Updated 22 October 2026

Higher Education Salary Report 2026: United Kingdom

Salary report and benchmark

Professors in the United Kingdom are paid from £76,325–£83,800 (UCEA, 2 October 2026).

How academic pay works in the United Kingdom

Higher education salary report 2026

Academic Jobs, the higher education salary benchmark, based on 27,566 university job posts since January 1, 2026, drawn from millions of historical job posts.

Most UK universities pay academic and professional staff on the national 51-point pay spine, negotiated through UCEA, with grades running from research assistant and lecturer through senior lecturer and reader to professor.

Professorial pay sits above the spine and is set locally, so it varies between institutions such as University of Oxford, University of Cambridge, and Imperial College London.

London weighting adds to pay in the capital.

Academic Jobs analyses 27,566 UK university job posts since January 1, 2026, to benchmark current salaries.

Job-post medians since January 1, 2026.
Role	Current salaries	What this is
PhD Researcher	£39,526	3,245 posts since January 1, 2026. Last year £38,850.
Lecturer/Instructor	£43,602	2,672 posts since January 1, 2026. No change from last year.
Research Fellow	£42,519	2,022 posts since January 1, 2026. Last year £43,087.
Post-Doc	£42,417	1,436 posts since January 1, 2026. Last year £42,694.
Research	£42,955	1,062 posts since January 1, 2026. Last year £43,087.
Professor	£41,872	972 posts since January 1, 2026. Last year £43,265.
Research Assistant	£40,330	963 posts since January 1, 2026. Last year £40,884.
Scientist/Associate	£42,417	581 posts since January 1, 2026. No change from last year.
Senior Lecturer	£51,962	493 posts since January 1, 2026. No change from last year.
Post Doc Research Fellow	£42,384	369 posts since January 1, 2026. Last year £42,574.
Assistant Professor	£50,047	297 posts since January 1, 2026. Last year £49,375.
Associate Professor	£57,429	233 posts since January 1, 2026. Last year £53,678.
Tutor	£42,417	220 posts since January 1, 2026. Last year £42,636.
Clinical Educator	£52,287	161 posts since January 1, 2026. Last year £51,962.
Sessional Lecturer	£46,096	105 posts since January 1, 2026. Last year £44,218.

39 more roles

Role	Current salaries	What this is
Director/Manager	£65,309	102 posts since January 1, 2026. No change from last year.
Program Director	£60,000	83 posts since January 1, 2026. No change from last year.
Academic Advisor	£43,602	75 posts since January 1, 2026. No change from last year.
Curriculum Developer	£52,500	61 posts since January 1, 2026. Last year £52,231.
Lecturer	£40,265	56 posts since January 1, 2026. Last year £55,000.
Teaching Assistant	£39,526	45 posts since January 1, 2026. Last year £37,962.
Research Associate	£41,297	44 posts since January 1, 2026. Last year £41,765.
Clinical Professor/Prof of Practice	£102,822	41 posts since January 1, 2026. Last year £87,639.
Research Technician	£34,465	39 posts since January 1, 2026. Last year £34,155.
Academic Coordinator	£52,205	37 posts since January 1, 2026. Last year £51,929.
Program Coordinator	£43,700	37 posts since January 1, 2026. Last year £43,972.
Tenure-track	£67,955	28 posts since January 1, 2026. No change from last year.
Senior Research Assistant	£43,199	27 posts since January 1, 2026. Last year £52,294.
Academic Coach	£42,417	25 posts since January 1, 2026. No change from last year.
Research Coordinator	£41,872	23 posts since January 1, 2026. Last year £42,750.
Research Manager	£53,491	19 posts since January 1, 2026. Last year £64,646.
Adjunct Faculty	£87,360	13 posts since January 1, 2026. Last year £99,320.
Sessional Academic	£58,105	11 posts since January 1, 2026. No change from last year.
Faculty Development Specialist	£53,678	9 posts since January 1, 2026. No change from last year.
Instructional Designer	£52,287	7 posts since January 1, 2026. Last year £51,464.
Learning Specialist	£37,962	7 posts since January 1, 2026. No change from last year.
Librarian	£41,872	7 posts since January 1, 2026. No change from last year.
Lab Manager	£48,775	6 posts since January 1, 2026. Last year £47,080.
Tenure	£55,551	6 posts since January 1, 2026. Last year £51,486.
Endowed	£87,144	5 posts since January 1, 2026. No change from last year.
Faculty Researcher	£41,872	5 posts since January 1, 2026. Last year £41,133.
Post-Doc Research Fellow	£42,448	4 posts since January 1, 2026. Last year £43,602.
Research Professor	£57,329	4 posts since January 1, 2026. No change from last year.
Educational Technologist	£58,105	3 posts since January 1, 2026. Last year £59,053.
Researcher	£39,526	3 posts since January 1, 2026. Last year £40,699.
Assistant Director	£74,370	2 posts since January 1, 2026. No change from last year.
Clinical Chair	£101,058	2 posts since January 1, 2026. Last year £79,424.
Affiliate Professor	£55,839	1 posts since January 1, 2026. No change from last year.
Career Advice	£39,526	1 posts since January 1, 2026. No change from last year.
Exam Supervisor	£78,000	1 posts since January 1, 2026. No change from last year.
Post Doc	£34,305	1 posts since January 1, 2026.
Research Scientist/Associate	£47,080	1 posts since January 1, 2026. No change from last year.
Senior Professor	£772,893	1 posts since January 1, 2026.
Visiting Fellow	£16,000	1 posts since January 1, 2026. No change from last year.

