27 Economics University of Ulster 52 University of York 19 University of Edinburgh 48 University of 7 Northumbria University of Leeds 39 City, University of 6 London University of 26 University of Newcastle 6 Surrey/University of Newcastle 6 Higher Education Statistics Agency, Employment of leavers: UK Performance Indicators 2016/17, 5 July 2018, https://www.hesa.ac.uk/news/05-07-2018/employment-of-leavers-tables (accessed 23 September 2019). 7 Department for Education, The absolute labour market returns to different degrees – appendix data tables, 27 November 2018, https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/undergraduate-degrees-labour-market-returns (accessed 23 September 2019). 8 Note that how the year-on-year increase is calculated varied dependent on what data was provided. Please refer to the methodology section for an explanation of this. [email protected] 5 Table 6: average number of staff paid over £100,000, and over £150,000, at each university - full list, 2016-17 to 2018-19 University Staff paid over £100,000 Staff paid over £150,000 Aberdeen 105 3 Abertay 5 3 Aberystwyth 25 3 Anglia Ruskin Inadequate data Inadequate data Arts University Bournemouth 3 1 Aston 33 Inadequate data Bangor 32 6 Bath 50 5 Bath Spa 4 1 Bedfordshire 9 Inadequate data Birmingham City 14 Inadequate data Bishop Grosseteste 3 1 Bolton 5 1 Bournemouth 22 Inadequate data Bradford 16 2 Brighton 21 4 Brunel 83 19 Buckinghamshire New University 3 1 Canterbury Christ Church 11 2 Cardiff 250 62 Cardiff Metropolitan 8 Inadequate data Central Lancashire 34 11 Chester 8 1 Chichester 5 1 City, University of London 178 54 Conservatoire for Dance and Drama 0 0 Courtauld Institute of Art 6 Inadequate data Coventry 44 11 Cranfield University 35 22 Cumbria 7 2 De Montfort 32 9