A freedom of information request ordered by the University and College Union revealed that around 61% of tutorial teaching is performed by academics on fixed term or hourly-pay contracts. These contracts are based on hours spent in contact with students, failing to recognise the hours of preparation, marking, and student support that academics have to provide in order to do their job properly. When the actual hours worked are taken into account, the hourly rate at which these academics are working often falls below minimum wage.
Jo Grady, the general secretary of the UCU, said: “Oxford’s colleges have endowments stretching back to the middle ages, so it is nothing short of scandalous that many of the academics leading tutorials are kept on ‘Deliveroo-style’ contracts.” She explained how it “props up its tutorial system with academics exploited into working on poverty pay” - an exploitation that will mostly be impacting PhD students and academics trying to break into the profession.
the hourly rate at which these academics are working often falls below minimum wage
Oxford has made attempts to confront this issue, as Oxford’s vice-chancellor, Professor Irene Tracey, ordered a review of pay and conditions, in order to “ease the pressure” young academics were under. However, the review did not include staff hired solely by colleges to teach tutorials. An advert for such a job was posted by Christ Church College, whose income was around £42.6m in 2022-23, offering a stipendiary lectureship for £15,244 to £16,983. Originally advertised as full time, this would’ve meant that the hourly rate was substantially below minimum wage.
I love the teaching, it’s the pay that’s the problem
One tutor highlighted that “given that this teaching is Oxford’s big selling point to undergraduates it is a very particular form of hypocrisy”. International students might pay around £41,000 per year to study at Oxford, whereas at Newcastle they would pay £23,000 for the same course.
The prestigious University, which has been ranked number one worldwide for 2025 in both the Times Higher Education university rankings and the Guardian’s, has seemingly gained a reputation amongst academics for this style of employment. One PhD student, speaking anonymously, said: “I love the teaching, it’s the pay that’s the problem. It’s a joke among people at other universities. They say: ‘Wow, you’re teaching at Oxford. But they don’t really pay you, do they?’ ”. He also explained how he had to teach at another London based institution just “to finance the teaching at Oxford.”
