New data reveals Oxford University is one of the best paying Russell Group universities. The University ranks sixth for percentage of full-time academics paid in the highest category — over £65,578 per year — out of 24 Russell Group institutions. Over 30% of full-time academics at Oxford fall into this group.
According to an annual survey conducted by the Higher Education Statistics Agency (HESA), there are six relevant wage groups for academics in the UK. This data only concerns academics who are employed full-time on a contract by a UK university.
Oxford does not pay any of its full-time academics below £27,131 a year, which includes the two lowest groups. The majority of full-time academics at Oxford are paid in the fourth group, between £36,386 and £48,841 a year.
Moreover, analysis conducted by The Tab reveals that some members of the Russell Group pay their staff between £21,197 and £27,131 a year, the second wage group. Oxford is not among this group, which includes Cambridge University , Durham University, Queen’s University Belfast and Birmingham University.
However, according to HESA’s data, Oxford does pay 720 full-time academics between £27,131 and £36,386 a year, the third wage group, which is still less than Cambridge’s 920 academics in this group.
The universities that pay a higher proportion of their full-time academics the highest salaries include the London School of Economics, the University of Liverpool, Queen Mary University of London, King’s College London, and University College London. The highest of the group, the London School of Economics, pays nearly 53% of its academics over £65,578 a year. The University of Cambridge ranked 14th, paying 24% of its staff in the highest wage group.
This data comes after a year in which some of the University of Oxford’s staff, including those not employed on a full-time contract, have been protesting against their working conditions. Throughout 2023 staff members marched and engaged in boycotts because “our members refuse to stand by while pay is eroded and staff are shunted onto gig-economy contracts”. Additionally,according to the University of Oxford’s 2022-2023 financial statement, the University has had a lucrative year. In 2022-2023 Oxford had a Comprehensive Income of nearly 133 million pounds, an increase of more than a hundred million compared with the prior year.