Sources

UCEA, 2 October 2026

Academic pay

Professor
£76,325–£83,800
Professor scale minimum, from 1 August 2026

What changes pay

Rank
A professor scale sits above a lecturer or assistant professor scale.
Institution
Research universities and teaching-focused colleges do not use the same bands.
Contract
Nine-month, twelve-month, and casual contracts are not the same annual pay.
Location
Capital-city loadings and regional scales change the same title.

University salaries in the United Kingdom

Imperial College London pays the highest professor salary in the United Kingdom, at £88,899.

Every university with a published professor or lecturer median. Figures match each university salary page.
University	Professor	Lecturer	Live jobs	Employer portal
University of Oxford	£43,602	£43,602	321	Employer portal
University of Cambridge	£41,294	£41,294	254	Employer portal
Imperial College London	£88,899	£54,776	76	Employer portal
University College London	£48,284	£59,788	38	Employer portal
The University of Edinburgh	£56,006	£55,233	127	Employer portal
University of Manchester	£44,152	£52,079	414	Employer portal
King’s College London	£58,649	£53,389	61	Employer portal
University of Glasgow	£43,557	£46,601	49	Employer portal
University of Warwick	£51,962	£40,829	171	Employer portal
University of Bristol	£46,868	£47,500	83	Employer portal
University of Sheffield	£48,822	£48,822	224	Employer portal
University of Birmingham	—	£41,343	160	Employer portal
University of Southampton	£22,858	£31,000	282	Employer portal
University of St Andrews	—	£47,612	53	Employer portal
University of Leeds	£50,401	£55,860	60	Employer portal
Nottingham University	—	£39,735	0	Employer portal
University of Exeter	£45,817	£43,482	84	Employer portal
University of York	£58,094	£41,583	64	Employer portal
University of Liverpool	£48,328	£49,798	48	Employer portal
University of Leicester	—	£51,292	66	Employer portal
University of Dundee	—	£50,436	61	Employer portal
University of Stirling	—	£52,035	8	Employer portal
University of Bath	—	£51,962	78	Employer portal
University of Essex	—	£51,962	45	Employer portal
Loughborough University	—	£51,962	47	Employer portal
University of Hull	—	£47,828	12	Employer portal
University of Bradford	—	£52,709	16	Employer portal
University of Salford	—	£51,963	17	Employer portal
University of Plymouth	£42,978	£48,221	20	Employer portal
University of Greenwich	—	£41,765	39	Employer portal
University of Wolverhampton	—	£44,943	7	Employer portal
Aston University	£70,332	£48,230	18	Employer portal
Bangor University	—	£42,417	21	Employer portal
Cardiff University	—	£43,557	40	Employer portal
Coventry University	—	£42,017	26	Employer portal
Durham University	£76,734	£42,399	99	Employer portal
Lancaster University	—	£51,962	23	Employer portal
Oxford Brookes University	—	£41,064	18	Employer portal
Queen Mary University of London	£41,936	£55,927	60	Employer portal
The Robert Gordon University	—	£48,221	3	Employer portal
Royal Holloway, University of London	—	£49,979	14	Employer portal
University of Aberdeen	—	£41,133	60	Employer portal
University of East Anglia	£62,847	£52,679	150	Employer portal
University of Hertfordshire	—	£53,137	16	Employer portal
University of Strathclyde	—	£45,765	28	Employer portal
University of Surrey	£70,567	£32,851	101	Employer portal
Anglia Ruskin University	—	£41,765	11	Employer portal
Birkbeck College, University of London	—	£143,520	15	Employer portal
Birmingham City University	—	£47,657	5	Employer portal
