THE PORTSMOUTH GRAMMAR SCHOOL

Registered charity 1063732 · accounts filings on the Charity Commission register · also known as PORTSMOUTH GRAMMAR SCHOOL

The Charity principally provides education in Portsmouth and the surrounding areas to boys and girls from 2 years 6 months to 18 years old.

Causes: Education/training · website · Get email alerts

Latest income

£20.2m

Latest spending

£21.3m

Registered

1997

Accounts read

FY2025

Financial health, per its FY2025 accounts

The accounts state that the school reported a net operating loss of £861,083 for the year, driven by increased financing costs and sector-wide pressures such as VAT on fees. While free reserves dropped to £303,599, falling below the stated policy target of three months' operating costs, the trustees maintain that the school has adequate resources to continue as a going concern due to its cash position and strategic cost management.

Automated summary of the FY2025 accounts; the evidenced findings below carry the verbatim passages.

What the accounts disclose

Reserves position: below the charity's own stated reserves policy (held: £304k; policy: three months operating costs)

“This has dropped beneath the planned level for three months operating costs which for 24/25 was £5,325,374” — page 13

Per its FY2025 accounts as filed with the Charity Commission.

Related-party transaction: The Head is a Trustee of The PortsFest charity. At the year-end PortsFest owed the School £683 (2024: £8,717). The School contributed £nil (2024: £15,000) to PortsFest during the financial year.

“The Head is a Trustee of The PortsFest charity. At the year-end PortsFest owed the School £683 (2024: £8,717). The School contributed £nil (2024: £15,000) to PortsFest during the financial year.” — page 43

“The Head’s remuneration package includes an interest free loan of £100,000 in respect of accommodation in the year. The loan was made on the 9th May 2023 and the balance of £100,000 remained outstanding at year end.” — page 43

Per its FY2025 accounts as filed with the Charity Commission.

Related-party transaction: The Head’s remuneration package includes an interest free loan of £100,000 in respect of accommodation in the year. The loan was made on the 9th May 2023 and the balance of £100,000 remained outstanding at year end.

“The Head is a Trustee of The PortsFest charity. At the year-end PortsFest owed the School £683 (2024: £8,717). The School contributed £nil (2024: £15,000) to PortsFest during the financial year.” — page 43

“The Head’s remuneration package includes an interest free loan of £100,000 in respect of accommodation in the year. The loan was made on the 9th May 2023 and the balance of £100,000 remained outstanding at year end.” — page 43

Per its FY2025 accounts as filed with the Charity Commission.

Pension scheme deficit: £39.8m

“The Valuation Report shows notional assets of £222.2bn and liabilities of £262bn, resulting in a scheme deficit of £39.8bn.”

Per its FY2025 accounts as filed with the Charity Commission.

Trading subsidiary: PGS Promotions Limited

“The school also has one wholly owned subsidiary company, PGS Promotions Limited, company number 02937047.” — page 5

Per its FY2025 accounts as filed with the Charity Commission.

Accounts audited by Crowe U.K. LLP. Discloses 4 of 6 completeness components.

Corporate structure

Trading subsidiary: PGS PROMOTIONS LIMITED Companies House 02937047
Registered company of the charity Companies House 03401010

PGS PROMOTIONS LIMITED — per its own Companies House accounts

Turnover: £139k
Profit before tax: £-69k
Note 7 discloses £152,331 owed to group undertakings (2024: £160,481). Note 9 states transactions with the parent are exempt from disclosure as results are included in the parent's consolidated accounts.

Leadership, per the charity’s website

Mr David Wickes — Head (source)

Listed on the charity’s own website when we last crawled it; roles may have changed. Pay-band disclosures above are anonymous statutory disclosures and are not attributed to any named individual.

Company officers (Companies House)

Current officers of the charity’s own company per the Companies House register, cross-checked against the Charity Commission trustee list by name. A director not on the trustee list is usually a timing or naming difference between the two registers — check both records before drawing conclusions.

SIGALET, Lisa Marie — director, appointed 05/12/2025on trustee list
HARDWICK, Philippa Anne — director, appointed 14/10/2025on trustee list
DREVER, Rebecca Jayne — director, appointed 09/10/2025on trustee list
WEAVER, Nicholas John — director, appointed 09/10/2025on trustee list
AVES, Alexandra Louise — director, appointed 09/10/2025on trustee list
MURPHIE, John Dermot Douglas — director, appointed 20/06/2025on trustee list
MAZAS, Philippe Marc Marie — director, appointed 07/02/2025on trustee list
PASCOE, Jonathan Mark — director, appointed 18/10/2024on trustee list
MILLAR, John — director, appointed 18/10/2024on trustee list
MOYLER, Ross Daniel — director, appointed 31/08/2024on trustee list
HARRIES, Caroline Madeleine Jean — director, appointed 08/12/2023on trustee list
CHAPMAN, Vivienne Mary — director, appointed 19/03/2021on trustee list
BURDEN, Thomas William — director, appointed 21/04/2020on trustee list
CANE, Anthony William Nicholas — director, appointed 16/03/2019on trustee list
ROSS, Sally Joanne, Dr — director, appointed 03/02/2018on trustee list
GINGELL, Sally — director, appointed 03/02/2018on trustee list
LODDER, Peter Norman — director, appointed 05/07/2013on trustee list
JONES, Clare Louise — secretary, appointed 02/10/2025
READ, Richard John — secretary, appointed 01/09/2022

Official officers record.

