University of Essex in Taxpayers' Alliance 2020 rich list

The TaxPayers' Alliance’s University Rich List this year has revealed an average of 4,112 staff at British universities earning more than £100,000 between 2019 and 2020, an increase of 14 per cent from last year.

Essex came in at number 15 with 103 members of staff, 18 of which are paid more than £150,000.

Anthony Forster, Vice Chancellor for the University of Essex

The report, which lists 96 universities in total, highlights there is no link between highly paid staff and high student satisfaction rates, questioning universities’ value for money.

Researcher Scott Simmonds wrote the paper.

He said: “These rankings reveal the thousands of university bosses taking home very plush pay packets despite begging for a Covid bailout.

"Taxpayers and students will be left with more than a degree of uncertainty over whether this is money well spent - especially when students are paying a premium to be locked up in halls with no face-to-face teaching.

"Instead of blaming Covid, Uni bosses need to get these steep salaries under control and focus on providing students with the very best higher education they can during the pandemic."

Universities are directly funded by taxpayers and students, including alumni.

The university sector is spared the scrutiny usually applied to other institutions due to this mixed funding.

However, the figures should encourage students to 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 London School of Economics had the most high earners, where 306 staff received more than £100,000 in total, 109 of which received more than £150,000.

Other top earners included Manchester, Glasgow, Suffolk, and the Open University.

Writtle University College, another university in Essex, appeared at the bottom of the list, with only one person earning more than £100,00.

The average number of employees at the £100,000 threshold is 44.

University of Essex officials described the statistics as ‘“misleading”.

Registrar Bryn Morris said: “We’re transparent in reporting on the full remuneration packages for our staff and disappointed nearly a third of all universities didn’t release this information, making any comparison or ranking misleading.

"The university has achieved significant growth while also continuing to build our international reputation and profile.

“This includes winning the Times Higher Education University of the Year in 2018, achieving gold in the Teaching Excellence Framework, and being one of only a handful of dual intensive universities ranked in the top 25 per cent for both research quality and the quality of our education.

“As with all employers, we need to attract and retain the most experienced and capable staff in order to ensure we meet our ambitious targets for education and research excellence.”