SOAS Tutors Paid 40% Less Than UCL

by Anna Hamerow, BA International Relations 03/02/2025

A comparative analysis run by SOAS tutors has revealed that Graduate Teaching Assistants (GTAs) and Teaching Fellows (TFs) at UCL and KCL are paid 40% and 48%, respectively, more than GTAs/TFs at SOAS for the equivalent work. GTAs and TFs make up nearly all of the tutors at SOAS. These figures are based on contracts shared by GTAs/TFs at UCL and KCL and information found on their university websites. 

In response, several SOAS tutors have published a document titled “Proposals to Address Issues with GTA/TF Pay and Working Conditions at SOAS University.” This report outlines the pay gap and poor working conditions while collecting over 200 signatures in support of their demands. A key factor behind the pay disparity, according to the document, is the significantly lower payment for marking essays.

SOAS GTAs/TFs are allotted 24 minutes to mark a 1,500–4,000-word essay, whereas UCL and KCL allocate one hour for the same task. The document argues that marking cannot reasonably be completed at a faster rate at SOAS, effectively leaving their tutors paid only 40% of the rate received by UCL and KCL tutors for comparable work. A survey conducted among SOAS tutors confirmed that none of the respondents felt the paid time reflected the actual effort required.

The excessive marking workload has compounded the issue, with tutors frequently struggling to meet deadlines. The document demands a revision of marking pay to match that of other London universities and calls for additional hiring to reduce workloads. These measures, it argues, would improve both tutor well-being and the quality of feedback provided to students.

The disparities extend to preparation time for teaching. While SOAS pays GTAs/TFs an extra 90 minutes per teaching hour, UCL and KCL provide 120 minutes. Tutors at SOAS report that their preparation time is no shorter, leading to a greater amount of unpaid work. This disparity, combined with the unequal marking pay, further widens the overall pay gap between SOAS and other London universities.

The document not only highlights pay issues but also criticises working conditions faced by SOAS GTAs/TFs. It reports that SOAS tutors often teach tutorials of 20–30 students per class, sometimes exceeding 30. These class sizes, the document states, directly contradict SOAS’ emphasis on the importance of active learning and student engagement. The excessive size of tutorials is attributed to SOAS’ growing student intake, with the undergraduate population increasing by almost 800 students between 2022 and 2024.

The document demands that class sizes be capped at 15 students to improve conditions for tutors and enhance the learning experience for students. To achieve this, it calls for hiring additional tutors. It also demands that GTAs/TFs be allowed to decline teaching more than three classes without a break, addressing the issue of consecutive classes, which often occur in different buildings. The current situation, the document argues, leaves tutors exhausted and harms the overall quality of teaching.

In light of SOAS achieving a £40 million surplus for the academic year 2023–24, up by £28 million from the previous year, one GTA commented, “They’ve got more than enough money to pay us, hire more GTAs, and hire administrators to make the place work properly.” Despite this financial surplus, SOAS tutors remain significantly underpaid compared to UCL and KCL. Despite the reported £40 million surplus, a SOAS spokesperson stated that this figure was misleading, as following restructuring costs and pension provision, the unrestricted surplus was £6.3 million, as reported in SOAS’ financial statements.

The 2025 Times University Rankings placed SOAS second to last in the UK for teaching quality, just above the Royal Agricultural University. The GTA/TF demands document explicitly links these outcomes to their poor pay and working conditions.

Responding to these issues, Sophie Binns, a student organiser with SOAS Justice for Workers, stated, “SOAS attracts students who value progressive politics and decolonial thought and who wish for a more equitable future. SOAS profits off this reputation, but the values that students hold and academics teach are not practised by management.”

In response to the demands, a working group was formed between SOAS Management and GTAs/TFs. However, following the first meeting, several GTAs/TFs reported “rather disappointing and frankly insulting responses” from SOAS Management, including one comment that “GTA is a training opportunity. It’s not a job.”

In response to this article a  SOAS spokesperson said:

“We strongly believe that the Graduate Teaching Assistant (GTA) scheme continues to offer valuable developmental experience for our PhD students to develop skills and experience that support their pursuit of an academic career.

“We understand that some GTAs, particularly those new to teaching, have not felt fully supported and we will be providing additional training to ensure colleagues feel prepared. Our Learning and Teaching Enhancement team will be offering further developmental training to support GTAs with student queries, managing class sizes and marking.

“We also accept that the experience GTA recruits had at the beginning of the year when contracts were issued late must be addressed and we are committed to resolving this in consultation with GTAs.”

“Our constructive discussions with GTAs have been appreciated and we acknowledge the concerns they have raised, which our Provost has formally responded to in writing this week. We are continuing to listen to feedback and take part in discussions to improve the experience for GTAs at SOAS.”

A longer statement, which covers the issues raised in the article around marking, class size and preparation is available on The SOAS Spirit website, alongside the digital version of this article.