Non-Academic Staff Now Outnumber Academics at King’s

University figures show non-academic staff now outnumber academics at King’s, with professional-services pay rising faster since 2019.

This article was first published in print on 22 September 2025.

King’s College London has increased spending on non-academic staff salaries by more than 40% since 2019, while academic staff pay rose by about a quarter in the same period, figures show.

According to figures disclosed under the Freedom of Information Act and seen by Roar News, non-academic salary costs rose from £163.3 million in 2019/20 to £234.2 million in 2023/24 – a 43.4% increase. During the same period, academic salary expenditure saw a much smaller 25.6% rise, increasing from £258.8 million to £325 million.

Only after Roar sought comment did King’s issue a revised dataset that redefined staff categories and shifted the headline numbers. While the original FOI appeared to show spending on non-academic staff salaries overtaking academic staff in 2023/24, the restated series places academic spending higher – but still confirms a sharper rise in non-academic pay since 2019. 

The university said the initial figures did not reflect a change to staff category definitions in 2022/23 and provided a restated series of data on a consistent basis.

It comes as the number of non-academic staff employed by the university has overtaken the number of academic staff for the first time. Data from the most recent academic year shows that King’s employed 4,612 non-academic staff, compared with 4,590 academic staff.

Academic staff include lecturers, professors, and researchers – while non-academic staff typically cover the professional services provided by the university such as administrators, managers, and support roles.

The significant rise in administrative spending coincides with a five-year period in which undergraduate tuition fees for Home students were capped at £9,250, as well as the continued growth in international student intake. The annual tuition fees for undergraduate degrees in England have since risen to £9,535 for the 2025-26 academic year, marking the first increase since 2017.

This comes as student satisfaction at King’s has remained relatively flat over recent years. The 2025 National Student Survey recorded a 79.8% average positive response – up just 2.3 percentage points compared to 2020, when King’s ranked 137th out of 396 providers. During the same period, spending on non-academic staff rose by £71 million. The data raises questions about whether rising investment in administrative roles is meaningfully improving the student experience across the board.

Over the five academic years between 2019/20 and 2023/24, the number of non-academic staff at King’s grew by 830 – a 21.9% increase. Academic staff numbers rose by 228 over the same period, representing a 5.2% increase.

Between 2020/21 and 2023/24, records show 5,342 academic staff and 3,693 non-academic staff appointments were processed. Although more academic staff were hired over this period, non-academic salary expenditure grew much more sharply – both in absolute terms and as a share of total staffing costs.

Appointments include all staff recruited during a given period, regardless of whether they remained in post. Headcount reflects those still employed at the end of each academic year. Higher turnover among academic staff helps explain why new hiring did not result in a larger net increase.

Over the period, non-academic salary expenditure increased by £71 million, compared with about £66 million for academic salaries. This reflects differences in pay bands and seniority, with many non-academic roles occupying mid- to senior-level managerial positions, while a significant proportion of academic roles are filled by junior lecturers or fixed-term teaching staff.

Meanwhile, a list of over 2,500 non-academic job titles, also seen by Roar, includes roles such as: Senior Continuous Improvement Manager, Associate Director of Belonging and Engagement, Events and Experiential Learning Officer, AV Solutions Architect Lead, Immigration Compliance Associate, and Centre Clinical Coordinator.

King’s College London confirmed to Roar that it does not retain or publish formal job descriptions for these roles, or salary data by title, but confirmed they fall within its ‘professional services framework’.

The staffing and salary trends at King’s emerge amid a broader financial squeeze across UK higher education. According to sector-wide data, nearly half of universities forecast operating deficits in 2024–25, with many cutting courses and staff as income from international students falls – a decline of approximately 21% in visa approvals. The sector’s commercial reliance on overseas fees has collided with stagnant domestic tuition caps, squeezing budgets just as inflation and pension liabilities rise.

King’s itself reported a day-to-day operating deficit of £19 million in 2023–24, once pensions and donations are excluded – despite reporting a headline surplus of £326.7 million in its annual accounts. The deficit reflects increased spending on strategic investments in professional services and infrastructure.

While UK universities commonly employ non-academic staff to support their core operations, the scale and growth of managerial and administrative hiring at King’s has outpaced increases in direct academic teaching and research provision.

The figures were released following a formal request submitted under the Freedom of Information Act 2000. King’s could not provide data for the 2024/25 academic year.

A spokesperson for King’s College London told Roar:

“The increase in non-academic salary expenditure reflects strategic decisions to increase spending in certain services to enhance student support and experience, such as research support, student support and wellbeing, and student admissions and registration. It also reflects a decision to bring outsourced estates and facilities staff in house, to ensure they would receive King’s employment benefits. We are encouraged by the recent NSS results which show that this efficient and targeted growth is already having a positive impact on student experience.”