Cambridge recorded its highest recent spending on central university redundancy packages in 2024, according to Freedom of Information requests.

Between December 2023 and 2024, the University spent £78,263 on staff severance pay, almost five times the £16,848 spent in the previous year (2022-23). The number of redundancies also rose sharply to 23, more than double the 2018-2023 average of 9.2.

These figures refer only to the central University and not to individual colleges.

The university also recorded the total reasons for redundancies since 2018: 55 staff left due to the limit of tenure, four concluded their appointments after completing training programs, two staff members left as part of restructuring-related redundancies, and one casual worker departed. In seven cases, the reasons for departure were not specified.

According to a recent Times Higher Education report, of the 103 UK universities to have posted financial accounts so far this year with relevant figures, £210 million was spent on compensation for loss of office last year. This was a 67% increase on the £126 million figure for the same institutions in 2022-23.

The Financial Times also reported that Cambridge reportedly spent a total of £4.5 million on compensation in the 2023-24 academic year, the fourth highest of all the Russell Group universities.

Professor Wyn Evans, head of the 21Group and member of the university’s Board of Scrutiny, told Varsity: “An academic with 20 years service to the University may get a redundancy payment that is smaller than the annual personal travel expenses of a member of the senior management team.”

“There’s a huge divide not just between the top and bottom of the University, but also between the top and the middle,” Evans added.

This comes after it was reported that Cambridge’s vice-chancellor Deborah Prentice was the highest-paid vice-chancellor in the Russell Group in 2023-24, taking in an estimated salary and benefits package of £577,000.

Severance pay has varied significantly across the university’s academic departments in recent years. Since 2018, the School of the Humanities and Social Sciences has recorded the highest total redundancy costs at £67,336, followed by the School of the Biological Sciences (£38,297), the School of Arts and Humanities (£33,445), and the School of Clinical Medicine (£32,721).

Having only spent £2,448 over the previous five years, the School of Technology saw a sharp increase in severance spending in 2024, paying out £22,505. Meanwhile, the School of the Physical Sciences spent the least, at a total of £2,176.

This surge in end-of-tenure severance spending comes after a report by the Cambridge University and College Union (UCU) last June found two-thirds of researchers at Cambridge are employed on a fixed-term basis.

Responding to the report at the time, the University stated they had “reviewed staff working on fixed-term contracts in 2020/21, resulting in about 300 staff moving to open-ended contracts. A further project is underway, working with the trade unions to review the use of fixed-term contracts at the University and the associated guidance.”

Want to share your thoughts on this article? Send us a letter to letters@varsity.co.uk or by using this form.