The learned Phil Batty from the Times Higher reports 54 per cent of academics in the UK hold a PhD – which is way below the Australian figure.

The latest published fed figures, (2014), for the number of full-time and fractional full-time academic staff by state show 68 per cent of academics at Australian public universities have a PhD. It’s 73 per cent for FTE.

Just three Australian institutions were under the UK average, and then not by much, Charles Sturt U (50.7 per cent), Victoria U (53.2 per cent) and CQU (49 per cent).

Universities where 70 per cent or more of academic staff have PhDs were UoQ (83 per cent) UTS (81 per cent), Griffith, Monash and RMIT (78 per cent), UniWollongong (76 per cent), UniAdelaide and UniSA (74 per cent), UniCanberra and UniNewcastle (73 per cent), UWA (72 per cent) and Murdoch U (71 per cent).

The Higher Education Standards Framework specifies teaching staff must have a qualification one level higher than they are teaching, or equivalent experience/expertise. In the case of doctoral programmes, supervisors must have a doctorate.