21 Group

At Cambridge University, higher-paid groups see larger pay increases over time, leading to widening inequality

“Golden Fifty” is the fifty highest earners, “Inner Five” is the five highest earners. Plots shows difference between average of the higher-paid groups and average of all staff

Brutal !

Epstein donated generously to elite universities like Harvard & MIT

He used philanthropy to launder his reputation & to buy access, protection, silence

Elite universities were not naïve victims of deception

They were willing participants who accepted money & then looked away

It's over here too

At Cambridge University, higher-paid groups see larger pay increases over time, leading to widening inequality

“Golden Fifty” is the fifty highest earners, “Inner Five” is the five highest earners. Plots shows difference between average of the higher-paid groups and average of all staff

Brutal !

800 staff leave Edinburgh University amid £140m cuts drive Bosses at the institution want to cut £90m from their annual salary bill, which unions say could result in as many as 1,400 jobs being lost.

Nearly 800 staff left the University of Edinburgh last year as senior management pushes a £140m savings drive

This hits precarious staff hardest

It's a great comfort to learn that senior management pay & bonuses are unaffected 😉

www.heraldscotland.com/news/2582884...

Greenwich and Kent announce merger to become UK’s first ‘super-university’ Formal approval given for new university group to operate from August, with both institutions keeping their names

First 'super-university' ?🤣

This is something cooked up in the PR & comms dept

It distracts from the real problems: systemic underfunding, declining international enrolment & government policy that’s turned UK universities into ultra-precarious businesses

www.theguardian.com/education/20...

Cambridge University and the lost £1.3 billion

Cambridge’s endowment hasn’t really grown in a decade once you strip out inflation

If admin spending had been held flat in real terms since 2011, the endowment would be ~£1.3 bn bigger (≈30% higher) today

21percent.org?p=3186

Oxford University did not suspend professor investigated for rape - Cherwell An emeritus professor at the Saïd Business School, who is also a fellow of an Oxford college, was investigated for rape by Thames Valley Police (TVP).

Just another day at an elite university

Harassment allegations are made, reputations are protected, investigations are not made & victims not safeguarded

The powerful at Oxford close ranks

cherwell.org/2026/02/01/o...

UK ‘could lose generation of scientists’ with cuts to projects and research facilities UK’s research funding body says best scientists are taking posts overseas due to lack of job stability at home

All early career researchers know the ending : years of precarious labour, followed by joblessness & expectation that they should be grateful for the experience

Pipeline isn’t leaking. It’s being deliberately drained

People pushed out are the future

www.theguardian.com/science/2026...

University's redundancy programme cost more than £24m Martin Shipton Cardiff University’s controversial redundancy programme in 2025 cost it more than £24m to deliver, according to the institution’s Annual Report and Financial Statements. The document’s ...

You’ve got to spend money to save money

You've go to get rid of the people who do the work to make the institution efficient

Bold leadership by Cardiff University VC -- if bold means expensive, disruptive & the pain borne entirely by someone else

nation.cymru/news/univers...

Epstein donated generously to elite universities like Harvard & MIT

He used philanthropy to launder his reputation & to buy access, protection, silence

Elite universities were not naïve victims of deception

They were willing participants who accepted money & then looked away

It's over here too

Oxford Under Scrutiny: How A Mishandled Safety Case Preceded The Ouster Of Saïd’s Dean Oxford’s handling of the allegation against Bent Flyvbjerg set off a chain of events that ended with the resignation of Saïd’s dean.

Oxford University's Handling of Sexual Harassment Allegations under scrutiny

Investigation of serious matters of sexual harassment, bullying & whistleblowing needs to be taken out of hands of universities

Their inclination is to cover up & do nothing

poetsandquants.com/2026/02/02/o...

Cambridge University and the lost £1.3 billion

Cambridge’s endowment hasn’t really grown in a decade once you strip out inflation

If admin spending had been held flat in real terms since 2011, the endowment would be ~£1.3 bn bigger (≈30% higher) today

21percent.org?p=3186

Oxford University did not suspend professor investigated for rape - Cherwell An emeritus professor at the Saïd Business School, who is also a fellow of an Oxford college, was investigated for rape by Thames Valley Police (TVP).

Just another day at an elite university

Harassment allegations are made, reputations are protected, investigations are not made & victims not safeguarded

The powerful at Oxford close ranks

cherwell.org/2026/02/01/o...

UK ‘could lose generation of scientists’ with cuts to projects and research facilities UK’s research funding body says best scientists are taking posts overseas due to lack of job stability at home

All early career researchers know the ending : years of precarious labour, followed by joblessness & expectation that they should be grateful for the experience

Pipeline isn’t leaking. It’s being deliberately drained

People pushed out are the future

www.theguardian.com/science/2026...

University's redundancy programme cost more than £24m Martin Shipton Cardiff University’s controversial redundancy programme in 2025 cost it more than £24m to deliver, according to the institution’s Annual Report and Financial Statements. The document’s ...

You’ve got to spend money to save money

You've go to get rid of the people who do the work to make the institution efficient

Bold leadership by Cardiff University VC -- if bold means expensive, disruptive & the pain borne entirely by someone else

nation.cymru/news/univers...

