How much do academics get paid?
The HESA Staff data collection includes the exact pro-rata salary of each member of academic staff in the UK.
However, this isn’t what HESA publishes. Instead we get the number (headcount) of staff on academic contracts in one of six bands at provider or subject (cost centre) level – and if you’ve ever tried to compare them year on year you will be aware that the definitions of these bands are updated for every year of data.
What HESA publishes is actually based on New JNCHES spine points – and the annual uprating is based on the outcomes of those negotiations between the five campus unions and the University and Colleges Employers Association (UCEA). As not all academic staff are on New JNCHES related contracts (or have location or personal uplifts to a nominal salary based on New JNCHES) HESA maps these back into the appropriate band to offer a representative sector-wide picture.
This picture, therefore, has very little to do with actual take home pay. A member of staff on a fractional contract at spine point 31 and a full-time academic at spine point 39 are shown in the same band, along with someone on spine point 28 who has a personal uplift that brings them up to the equivalent of spine point 32. Factor in the size of these bands and it is clear that this is not the intention of this publication.
