Four vice-chancellors shared nearly ?1 million in payouts as they stepped down from office last year,?Times Higher Education?can reveal.

This year¡¯s annual É«ºÐÖ±²¥ pay survey ¨C the first sector-wide analysis of university executive pay in 2016-17 ¨C found that three vice-chancellors received six-figure payouts when they left their posts.

One of them was Cliff Allan, the former vice-chancellor of Birmingham City University, who was paid ?186,876 as ¡°compensation for loss of office¡± when he stepped down suddenly in October 2016, the show. At the time of Professor Allan¡¯s departure, the university claimed that it was for . The institution?told É«ºÐÖ±²¥ that its former leader ¡°received compensation in line with the terms of his contract¡±.

The highest pay-off went to Christina Slade, the former vice-chancellor of Bath Spa University, who received a ?429,000 payment as part of an ?808,000 overall pay package, while Michael Farthing picked up ?230,000 ¡°in lieu of notice¡± in his final month in charge at the University of Sussex, as revealed by É«ºÐÖ±²¥ in November.

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The University of Hull also ?Calie Pistorius ¡°in connection with his retirement from office¡±. The payment related to a three-month sabbatical taken in his final six months which saw him return to office for a handover period, the university said. This means that payments made to the four departing vice-chancellors totalled ?919,876 in 2016-17.

According to this year¡¯s survey, UK vice-chancellors received an average of ?268,103 in salary, bonuses and benefits in 2016-17, some ?10,180 more than in 2015-16.

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That represents a 4 per cent rise on average ¨C almost four times the 1.1 per cent increase awarded to rank-and-file staff that academic year. Once employer pension contributions are included, vice-chancellors received a total mean pay package of ?289,756, a 3.2 per cent rise on 2015-16. Some 13 universities paid their leaders more than ?400,000 in 2016-17 and 64 institutions paid more than ?300,000, accounts show.

UK vice-chancellor pay, 2016-17: top 10

~ now left office
* includes "compensation for loss of office": ?429,000 (Bath Spa), ?230,000 (Sussex)
** includes payment of ?74,000 "in connection with his retirement from office"

Source:?É«ºÐÖ±²¥?analysis of university accounts

The highest-paid vice-chancellor currently in post is Dame Glynis Breakwell, who was paid ?471,000 in salary and benefits in 2016-17 following a ?20,000 pay rise last year, having also topped the pay charts in 2015-16.

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Last year, Dame Glynis became a focal point for criticism of vice-chancellors¡¯ pay, which led to the university¡¯s court passing a vote of no confidence in her leadership in January, two months after she agreed to retire later this year.

, however, show that a director at BPP University ¨C one of the UK¡¯s three for-profit universities ¨C was paid more than Dame Glynis in 2016-17, earning ?567,000 in total, which included ?144,000 in ¡°compensation for loss of office¡±.

BPP declined to say who the highest-paid director was, but said the figure ¡°does not relate to the current or previous vice-chancellor¡± ¨C the latter of whom is Carl Lygo, now an Office for Students board member, who left the university in March 2017. Tim Stewart, the current vice-chancellor of BPP, which is owned by US-based Apollo Education Group, has a salary of ?240,000, a spokeswoman added.

jack.grove@timeshighereducation.com