Fancy an easy life? Become an academic. Academics have a shorter working week, more annual leave and better parental benefits, pensions and sick pay than employees in other parts of the public and private sectors, according to new research reported in Times Higher Education (June 19).

The median working hours are 36 per week, compared with 37 hours for staff in private companies and public sector organisations, finds the study of 109 universities by Income Data Services for the Universities and Colleges Employers Association (Ucea).

More than 90 per cent of respondents provide more than the statutory maternity pay, compared with 15 per cent in the economy as a whole, it says. “[Universities provide] among the better employment conditions when compared with the whole economy,” says Jocelyn Prudence, the chief executive of Ucea. But the challenged the notion that academics work shorter hours.

“This blatantly disregards the actual hours worked each week by academics and paints a misleading picture,” says Sally Hunt, the general secretary. Academics' pay has only just caught up with that of comparable professions, she adds.

It's a grand life in academia

Academics have a shorter working week, more annual leave and better parental benefits, pensions and sick pay than the rest of us

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But Ucea says that in 2007-08 higher education staff received pay rises totalling at least 6 per cent, “much higher than in other parts of the public sector”.

Sheila Gupta, chair of the Universities Personnel Association, says: “While we've still got a long way to go in some respects, our sector has made great progress in rewarding and developing our staff.”

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Ofsted should sort it out, says the General Teaching Council for England. It has called for the watchdog to inspect schools on race equality in the belief that schools are struggling to meet their obligations under the Race Relations Act, Children & Young People Now (June 18) reports.

Ofsted also needs to listen harder to critics of its plans for Early Years Foundation Stage (EYFS) inspections, says another article in the same issue. Its consultation process unearthed fears about the frequency and length of inspections. Says Richard House, senior lecturer at Roehampton University: “Ofsted's assertion that the plans were well received gives the highly misleading impression that there is great majority support for both the EYFS and the Ofsted inspection regime per se.”

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