Property (HM Land Registry)

14 registered titles in England and Wales held by the charity’s company or corporate body (12 freehold); recorded price paid £1.6m. All charity-held property. Contains HM Land Registry data © Crown copyright, OGL v3.0.

Public profiles (found on the charity’s own website): facebook · instagram

Structured financials (annual return, FY ending 31/08/2025)

Total income

£20.2m

Total spending

£21.3m

Cost of raising funds

£664k

Reserves (reported)

£304k

Employees

319

Reported reserves equal ~0.2 months of spending — in the bottom quarter for charities its size (median 4.6 months; benchmarks).

Per its annual return, cost of raising funds: 3.3% of total income — below the median for charities its size (3.8%) (benchmarks).

Register events

Received assets from another charity (13/05/2018) — per the register’s event history; asset transfers typically record mergers or reorganisations.

Trustees · trustee networks

Alexandra Louise Aves
Caroline Madeleine Jean Harries
Dr Sally Joanne Ross
His Honour Judge Peter Norman Lodder
John Dermot Douglas Murphie
John Millar
Jonathan Mark Pascoe
Lisa Marie Sigalet
Nicholas John Weaver · trustee of 1 other charity
Philippa Anne Hardwick · trustee of 1 other charity
Philippe Marc Marie Mazas · trustee of 3 other charities
Rebecca Jayne Drever
Ross Daniel Moyler
Sally Gingell
The Very Revd Dr Anthony William Nicholas Strephon Cane
Thomas William Burden
Vivienne Mary Chapman

Trustee list from the Charity Commission register (current, not historical).

Operates in: Hampshire

Income and spending

Financial year end	Income	Spending
31/08/2025	£20.2m	£21.3m
31/08/2024	£22.4m	£21.6m
31/08/2023	£20.7m	£20.5m
31/08/2022	£18.4m	£20.0m
31/08/2021	£19.3m	£18.2m

Common questions

Is THE PORTSMOUTH GRAMMAR SCHOOL financially healthy?

Per its FY2025 accounts: The accounts state that the school reported a net operating loss of £861,083 for the year, driven by increased financing costs and sector-wide pressures such as VAT on fees. While free reserves dropped to £303,599, falling below the stated policy target of three months' operating costs, the trustees maintain that the school has adequate resources to continue as a going concern due to its cash position and strategic cost management. Its FY2025 accounts were audited by Crowe U.K. LLP.

Who funds THE PORTSMOUTH GRAMMAR SCHOOL?

Funders whose own accounts filings name THE PORTSMOUTH GRAMMAR SCHOOL as a grant recipient include THE WILLIAM ALLEN YOUNG CHARITABLE TRUST.

Known funders

Grants to this charity found in funders’ own accounts filings.

Funder	Year	Amount	Purpose (as stated by the funder)
THE WILLIAM ALLEN YOUNG CHARITABLE TRUST	FY2022	£2k
THE WILLIAM ALLEN YOUNG CHARITABLE TRUST	FY2024	£1k
THE WILLIAM ALLEN YOUNG CHARITABLE TRUST	FY2023	£500

Funders of similar charities

Funders whose accounts show grants to charities similar to this one (and no recorded grant to this charity) — a starting list for fundraisers.

Funder	Similar charities funded	Amount to them
The Keith Howard Foundation	1	£100k
THE BARTLETT FOUNDATION	1	£86k
THE CHARIS TRUST	1	£58k
THE CATHERINE COOKSON CHARITABLE TRUST	1	£50k

Charities like this

Semantically similar by activities and financial character, from our analysed corpus. Compare with NEWCASTLE SCHOOL FOR BOYS.

NEWCASTLE SCHOOL FOR BOYS income £5.7m
ST JOHN'S COLLEGE LIMITED income £7.1m
PORT REGIS SCHOOL LTD income £8.6m
THE DOWNS SCHOOL (CHARLTON HOUSE) LIMITED income £5.8m
THE GRAMMAR SCHOOL AT LEEDS income £32.8m
DURSTON HOUSE SCHOOL EDUCATIONAL TRUST LIMITED income £6.9m

Side by side with its peers

Charity	Income	Top pay band	Staff >£60k	Reserves vs policy	Fundraising cost	Going concern
THE PORTSMOUTH GRAMMAR SCHOOL	£20.2m	—	—	below	—	no doubt
NEWCASTLE SCHOOL FOR BOYS FY2025	£5.7m	—	—	below	—	material uncertainty
ST JOHN'S COLLEGE LIMITED FY2025	£7.1m	—	—	unclear	—	no doubt
PORT REGIS SCHOOL LTD FY2025	£8.6m	—	—	unclear	—	no doubt
THE DOWNS SCHOOL (CHARLTON HOUSE) LIMITED FY2025	£5.8m	—	—	unclear	—	no doubt
THE GRAMMAR SCHOOL AT LEEDS FY2025	£32.8m	—	—	above	—	no doubt

Each row is that charity’s latest analysed filing; every value is quote-backed on its own page.