KCL as an Employer

KCL UCU — Employer Analysis

King’s has the money.
We don’t have to take their word for it.

The 2024–25 financial statement is public.

Here is what it shows and what it means for us.

8.4%

Revenue growth in one year

£39.8m

Operating surplus

4%

Target surplus by 2027–28

2.5%

Staff pay rise — below inflation

KCL’s Financial Position

Published by King’s College London. These are their own figures.

  • £39.8m — Operating surplus. A swing of nearly £43m from the previous year’s near-deficit. King’s is not struggling. It is accumulating.
  • £321m — Cash and short-term investments. Enough to fund 93 days of operations with zero income.
  • 8.4% — Revenue growth in one year, driven by record international student fees, up £67m. Staff generated this growth and did not share in it.
  • £270m — Planned capital estate expansion (Bush House South West), self-funded from reserves — while staff wages fall behind inflation.
  • 35,148 — Students. A growing student body generating record income. More students, more pressure on staff, lower real pay.
  • 4% — Target surplus by 2027–28. Management is planning to accumulate more, not less.

The Other Side of the Ledger

What workers experience while the surplus grows

Pay

“Year after year we get told there is no money. Then the accounts come out and there is a forty-million-pound surplus. I am earning less in real terms than five years ago. They made a choice, and it was not us.”

— KCL UCU member, Professional Services

Casualisation

“I have been teaching here on short-term contracts for three years. Every semester is provisional. I plan nothing, because nothing is stable. Meanwhile, the university posts record income built on my labour.”

— KCL UCU member, Academic Staff

Workplace Democracy

“Decisions that affect our day-to-day lives are made at the top and handed down. We are told, not asked. We are consulted after the fact, if at all. I do not call that a university community.”

— KCL UCU member, Research Staff

Migrant Worker Costs

“While the University covered my visa costs, I had to pay for the Indefinite Leave to Remain expenses — just to keep my right to work here. This means that my salary is much lower than that of my British colleagues.”

— KCL UCU member, Academic Staff

The Pay Gap at the Top

While the national pay award for all staff was 2.5% (below the rate of inflation) the Vice-Chancellor’s base salary rose from £313,000 to £355,000 — an increase of 13.4%. Total remuneration reached £446,000.

VC pay vs. median employee pay: 8.2× — up from 7.4× the year before.

Vice-Chancellor base salary increase

+13.4%

National pay award — all staff

+2.5%

The accounts don’t lie. Neither do we.

King’s financial statement reveals a university that has moved from a period of financial stabilization into a phase of significant surplus generation and strategic accumulation. Secure contracts, fair pay, and a democratic workplace are not radical demands — they are common sense and affordable ones. Let’s organise to win.

Get Involved — Join UCU KCL

Source: King’s College London Financial Statements 2024–25. All figures from publicly available accounts. Analysis by KCL UCU Branch.