ABINGDON SCHOOL

Registered charity 1071298 · accounts filings on the Charity Commission register

To advance, for the public benefit, the education of children and young people not older than the age of 19 years at Abingdon School and Abingdon Preparatory School or such other school as the Governors may from time to time determine.

Causes: Education/training · website · Get email alerts

Latest income
£34.7m
Latest spending
£34.1m
Registered
1998
Accounts read
FY2025

Financial health, per its FY2025 accounts

The accounts state that total unrestricted funds stood at £53,291,000, though the trustees note that the group operates with negative free reserves because surpluses are reinvested into fixed assets. The trustees consider the level of activity and year-end financial position to be satisfactory, citing adequate working capital and predictable cash flows from pupil rolls.

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

What the accounts disclose

Reserves policy: No target level of free reserves set (held: £53.3m)
“it is the School’s policy to build up funds to meet planned improvements and additions to the school’s resources principally by means of annual operating surpluses and therefore the Governors have not set a target level of free reserves.”
Per its FY2025 accounts as filed with the Charity Commission.
Related-party transaction: Purchase of Tilsley Park usage from subsidiary
“During the year, the School purchased usage of Tilsley Park totalling £79k (2024: £74k) from the wholly owned subsidiary undertaking, Abingdon School Enterprises Limited.” — page 39
“Included within cost of administration is £20k (2024: £20k) charged by the Charity to Abingdon School Enterprises for use of the Amey Theatre, Café, Sports Centre and Tilsley Park.” — page 37
Per its FY2025 accounts as filed with the Charity Commission.
Related-party transaction: Charges for use of facilities to subsidiary
“During the year, the School purchased usage of Tilsley Park totalling £79k (2024: £74k) from the wholly owned subsidiary undertaking, Abingdon School Enterprises Limited.” — page 39
“Included within cost of administration is £20k (2024: £20k) charged by the Charity to Abingdon School Enterprises for use of the Amey Theatre, Café, Sports Centre and Tilsley Park.” — page 37
Per its FY2025 accounts as filed with the Charity Commission.
Trading subsidiary: Abingdon School Enterprises Limited
“Abingdon School has a wholly owned non-charitable subsidiary, Abingdon School Enterprises Limited.” — page 5
Per its FY2025 accounts as filed with the Charity Commission.

Accounts audited by Gravita Audit Oxford LLP. Discloses 4 of 6 completeness components.

Corporate structure

ABINGDON SCHOOL ENTERPRISES LIMITED — per its own Companies House accounts
  • Turnover: £1.4m
  • Profit before tax: £403k
  • Donated/gift-aided to the charity: £302k
  • Note 6 discloses £61,944 owed to group undertakings (2024: £67,397).
“Distribution to parent charity under gift aid”

Funders the charity credits

Named as funders/supporters on the charity’s own website (the charity’s claim, distinct from accounts-verified grants).

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.

Official officers record.

Property (HM Land Registry)

16 registered titles in England and Wales held by the charity’s company or corporate body (9 freehold); recorded price paid £400k. All charity-held property. Contains HM Land Registry data © Crown copyright, OGL v3.0.

Public profiles (found on the charity’s own website): facebook (3,654 followers) · instagram

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

Total income
£34.7m
Total spending
£34.1m
Cost of raising funds
£201k
Reserves (reported)
£53.3m
Employees
411

Reported reserves equal ~18.8 months of spending — in the top quarter for charities its size (median 4.6 months; benchmarks).

Per its annual return, largest income source: Charitable activities (95% of income) — components as reported reconcile to the return’s total income; not from the accounts narrative.

Per its annual return, cost of raising funds: 0.6% of total income — below the median for charities its size (3.8%) (benchmarks).

Trustees · trustee networks

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

Operates in: Oxfordshire

Income and spending

Financial year endIncomeSpending
31/08/2025£34.7m£34.1m
31/08/2024£35.2m£34.5m
31/08/2023£34.0m£33.8m
31/08/2022£32.3m£30.2m
31/08/2021£28.9m£27.3m

Common questions

Is ABINGDON SCHOOL financially healthy?

Per its FY2025 accounts: The accounts state that total unrestricted funds stood at £53,291,000, though the trustees note that the group operates with negative free reserves because surpluses are reinvested into fixed assets. The trustees consider the level of activity and year-end financial position to be satisfactory, citing adequate working capital and predictable cash flows from pupil rolls. Its FY2025 accounts were audited by Gravita Audit Oxford LLP.

Who funds ABINGDON SCHOOL?

Funders whose own accounts filings name ABINGDON SCHOOL as a grant recipient include THE MERCERS CHARITABLE FOUNDATION.

Known funders

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

FunderYearAmountPurpose (as stated by the funder)
THE MERCERS CHARITABLE FOUNDATIONFY2022£100kYoung People & Education Programme / Restricted Bursary Fund
THE MERCERS CHARITABLE FOUNDATIONFY2024£60kYoung People & Education Programme
THE MERCERS CHARITABLE FOUNDATIONFY2025£50kYoung People & Education Programme
THE MERCERS CHARITABLE FOUNDATIONFY2022£45kRestricted Bloomfield Fund

Government & lottery funding

Grants to this charity published as open data by government and lottery funders (360Giving).

FunderDateAmountPurpose
The Mercers' Company03/06/2026£80kGrant to Abingdon School
The Mercers' Company03/06/2026£80kGrant to Abingdon School
The Mercers' Company07/05/2026£200Grant to Abingdon School
The Mercers' Company04/06/2025£200Grant to Abingdon School
The Mercers' Company10/06/2024£200Grant to Abingdon School
The Mercers' Company18/05/2023£80kGrant to Abingdon School
The Mercers' Company18/05/2023£80kGrant to Abingdon School
The Mercers' Company03/04/2023£200Grant to Abingdon School
The Mercers' Company19/05/2022£200Grant to Abingdon School
The Mercers' Company09/06/2021£200Grant to Abingdon School
The Mercers' Company27/04/2021£45kGrant to Abingdon School
The Mercers' Company17/02/2021£10kCovid-19 Rapid Response Fund Grant
The Mercers' Company14/12/2020£50kGrant to Abingdon College
The Mercers' Company11/02/2020£75kGrant to Abingdon School
The Mercers' Company11/02/2020£75kGrant to Abingdon School
The Mercers' Company20/06/2019£200Grant to Abingdon School
The Mercers' Company24/04/2018£200Grant to Abingdon School

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.

FunderSimilar charities fundedAmount to them
THE MARTIN SMITH FOUNDATION1£20k
FARNHAM LIONS CLUB (CIO)1£19k

Charities like this

Semantically similar by activities and financial character, from our analysed corpus. Compare with OUR LADY'S ABINGDON TRUSTEES LIMITED.

Side by side with its peers

CharityIncomeTop pay bandStaff >£60kReserves vs policyFundraising costGoing concern
ABINGDON SCHOOL£34.7m——unclear—no doubt
OUR LADY'S ABINGDON TRUSTEES LIMITED FY2023£6.2m£100,001 - £110,000—below—material uncertainty
THE ABBEY SCHOOL, READING FY2025£20.3m£160,001 - £170,000—above—no doubt
ST EDWARD'S SCHOOL FY2025£41.1m£210,000 - £220,000—unclear—no doubt
St Albans Education Group FY2025£33.1m——unclear—no doubt
ARDINGLY COLLEGE LIMITED FY2025£45.1m——unclear—no doubt

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