Remuneration of the Vice-Chancellor & President of King's

The Vice-Chancellor & President of King’s College London, Professor Shitij Kapur has made clear his commitment to financial transparency. As part of that, he believes it is important for everyone in the university’s community to have easy access to information about the salary the Vice-Chancellor & President is paid, and how this remuneration is calculated and structured.

This page has been established to provide that information. It will be updated annually to reflect any changes. A breakdown of payments to our Vice-Chancellor & President is also published annually in our financial statements. 

The salary of the Vice-Chancellor & President is set by the university’s Remuneration Committee, a sub-committee of the university’s Council.  The Committee is responsible for setting the remuneration and terms of service for the Vice-Chancellor & President and other senior post holders at the university.  The Remuneration Committee reports directly into Council; its membership does not include the Vice-Chancellor & President or any other member of the Senior Management Team. The Vice-Chancellor & President's salary is reviewed on an annual basis and in setting this the Committee is informed by guidance from the Council of University Chairs.

Professor Kapur was appointed to start as Vice-Chancellor & President of King’s in June 2021 after a three-decade long career as an academic in world-leading universities, having served in senior roles as Dean, Executive Dean and Assistant Vice-Chancellor. He brings to this role extensive experience of having served on the Boards and Councils of numerous academic, research and medical institutions.

The decision of Council and the Selection Panel to appoint Professor Kapur followed an extensive global search and recruitment exercise.

The salary received by Professor Kapur is proportionate to equivalent leadership roles in similar institutions in the UK, and reflective of the responsibility of leading a large and complex higher education and research-intensive organisation. The level of pay received by the Vice-Chancellor & President is determined by several factors, including:

• The breadth of responsibilities, leading one of the UK’s largest universities with 8,000 staff, 33,000 students and over 200,000 alumni.
• The financial responsibilities for an institution with a turnover of £1bn.
• Leading a globally connected and internationally renowned university that holds links and partnerships with nations across the globe.

The Vice-Chancellor & President's annualised remuneration details as of November 2021

Details of pay ratios between Vice-Chancellor & President and other staff

As part of our reporting to the Office for Students, we publish details of the pay ratios between the Vice-Chancellor & President and other staff.

This package of salary and benefits put together is currently valued at £398,000. This overall package is lower than the Vice-Chancellor & President's remuneration in 2019-2020,  which was £463,000.

In comparison to median salaries at King's for the 2020/21 financial year, the salary received by Professor Shitij Kapur is 7.8 times the median base pay of staff at King’s and 8.8 times to the median total remuneration.  This is down from 9.2 and 10.7 respectively in 2019/2020 which was calculated using the former Vice-Chancellor & President's remuneration.

The median base pay is not to be confused with average mean base salary. The median is the midpoint salary of all other employees.

The Office for Students publishes an annual report disclosing the remuneration of senior staff in English higher education providers. The latest report covering remuneration for 2019/2020 was published on the 12 November 2021 and is available here for reference.

Senior staff remuneration: Analysis of the 2019-20 disclosures - Office for Students

Other remuneration

The Vice-Chancellor & President has no other remunerated appointments and is required to get the approval of the Chair of Council before entering any such work.  This information is current and will be modified if anything changes.

Accommodation and related expenses

The Vice-Chancellor & President of King’s, as at many universities, is required to live in accommodation on or near to campus as a condition of their employment to fulfil their academic, representational, engagement and fundraising duties. The accommodation and related expenses are deemed to be a benefit with a value of £40,000 per year and the Vice-Chancellor & President is personally responsible for the tax payments related to this benefit.

Relocation expenses for the Vice-Chancellor & President are detailed in King’s financial statements for the year ending 31 July 2021 (pdf 943KB).

Pension

The Vice-Chancellor & President is personally responsible for paying the USS pension employee member contribution.

The Vice-Chancellor & President's contract start date and length