Sir Ron piles on the pounds

For the second year running, universities have been required to make public the salaries of their top staff.

Imperial College’s Rector, Sir Ronald Oxburgh, recieved a pay rise of Ł1,000 last year, making him the UK’s 45th most highly-paid Vice Chancellor and taking him up to an annual salary of Ł104,000. This is comparable with other London institutions, but these salaries are not typical nationwide. The overwhelming majority were between Ł70,000 and Ł90,000, with the lowest figures listed being between Ł30,000 and Ł40,000. Most vice-chancellors saw significant increases on the previous year, although Strathclyde’s J. Arbuthnott had a 15% decrease from Ł120,000 to Ł102,110.

There were some marked differences between the salaries of institutions of similar reputations, most notably with the vice-chancellors of Oxford and Cambridge each earning Ł78,895 and Ł109,000 respectively last year.