Dr Melissa Avdeeff 🌿

Academic Lolly Stirling University boss, Sir Gerry McCormac, [pictured] has rocketed 40% - from £295,000 in 2022, to a whopping £414,000 last year. His total package, including pension contributions, has been raised from £320,000 two years ago to £438,000 today. Gerry has now overtaken Edinburgh University head Sir Peter Mathieson, becoming the highest paid further education boss in Scotland - and receives more than double the £166,786 earned annually by Prime Minister Keir Starmer. The increase was branded "simply obscene" last night by Mary Senior, Scotland official at the UCU union, who warned pay hikes for bosses were compounding the financial challenges faced by universities. There are fears they also undermine repeated calls from the sector for the Scottish Government to implement a more sustainable funding model. Senior said: "University staff can only dream about getting 14 per cent salary hikes. Over the past two years this principal has managed to add almost a staggering £120,000 to his annual earnings. With the extra £24,000 in added benefits he receives, he earns over nine times more than the average worker at the university. "This level of salary and salary inflation at the top of our universities is simply obscene. However, the university said Sir Gerry had turned down pay rises in eight of the past ten years, and had donated £120,000 to the Vice-Chancellor's Fund in the last decade.