Revealed: The Russell Group universities that pay your lecturers the least money

The 24 Russell Group unis have a reputation for being the fanciest and most prestigious in the UK. So, you’d think the academics there would be living it up, right? We dived into how much money the lecturers (and other staff) at Russell Group unis are being paid.

The four Russell Group universities where staff are paid the most money are all in London. That makes sense, as living in London can be so spenny. Surprisingly, the University of Oxford seems to be quite a lot more generous with salaries than the University of Cambridge is. Perhaps this is evidence that Oxford professors are brainier than the Cambridge ones, as they had the common sense to work there instead?

In 2025, only three Russell Group unis still had employees with salaries under £29,659, according to data from the Higher Education Statistics Agency (HESA). These three stingy unis were Durham University, the University of Edinburgh and the University of Cambridge.

Edinburgh and Cambridge aren’t cheap places to live in, either

The average salaries for each uni are based on the total money the uni spent on salaries and wages in the 2024/2025 academic year, divided by the full-time equivalent number of employees. This money is for all these Russell Group unis’ staff, not just lecturers and researchers. Keep in mind that the monstrous salaries of vice-chancellors and other top management will be lifting up the averages. Many, many members of staff will be earning far less than the averages.

I didn’t forget about Newcastle University. This uni’s annual report laid out the staff costs a big differently, so it didn’t seem fair to compare it to the other Russell Group unis in this way.

So, here are the Russell Group unis that pay staff the most and least, based on the average (mean) salary of their employees in the 2024/2025 academic year:

23. University of Edinburgh – £46,253

22. University of Sheffield – £46,839

21. University of Manchester – £46,921

20. University of Bristol – £48,294

19. University of Nottingham – £48,437

18. Cardiff University  – £48,853

Cardiff Uni looking nice and sunny

17. University of Exeter – £48,973

16. University of Cambridge – £49,381

15. University of Leeds – £49,400

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14. Queen’s University Belfast – £49,719

13. University of Glasgow – £50,512

12. University of Durham – £50,633

11. University of Southampton – £50,863

10. University of Liverpool – £50,979

9. University of York – £52,290

York Uni students mentally preparing themselves for a 9am lecture

8. University of Birmingham – £52,347

7. University of Warwick – £53,071

6. University College London (UCL) – £56,842

5. University of Oxford – £57,345

4. Queen Mary University of London – £59,834

3. King’s College London (KCL) – £62,000

2. London School of Economics and Political Science (LSE) – £66,298

1. Imperial College London – £69,350

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