Introducing: The swanky cars your uni provides to its Vice Chancellor

Vice Chancellors are already on loads of money, but that doesn’t seem to be stopping unis paying for them to travel in style.

In a new list detailing the swanky motors uni bosses are provided with, it’s been revealed that Birmingham City uni spent £40,000 purchasing a Jag, whilst Exeter spent £17k providing a three-litre BMW 7 Series for the use of its Vice Chancellor.

Among the Russell Group, Sheffield, Edinburgh, Liverpool, Southampton, and Glasgow splashed out on cars. In a damning indictment of how out-of-touch Vice Chancellors are with their student bodies, not one car listed is a Fiat 500.

Check out the list, full of Mercedes, BMWs, Jaguars, and Audis:

The cost of cars includes lease, fuel costs, insurance, and MOTs. A few unis say their cars can be used by all members of senior staff. 80 per cent of unis who responded didn’t provide cars for their leaders.

The info was obtained by Freedom of Information requests by lobbying group the TaxPayers’ Alliance. Duncan Simpson, research director at the TaxPayers’ Alliance, said: “With uni bosses complaining of a financial squeeze, splurges on nice-to-have perks simply have to stop.

“It’s hypocritical for chauffeur-driven scholars on six-figure salaries to be bemoaning budget cuts and campaigning on climate change.

“Given most universities did not pay for these luxury limos, the vice-chancellors who did deserve to be given the third degree by students and taxpayers alike.”

Related stories recommended by this writer:

• See how your uni Vice Chancellor’s pay compares to everyone else’s

• Ranked: The Russell Group unis handing out the most third class degrees

• These students have had their contact hours cut dramatically and are not happy

Featured image: Mercedes and BMW via Voxford, CC BY-SA 4.0 license, Jaguar via Shadman Samee, CC BY-SA 2.0 license