Professor Salary in South East
Official ONS earnings for South East, covering 46,000 jobs.
Median salary — South East
£39,131
gross, per year, all employees
▼ 4% change on the previous year
Mean
£40,243
Jobs measured
46,000
What a typical professor takes home
On the median of £39,131, 2026/27 tax year, England, Wales and Northern Ireland rates, no pension or student loan.
Take-home a month
£2,641
Take-home a year
£31,694
Income Tax
£5,312
National Insurance
£2,125
What most professors actually earn
Half of professors in South East earn between £27,776 and £49,650. Earning above £49,650 puts you in the top quarter of the profession.
ONS suppresses the detailed spread for this occupation at regional level, so this range describes the wider “Teaching Professionals” group in South East.
The full pay range
Each bar is the salary at that percentile — the 25th means a quarter of professors earn less than this.
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 publishes a sampling error of 11.2% for this figure and asks that anything above 10% is treated as imprecise — too few people in this region answered the survey for this occupation. The figure is shown because it is the one ONS published, but it is not firm enough to rank South East against anywhere else, so this page doesn't.
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 South East?
The median is £39,131 a year and the mean is £40,243, according to the ONS Annual Survey of Hours and Earnings. Those cover all employees; ASHE publishes no full-time split at regional level.
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, so there is no separate rate for South East.
What is a good Professor salary?
Half of professors earn between £27,776 and £49,650. Anything above £49,650 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 £16,491 and the lowest quarter under £27,776 — 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 £60,778 a year, and the top quarter more than £49,650. ASHE does not publish figures above the 90th percentile.
Do professors in South East earn more than the UK average?
The median in South East is £39,131 against £46,494 across the UK, 15.8% lower. ONS marks the South East figure as imprecise, so treat the gap as indicative.
Has professor pay gone up in the last year?
ASHE puts the year-on-year change in the median at -4.0% for this occupation in South East. That compares the latest survey with the one before it and is not adjusted for inflation.
How many professors are there in South East?
ASHE counts around 46,000 employee jobs in “Higher education teaching professionals” (SOC 2311) in South East. 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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