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Details of the Vice-Chancellor’s remuneration package are published each year in our financial statements.

Professor Frances Bowen became our Vice-Chancellor on 1 August 2025, meaning her salary and benefits would not normally be published until the end of the 2025-26 financial and academic year. As part of our University’s commitment to transparency and open engagement with our University community, we believe it’s important to share this information as early as possible.

Professor Bowen will be paid a salary of £280,000 for the 2025-26 academic year. In addition, she is a member of the Universities Superannuation Scheme (USS), the pension scheme available to the majority of University employees, receiving the standard employer contribution for USS members, currently 14.5%.

Other benefits

The University owns a property on the Colchester Campus known as Lake House. The property was constructed at the same time as the original University buildings to enable the Vice-Chancellor to live at the heart of our campus and to fulfil their responsibilities more effectively.

Lake House’s location on the Colchester Campus means there is no current opportunity for the University to receive a commercial rental income for this property. Professor Bowen will reside at Lake House and is not required to make rental payments for the property. A schedule of events held in Lake House, hosted by the Vice-Chancellor for the benefit of University staff, students and external stakeholders, is published on the University’s website on 31 July each year.

On her appointment, Professor Bowen declined private medical insurance and a car allowance. She will pay her own personal tax liability for the accommodation in Lake House as her primary residence during her period of office. There are no performance-related pay or bonus schemes included in Professor Bowen’s contract.

How pay and remuneration is set

Our Remuneration Committee sets the pay and remuneration package of the Vice-Chancellor and reviews their performance each year. The Remuneration Committee takes into account the performance of the University and the Vice-Chancellor against our institutional KPIs, our gender pay gaps, executive pay ratio and benchmarking against similar leading universities. The Vice-Chancellor does not sit on the Remuneration Committee and does not take part in decisions about their salary.

Last updated 1 August 2025