Hysterical data work from the BBC here. "Principal lecturer" is not a real job. Many PhD students and 99% of postdocs (who in the real world make less than £30k) have "a record of original research." And the overwhelming majority of people who do the work of "Research/Teaching Assistant" are grad students whose stipends (if they have any!) are below £20k.
Just the other day Oxford advertised a 6-month contract demanding Teaching experience and a record of original research and they were offering less than £30k!
Imagine that, moving to an unbelievably expensive city to take on a 50-hour week of teaching fuckloads of modules, getting thrown back on the curb after only 6 months, and getting less than £15k for your trouble. It's madness. It's intentionally cruel.
UK universities are still paying staff less than £30 *per lecture*. That's £30 to research, write, and deliver a 1 hour lecture. Examining a PhD? That's £115 to read a thesis of 150+ pages, check every source, spot typos, evaluate the research, travel to another part of the country, examine the viva, write the report. Examining PhDs works out to less than £4 per hour. And that's for assessing candidates for the highest university degree!
garfield