A sector-wide financial crisis and increased regulatory scrutiny appear to have done little to temper the ¡°exorbitant¡± salaries of the leaders of private providers, who continue to enjoy some of the highest pay packages in the UK sector.

Analysis??and financial accounts reveals that the heads of a number of?private providers earn far more than some of their colleagues running elite public universities.

The family-run London School of Science and Technology filed accounts for 15 months for 2023-24, rather than the standard 12-month period, owing to a change in its reporting period. It reveals it paid current head?Ali Jafar Zaidi, who took over in March 2023, ?338,757 for the entire period, while his yearly salary was ?248,500 including a performance-based bonus of ?23,500.

The accounts also reveal it paid its founder, Syed Zaidi, ?437,500 for ¡°salary and consultancy¡± over 15 months, taking the total remuneration for the two men in the period covered by the accounts to ?777,000.?

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Government ministers have recently said they intend to ¡°name and shame¡± institutions where high executive pay does not correlate to student outcomes, with LSST likely to feature on any such list.

Only 40 per cent of students at the provider, which specialises in business management, IT and health and social care courses, progress into graduate jobs or?stay in education, according to the Office for Students. It has previously defended itself by saying that it specialises in ¡°flexible¡± learning and caters to non-traditional students who can fit study around other commitments.

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Other high pay packages at private providers include ?633,000 at Cambridge Arts and Sciences, a boarding school?that offers some foundation degree courses, and ?501,000 at music specialists BIMM University. Previous analysis showed that public universities have also increased their leadership pay despite well-documented financial struggles being experienced across the sector.?

Cambridge Education Group (CEG) paid out??365,000 to its head of provider, including ?69,000 in performance-related pay. Other large bonuses included??¨C of which ?79,000 was forfeited ¨C and??50,000 at 51³Ô¹Ï Banking School (GBS).

A GBS spokesperson said its mission of widening access to traditionally underrepresented groups makes it ¡°unreasonable¡± to draw a?comparison with more traditional providers.

¡°GBS salaries for executive-level staff are at the lower end, when compared to institutions of a similar size, both by turnover and the number of students.¡±

Private providers have come under increased scrutiny over the past year, in part?because of the increased attention on franchising arrangements. Ministers are preparing to force all larger institutions to register with the Office for Students.

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Ian Pace, professor of music, culture and society at City St George¡¯s, University of London, told?51³Ô¹Ï?that small, private providers were still less regulated than the rest of the sector.

Many are already on the register, which allows them to qualify for various benefits, including access to student loans.

The expansion of such providers, encouraged by Jo Johnson when he was universities minister, needs rethinking by the current government, Pace added.

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¡°If they want to go completely private and withdraw from government schemes, then they can do what they want, but that is not what is happening. The costs of providing loans for some such institutions could certainly be used elsewhere.¡±

The analysis, which includes institutions which had a financial year ending between 2023 and the end of June 2024, shows that around a dozen other private providers paid more to their vice-chancellors than Russell Group member the University of Manchester (?268,000), whose former vice-chancellor, Nancy Rothwell, was long known as one of the lowest-paid leaders in the sector.

These included Kaplan International Colleges, CEG UFP, the Institute of Ismaili Studies, Navitas UK Holdings, INTO University Partnerships Limited, University College of Estate Management, the London College, the Institute of Contemporary Music Performance, Regent College London, Kaplan Open Learning (Essex), and the London School of Academics ¨C all of which were approached for comment.

Pace said that he was ¡°very concerned¡± that those running research-led institutions that serve much wider educational and social functions are paid considerably less than private providers whose focus tends to be more on making a profit.

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Jo Grady, general secretary of the University and College Union, said: ¡°Vice-chancellor salaries across the sector are frighteningly high,?and private providers are often the worst offenders. Labour must do much more to regulate the sector and rein in these exorbitant salaries.¡±

patrick.jack@timeshighereducation.com