So many UK unis are struggling with money in 2026. Hundreds of university academics are worrying about losing their jobs, and thousands are planning to strike over working conditions. However, most university vice-chancellors still received whopping pay rises. Of course they did. We ranked the vice-chancellors of Russell Group unis by the ridiculously high pay rises they received. Look upon their pay packages and despair.
A quick note: The University of Leeds has just swapped vice-chancellor, so it’s hard to compare her pay with that of other uni bosses. If you’re nosy – Professor Shearer West made £248,000 for nine months of work. Cardiff University, Durham University and the University of Edinburgh still haven’t published their accounts from the 2024 to 2025 year, which is why the don’t feature in the ranking. Somebody’s “total remuneration” includes their salary, as well as benefits such as pension payments, private healthcare and living in uni-owned houses.
Without further ado, here are the Russell Group uni vice-chancellors ranked by their tragically high pay raises from this year:
=16. University of Glasgow – nothing
The uni’s accounts list the vice-chancellor’s pay as £0.3 million, both this year and last year.
A moment of appreciation for Glasgow’s vibey campus, please
=16. The London School of Economics and Political Science (LSE) – nothing
In Professor Larry Kramer’s first full year in the job, his salary was £395,000. This is in keeping with the £132,000 he received for four months of work from April to July 2024. He gets free accommodation worth £29,000, and a total remuneration of £530,000.
=16. Newcastle University – nothing
Professor Chris Day turned down a 2.5 per cent pay rise. His salary is still £354,700. His total remuneration ended up being £397,000, which was £27,900 less than last year.
15. University of Exeter – £3,000 raise
The Uni of Exeter, and it’s very Instagrammable sign
Professor Roberts’s salary increased again to £308,000. This brought her total remuneration to £392,000.
14. University of Sheffield – £3,963 raise
Sheffield Uni has been making huge cuts. The uni still wound up with an underlying operating deficit of £11.5 million at the end of the 2024-2025 year. However, the vice-chancellor got a 2.5 per cent raise, bringing his salary up to £333,963. Overall, Sheffield Uni dished out £376,572 to him in 2025.
13. University of Warwick – £4,000 raise
Warwick boosted Professor Stuart Croft’s basic salary to £343,000. When you take into account other benefit such as accommodation and a car, he made £389,000 overall. That’s £5,000 more than in 2024.
12. Queen Mary University of London – £4,087 raise
This uni restructured its departments, and axed loads of jobs in the process. However, the vice-chancellor Professor Colin Bailey still received a £4,087 raise. He also got a huge £10,126 payment for “utilities, service charge and furniture” in his uni-owned accommodation. The uni handed him £356,561 overall – which is actually a bit lower than the total last year, due to changes in pension schemes.
=10. University of Cambridge – £5,000 raise
The Uni of Cam’s v-c (Image via YouTube)
Erm, so Professor Deborah Prentice’s salary went up £5,000 to £414,000. Benefits including travel expenses and accommodation topped up her total remuneration to £507,000. As huge as that is, it’s actually less than the £577,000 she made last year. Her pay was extra high in 2024 as she got £42,486 in relation to relocation expenses.
=10. University of Bristol – £5,000 raise
Bristol’s V-C is Professor Evelyn Welch (yes, that’s Florence Welch’s mother). Although her went up by £5,000, she ended up with fewer pension contributions. So, she actually ended up with £398,000, which is less than the £402,000 she got last year.
9. University of York – £6,117 raise
Professor Charlie Jeffery’s salary and total remuneration increased from £310,368 to £316,485.
8. Queen’s University Belfast – £8,000 raise
Ta-da
Although the vice-chancellor’s salary increased to £359,059, changes to pensions meant Ian Greer ended up making approximately £1,000 less overall.
7. Imperial College London – £10,000 raise
Imperial upped Professor Hugh Brady’s salary from £375,000 to £385,000. He also received a housing allowance of £76,000, since he doesn’t get to live rent-free in a uni-owned mansion like so many other Russell Group uni vice-chancellors. His total remuneration was pretty much the same as last year, though, due to changes in pension schemes.
6. University College London (UCL) – £11,500 raise
UCL awarded the president and provost, Dr Michael Spence, a huge raise. His salary increased from £398,500 to £410,000. The head of UCL also gets to live in uni-owned accommodation in Bloomsbury. The swanky residence would have a market rent of £33,020, plus UCL spent a further £28,618 maintaining it. So, Dr Spence’s total remuneration ended up as an eye-watering £531,100.
5. University of Southampton – £11,523 raise
Soto handed Professor Mark Smith a salary increase of £11,523. He spent £7,857 of this on additional holiday days. His total remuneration was £397,000 – which is 9.8 times more than the median salary of people who work at the uni.
4. University of Oxford – £17,000 raise
The vice-chancellor of the University of Oxford (Image via YouTube)
Yup, Oxford’s Professor Irene Tracey is still the highest-paid of all the Russell Group uni vice-chancellors. Her salary rose yet again to £427,000. She gets to live in a fancy house. This year, she also received a whopping £91,000 payment to reimburse tax liabilities on accommodation benefits from previous years. This brought up her total remuneration to a truly tragic £666,000.
3. University of Birmingham – £5,000 raise, plus a £28,000 bonus
Last year, Professor Adam Tickel took home £416,000. This year, he got a salary raise and a performance-related bonus of £28,000. He ended up with £453,000.
2. King’s College London (KCL) – £42,000 raise
Erm, the KCL board must be buzzing the uni is less broke than many other Russell Group unis, because they upped Professor Shitij Kapur’s total remuneration from £428,000 to £446,000. The vice-chancellor also gets to live in a fancy uni residence, and this benefit is valued at £40,000. His salary went up by £42,000. KCL’s accounts say this was adjusted so his overall remuneration would take into account how the accommodation is now taxed.
1. University of Manchester – £90,000 raise
Nope, I’m not joking. Professor Duncan Ivison’s salary is £350,000. That’s £90,000 more than what the previous vice-chancellor, Nancy Rothwell, got for doing this job. £16,000 of “relocation benefits” helped bring up Professor Ivison’s total remuneration to £417,000 – £149,000 than what Nancy Rothwell received.
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