Professor Salary
Official ONS earnings for the UK, covering 246,000 jobs.
Median salary
£46,494
gross, per year, all employees
Part-time work is common in this occupation, so the figure above sits 13.6% below the £52,835 median for people working full-time.
▲ 1.8% change on the previous year
Full-time only
£52,835
Part-time only
£18,233
Mean
£46,955
Jobs measured
246,000
What a typical professor takes home
On the full-time median of £52,835, 2026/27 tax year, England, Wales and Northern Ireland rates, no pension or student loan.
Take-home a month
£3,433
Take-home a year
£41,202
Income Tax
£8,566
National Insurance
£3,067
What most professors actually earn
Half of professors earn between £30,275 and £62,547. Earning above £62,547 puts you in the top quarter of the profession.
The full pay range
Each bar is the salary at that percentile — the 25th means a quarter of professors earn less than this.
Professor salary by region
10 of 11 GB regions have a published figure for this occupation.
| Region | Median | Mean |
|---|---|---|
| North West | £50,053 | £52,005 |
| London | £48,841 | £49,532 |
| Wales | £48,809 | £47,759 |
| Scotland | £48,035 | £49,502 |
| South West | £46,228 | £46,915 |
| Yorkshire and The Humber | £46,120 | £48,569 |
| West Midlands | £43,442 | £43,148 |
| East Midlands | £43,173 | £46,567 |
| East | £39,876 | £48,435 |
| South East | £39,131 | £40,243 |
Where this figure comes from
- ONS occupation group
- Higher education teaching professionals
- SOC 2020 code
- 2311
- Measure
- Gross annual pay, all employees
- Edition
- ONS Annual Survey of Hours and Earnings, 2025 provisional
ONS doesn't measure “professor” as its own category. These figures are for the wider group “Higher education teaching professionals”, which includes this role alongside others. ONS measures all higher education teaching professionals together, so a professor sits in the same figure as an early-career lecturer.
Source: Office for National Statistics, Annual Survey of Hours and Earnings. Contains public sector information licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0. Figures are estimates from a survey of PAYE jobs and are not financial advice.
Professor salary FAQs
What is the average Professor salary in the UK?
The median is £46,494 a year and the mean is £46,955, according to the ONS Annual Survey of Hours and Earnings. Those cover all employees; full-time employees alone have a median of £52,835 and part-time employees £18,233.
How much does a professor earn per hour?
Across the UK the median hourly rate is £28.94 excluding overtime, or £29.71 for full-time employees. ASHE publishes hourly pay by occupation nationally only.
What is a good Professor salary?
Half of professors earn between £30,275 and £62,547. Anything above £62,547 is in the top quarter for the role.
What is the starting salary for a professor?
ASHE does not record experience, so there is no official starting salary. What it does show is that the lowest-paid 10% of professors earn under £12,865 and the lowest quarter under £30,275 — the range a new entrant is most likely to be offered.
How much do the highest-paid professors earn?
The top 10% of professors earn more than £75,466 a year, and the top quarter more than £62,547. ASHE does not publish figures above the 90th percentile.
Which part of the UK pays professors the most?
North West, at a median of £50,053, is the highest of the 4 GB regions with a precise ONS estimate; Scotland is the lowest at £48,035. Regions where ONS marks the figure as imprecise are not ranked.
Has professor pay gone up in the last year?
ASHE puts the year-on-year change in the median at +1.8% for this occupation in the UK. That compares the latest survey with the one before it and is not adjusted for inflation.
How many professors are there in the UK?
ASHE counts around 246,000 employee jobs in “Higher education teaching professionals” (SOC 2311) in the UK. Self-employed work is not included.
Is this figure official?
Yes. It comes from the ONS Annual Survey of Hours and Earnings, an accredited official statistic based on employer PAYE records.
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