A new University and College Union (UCU) report has revealed a 3% increase in vice-chancellor salaries from the previous year.
The average vice-chancellor salary increased to £272,432 in 2014-15, which the union claims is 6.7 times the average pay of their staff. Over the last five years, VC pay has risen by 14%, compared to the average staff increase of 5%.
The data, published as part of the union’s annual Transparency at the top? report, also shows that vice-chancellors spent an average of £8,560 on flights – 50% of which were first or business class – plus an average of £2,990 on hotel rooms and £2,205 on expenses.
The mean spend on management consultancy was around £500,000.
18 (11%) of the 159 universities contacted did not respond to UCU’s Freedom of Information (FoI) request, while six others did not answer all questions.
Its general secretary, Sally Hunt, said “No university should be allowed to get away with not responding to an FoI request. Our report highlights the need for a strengthening of the current FoI legislation.”