THE University of York has agreed to pay £500,000 after joining the prestigious Russell Group, which receives the bulk of UK university research grants.

As The Press reported in March last year, the university joined the country’s elite group of universities and works with the likes of the Universities of Cambridge and Oxford on maintaining and expanding world-class scientific research, teaching and learning in the UK.

York joined along with Exeter, Durham and Queen Mary, London, and at the time no mention was made of a joining fee.

But a Freedom of Information request to the four institutions has subsequently revealed that each has agreed to pay an extra £100,000 a year to the group over the next five years.

This means that their annual subscriptions over that period will be £159,000, compared with about £22,000 paid by 1994 Group members – the group York left to join the Russell Group.

A spokeswoman for the Russell Group said it had sought the extra contributions “to cover the one-off costs of the expansion and in recognition of the investment made by existing members when developing the organisation”.

A spokesman for the University of York said: “The Russell Group is a well-staffed and highly effective organisation which speaks clearly on behalf of the top universities in the UK.

‘‘In addition, it provides high quality advice and support for its members. Taking these points together, we believe the subscription fee charged by the Russell Group to the new members represents value for money.”

The Russell Group is an association of 24 British universities and was established in 1994 to lobby the government.

In response, 19 smaller universities formed the 1994 Group.

In 2010, Russell Group members received approximately two-thirds of all university research grant and contract income in the United Kingdom.