Canterbury Christ Church University	—	£47,660	9	Employer portal
Goldsmiths College, University of London	—	£47,246	0	Employer portal
Keele University	—	£45,111	19	Employer portal
Kingston University	—	£46,923	15	Employer portal
Liverpool John Moores University	£42,417	£43,265	50	Employer portal
London South Bank University	—	£46,392	8	Employer portal
Edinburgh Napier University	—	£52,137	3	Employer portal
Nottingham Trent University	—	£49,304	14	Employer portal
Sheffield Hallam University	—	£42,326	14	Employer portal
Swansea University	—	£42,384	23	Employer portal
The University of Greater Manchester	—	£45,539	6	Employer portal
University of Derby	—	£43,265	10	Employer portal
University of East London	—	£53,612	10	Employer portal
University of Gloucestershire	—	£41,133	15	Employer portal
Teesside University	—	£40,519	2	Employer portal
University of the West of England, Bristol	—	£42,417	6	Employer portal
University of the West of Scotland	—	£53,394	2	Employer portal
University of Worcester	—	£47,660	1	Employer portal
York St. John University	—	£47,150	3	Employer portal
The University of Nottingham	—	£40,926	52	Employer portal
SOAS University of London	—	£56,476	16	Employer portal
Edge Hill University	—	£42,326	3	Employer portal
University of Roehampton	—	£53,168	12	Employer portal
University of South Wales	—	£44,227	7	Employer portal
University College of Birmingham	—	£41,133	1	Employer portal
Manchester Metropolitan University	—	£44,669	19	Employer portal
Regent College London	—	£45,000	1	Employer portal
HRUC	—	£40,024	5	Employer portal
University Of The Arts London	—	£48,676	7	Employer portal
London College of Contemporary Arts (LCCA)	—	£52,500	4	Employer portal
University of Cumbria	—	£41,133	0	Employer portal
Arden University	—	£46,031	2	Employer portal
Global Banking School	—	£51,000	7	Employer portal
De Montfort University	—	£48,221	18	Employer portal
Birmingham Newman University	—	£48,505	3	Employer portal
Leeds Arts University	—	£31,811	2	Employer portal
University of the Built Environment	—	£43,000	1	Employer portal
Derby College Group	—	£36,796	7	Employer portal
University of Wales, Trinity Saint David	—	£44,227	8	Employer portal
Hartpury University and College	—	£39,829	0	Employer portal
Bath Spa University	—	£41,142	6	Employer portal
University of Winchester	—	£46,178	2	Employer portal
Pudsey Sixth Form College	—	£35,281	0	Employer portal
Nottingham College	—	£37,962	1	Employer portal
Newcastle University	£41,343	£38,850	48	Employer portal
Study Group	—	£42,168	9	Employer portal
City St George’s, University of London	—	£52,527	25	Employer portal
University of Lancashire	—	£45,538	4	Employer portal
Heart of Yorkshire Education Group	—	£37,734	0	Employer portal
Queen's University Belfast	—	£47,029	23	Employer portal
University College Birmingham	—	£40,735	36	Employer portal
Coventry University Group (CUG)	—	£44,346	7	Employer portal

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Frequently asked questions about salaries in the United Kingdom

🎓What is the cited professor figure for the United Kingdom?

Professors in the United Kingdom are paid from £76,325–£83,800 (UCEA, 2 October 2026).

📌How many university jobs are in the benchmark?

Academic Jobs tracks 27,566 university job posts for the United Kingdom since January 1, 2026. That count is the demand benchmark. It is not the salary.

🔗Where can I compare other salaries?

Open the professor salaries and university salaries hubs.