LSE postgraduate teachers 'paid as little as cleaners'

One of London's top universities has been criticised for using inexperienced postgraduate students as a cheap teaching alternative to full-time staff.

Graduate teachers at the London School of Economics claim they are being over-worked and under-paid by bosses, earning similar wages to a domestic cleaner. Managers at the business school have been accused of using more postgraduates to deal with the rising intake of students, which has almost tripled over the past two decades.

Student teachers have presented a report to the LSE's chiefs, claiming they are being paid for half the hours they work, are teaching more than triple the recommended hours and are earning as little as £13 an hour.

"Many PhD students want to become academics so universities can rely on a willing pool of students willing to take on this work at rock-bottom prices," the report said.

Students have complained that they can go for months without meeting a full-time lecturer face-to-face.

But an LSE spokesman said it was investing an extra £2million a year improving teaching, and a pay increase for graduate teachers was being implemented. "We do use graduate teachers and they play a valuable role, but they do not substitute for full-time qualified lecturers," he said.