Oxford Under Scrutiny: How A Mishandled Safety Case Preceded The Ouster Of Saïd’s Dean Oxford’s handling of the allegation against Bent Flyvbjerg set off a chain of events that ended with the resignation of Saïd’s dean.

Oxford University's Handling of Sexual Harassment Allegations under scrutiny

Investigation of serious matters of sexual harassment, bullying & whistleblowing needs to be taken out of hands of universities

Their inclination is to cover up & do nothing

poetsandquants.com/2026/02/02/o...

University's disastrous new campus could be sold for just £14m It was previously decided to sell the short-lived campus

Nottingham University bought the site for £37.5m in 2021 and spent another £40m refurbishing it

Now it’s up for sale at £14m

Many hundreds of redundancies later, we can rest assured that those responsible for the fiasco have done just fine

www.nottinghampost.com/news/notting...

Greenwich and Kent announce merger to become UK’s first ‘super-university’ Formal approval given for new university group to operate from August, with both institutions keeping their names

First 'super-university' ?🤣

This is something cooked up in the PR & comms dept

It distracts from the real problems: systemic underfunding, declining international enrolment & government policy that’s turned UK universities into ultra-precarious businesses

www.theguardian.com/education/20...

University's disastrous new campus could be sold for just £14m It was previously decided to sell the short-lived campus

Nottingham University bought the site for £37.5m in 2021 and spent another £40m refurbishing it

Now it’s up for sale at £14m

Many hundreds of redundancies later, we can rest assured that those responsible for the fiasco have done just fine

www.nottinghampost.com/news/notting...

Oxford University dodged a huge bullet when it failed to elect Peter Mandelson as Chancellor in 2024

Most supporters have since erased their public endorsements, pretending their enthusiasm never existed

Of course, there's always a great fool who splashed his support across a national newspaper 😄

Exclusive: Aberdeen University sheds more than 440 permanent staff over two years in cost-cutting drive Trade union officials say there has been a “lack of meaningful engagement" over future job losses as strike action remains on the table.

400 jobs lost but still in deficit

New Principal Prof Edwards hopes Aberdeen University can soon break even

There've been “regular management updates” about the 'Adapting for Continued Success' transformation

Small comfort to the 100s who are now jobless

www.pressandjournal.co.uk/fp/news/6943...

UKRI shelves physics infrastructure projects worth £280m - Research Professional News Exclusive: Major international collaborations with Cern and US Department of Energy in jeopardy

The UK is abandoning the discovery science that future innovation depends on

Apparently the plan for “growth sectors” is to cut fundamental physics and hope innovation just .… happens

It's betting on AI while hollowing out the science it depends on

www.researchprofessionalnews.com/rr-news-uk-r...

Oxford University dodged a huge bullet when it failed to elect Peter Mandelson as Chancellor in 2024

Most supporters have since erased their public endorsements, pretending their enthusiasm never existed

Of course, there's always a great fool who splashed his support across a national newspaper 😄

Exclusive: Aberdeen University sheds more than 440 permanent staff over two years in cost-cutting drive Trade union officials say there has been a “lack of meaningful engagement" over future job losses as strike action remains on the table.

400 jobs lost but still in deficit

New Principal Prof Edwards hopes Aberdeen University can soon break even

There've been “regular management updates” about the 'Adapting for Continued Success' transformation

Small comfort to the 100s who are now jobless

www.pressandjournal.co.uk/fp/news/6943...

UKRI shelves physics infrastructure projects worth £280m - Research Professional News Exclusive: Major international collaborations with Cern and US Department of Energy in jeopardy

The UK is abandoning the discovery science that future innovation depends on

Apparently the plan for “growth sectors” is to cut fundamental physics and hope innovation just .… happens

It's betting on AI while hollowing out the science it depends on

www.researchprofessionalnews.com/rr-news-uk-r...

A growing gap in pay is emerging at Cambridge University with an elite of high earners and the rest

The total amount paid to senior figures earning in excess of £150,000 has increased from £7 million in 2019 to £37 million in 2025

New blog posting

21percent.org?p=3167

Divide Cambridge University staff into two groups: top 50 earners ('Golden 50') & everyone else

Since 2019, inflation-adjusted pay is up ~10% for the Golden 50 but down ~10% for rest

Senior pay rises are funded by falling pay elsewhere

It's systematic transfer of money from the many to the few

Divide Cambridge University staff into two groups: top 50 earners ('Golden 50') & everyone else

Since 2019, inflation-adjusted pay is up ~10% for the Golden 50 but down ~10% for rest

Senior pay rises are funded by falling pay elsewhere

It's systematic transfer of money from the many to the few

A growing gap in pay is emerging at Cambridge University with an elite of high earners and the rest

The total amount paid to senior figures earning in excess of £150,000 has increased from £7 million in 2019 to £37 million in 2025

New blog posting

21percent.org?p=3167

Are you President of a Learned Body?

Or a University Vice-Chancellor? Or Pro-VC?

From time to time, you give one of those “Zero Tolerance to Bullying” speeches 😉

Annoyingly, then a victim contacts you

You need to give them the brusheroo

Here’s the template — courtesy of someone famous