Exeter University’s vice-chancellor received £3000 pay rise despite hundreds of jobs cut

Exeter University’s vice-chancellor has received a pay rise despite hundreds of staff leaving the university under cost-cutting measures.

Although Professor Lisa Roberts’ actual salary did not increase, her overall pay rose by £3000 in the 2024/25 academic year, according to the university’s annual report.

In the same year, the university paid a total of £10,038,000 in compensation to 427 employees who left.

In May 2025, the university brought back The Exeter Release Scheme, voluntary severance programme which aims to reduce staff numbers as part of a wider cost-cutting initiative.

Despite these cuts, Professor Roberts’ pay increased by £3,000, bringing her total earnings for the year to £392,000.

The university has stressed this figure is for “total remuneration, which is more than just salary”, and includes pension contributions and other taxable benefits.

This is not the first time Professor Roberts’ pay has come under public attention. In the 2023-24 academic year, Lisa Roberts received one of the largest pay rises among Russell Group vice-chancellors, with her salary increasing by £15,000.

The university’s Remuneration Committee increased her salary from £290,000 to £305,000 in August 2023, bringing her pay closer to the median for similar institutions.

via Wikimedia Commons

An Exeter University spokesperson said: “The figure provided for the salary of Professor Lisa Roberts is a misreading of the information in our Annual Report. The figure is for total remuneration, which is more than just salary. It includes employer pension contributions – a benefit which all of us receive, which we would not consider “salary” – and taxable benefits.

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“Professor Roberts is widely recognised as one of the UK’s leading Vice-Chancellors. She has successfully navigated the university of Exeter through turbulent times, during which she has overseen successes including the development and launch of the new university strategy, changes to university structures and ways of working to achieve our national and global ambitions, and to further enhance our global reputation.  Under her leadership, the University of Exeter maintains a strong position, despite national and global challenges affecting the sector.

 “The remuneration of the president and vice-chancellor, and other members of the University Executive Board (UEB), is determined by the Remuneration Committee of the university’s governing body (Council). The Committee is comprised solely of independent members of Council and Professor Roberts is not present for any discussion or decision on her salary.

“In 2025, the Remuneration Committee agreed that there should be no increases to the salary of UEB members over and above the 1.4 per cent annual uplift, which all staff receive. For UEB members, this uplift was offset by a reduction in their non-pensionable allowance by the same amount. So, each UEB member’s total remuneration remains unchanged from last year in line with this agreement. This is all part of a suite of measures the university is taking to ensure our financial position remains strong, despite external pressure facing all universities, including rising costs, and a continued decline in the international student applications to UK universities and the real-term reduction in the value of the home student fee over the long term.

“As part of these measures, the Exeter Release Scheme allowed colleagues who wished to leave the university to do so voluntarily, with an enhanced severance package. Colleagues were only released where it was in the strategic, financial and operational interest of the university, and where the university could recoup the costs of the severance package within 18 months.

 “We continue to take action across all areas, to ensure our financial position remains strong whilst ensuring we can support our strategic priorities and protecting our student and staff experience.”

Vice-Chancellor Lisa Roberts has been contacted for comment.

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Featured image via Wikimedia Commons