Concerns have been raised over generous pay rises awarded to retiring vice-chancellors after a senior UK university leader received a ?45,000 increase in her final year.

Dame Julia Goodfellow, who retired as vice-chancellor of the University of Kent in July 2017 after 10 years in office, was paid a total remuneration of ?324,000 in 2016-17, up by 16.1 per cent from ?279,000 in 2015-16, the university¡¯s show.

The rise in remuneration came after Dame Julia, the first female president of Universities UK, pocketed a ?20,000 pay increase and a ?25,000 performance-related bonus that year.

News of the final-year increase is likely to revive criticism of the generous arrangements for outgoing vice-chancellors, which saw Christina Slade earn ?808,000 in her final year at Bath Spa University, including a ?429,000 payment for ¡°loss of office¡± last year.

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Dame Glynis Breakwell, who is leaving as vice-chancellor of the University of Bath in August 2018, has also faced criticism for taking a semester¡¯s sabbatical at a cost of ?230,000 when she steps down.

New guidance on vice-chancellors¡¯ pay was published last week by the Committee of University Chairs, including a warning that final-year salaries ¡°should not be inflated to boost pension benefits¡±.

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A?Kent spokesman said that Dame Julia was paid a salary of ?265,000 in 2016-17, up from ?246,750 in the previous year, reflecting a rise ¡°in line with the sector average¡±. She also received an ¡°additional payment in lieu of [an] employer pension contribution of ?37,258¡±.

The ¡°one-off, non-pensionable bonus of ?25,000¡± was ¡°in recognition of her sustained high performance during her final year as vice-chancellor¡±, the university added, stating that Dame Julia¡¯s leadership had ¡°assisted the organisation and its staff to respond with optimism and vigour to the challenges the organisation confronted¡±.

Another long-serving leader ¨C Baroness Brown of Cambridge, who as Julia King was vice-chancellor of Aston University for 10 years until October 2016 ¨C also received a significant pay package prior to her departure.

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Lady Brown ¨C who became a dame in 2012 prior to her elevation to the House of Lords in 2015 ¨C was paid a total of ?110,863 in her final three months of office, the ?show. This included a salary of ?70,000, a ?31,000 bonus and ?9,863 in contributions towards an ¡°unregistered, unfunded retirement benefits scheme¡± in lieu of pension contributions.

It meant that some ?398,000 was paid to Aston¡¯s head of institution that year once payments of nearly ?287,000 were made to Lady Brown¡¯s successor, Alec Cameron, for his nine months in office.

Sally Hunt, general secretary of the University and College Union, said that the latest revelations are ¡°further evidence of one rule for the few at the top and another for everyone else¡±.

¡°Picking up massive pay hikes or bonuses as they retire tells [a] tale of people massively out of touch with reality on campus and in the wider world,¡± said Ms Hunt.

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An Aston?spokesman said that Lady Brown had ¡°received a payment of ?31,000 for meeting predetermined targets for exceptional leadership, including the achievement of excellent student retention rates, increased student numbers and stronger than average student satisfaction despite a rapid increase in student numbers¡±.

¡°The receipt of this payment was dependent on the meeting of these strategically important targets, and completely unrelated to her decision to retire from post,¡± he added. ¡°[Lady Brown] was not present at these committees for the discussion of her own remuneration.¡±

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jack.grove@timeshighereducation.com