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BIRKENHEAD SCHOOL

Registered charity 1093419 · accounts filings on the Charity Commission register

We are an independent, co-educational school which admits girls and boys from 3 months to 18 years. The School comprises of a Nursery, Pre-Prep, Prep and Senior elements (including 6th Form).

Causes: Education/training · website · Get email alerts

Latest income
£13.6m
Latest spending
£13.3m
Registered
2002
Accounts read
FY2025

Financial health, per its FY2025 accounts

The accounts state that the School's financial position remains strong, with a cash surplus from operations of just over 5% of net fee income achieved. Total funds across the School Group amounted to £22,798,128 as at 31 August 2025, with free reserves of £9,105,128. The capital investment programme is currently funded without external borrowing.

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

What the accounts disclose

Largest income source: fees (95% of income)
“Around 95% of the School’s operating income was derived from fees and associated charges.” — page 17
Per its FY2025 accounts as filed with the Charity Commission.
Reserves policy: three months' operating expenses (held: £9.1m)
“It is the policy of the charity that unrestricted funds which have not been designated for a specific use should be maintained at a level equivalent to at least three months' operating expenses” — page 16
Per its FY2025 accounts as filed with the Charity Commission.
Trading subsidiary: Novitas Services Limited
“a wholly-owned trading subsidiary, Novitas Services Limited (company no. 4501547), which transferred its activities to Birkenhead School at the end of August 2009 and is now dormant” — page 17
Per its FY2025 accounts as filed with the Charity Commission.

Accounts audited by Jolliffe & Co LLP. Discloses 4 of 6 completeness components.

Corporate structure

NOVITAS SERVICES LIMITED — per its own Companies House accounts
  • Creditors: amounts owed to group undertakings of £351,867 (2025) and £351,867 (2024).

Leadership, per the charity’s website

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.

Official officers record.

Property (HM Land Registry)

1 registered title in England and Wales held by the charity’s company or corporate body (0 freehold). 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
£13.6m
Total spending
£13.3m
Cost of raising funds
£354k
Reserves (reported)
£10.1m
Employees
160

Reported reserves equal ~9.1 months of spending — above the median 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: 2.6% 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: Wirral

Income and spending

Financial year endIncomeSpending
31/08/2025£13.6m£13.3m
31/08/2024£13.6m£13.1m
31/08/2023£12.5m£12.0m
31/08/2022£11.6m£11.0m
31/08/2021£10.4m£9.7m

Common questions

Is BIRKENHEAD SCHOOL financially healthy?

Per its FY2025 accounts: The accounts state that the School's financial position remains strong, with a cash surplus from operations of just over 5% of net fee income achieved. Total funds across the School Group amounted to £22,798,128 as at 31 August 2025, with free reserves of £9,105,128. The capital investment programme is currently funded without external borrowing. Its FY2025 accounts were audited by Jolliffe & Co LLP.

Who funds BIRKENHEAD SCHOOL?

Funders whose own accounts filings name BIRKENHEAD SCHOOL as a grant recipient include BIRKENHEAD SCHOOL FOUNDATION TRUST, VISCOUNT AMORY'S CHARITABLE TRUST, The Patricia Routledge Foundation.

Shared trustees with funders

Register facts shown side by side: a person serves as trustee of both this charity and a funder whose accounts record grants to it. Shared trusteeship is lawful and common; well-run charities manage it through declared-interest procedures.

Known funders

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

FunderYearAmountPurpose (as stated by the funder)
BIRKENHEAD SCHOOL FOUNDATION TRUSTFY2022£9.2mbursaries and other necessary expenditure
BIRKENHEAD SCHOOL FOUNDATION TRUSTFY2023£268kbursaries, fundraising activities and other necessary expenditure
VISCOUNT AMORY'S CHARITABLE TRUSTFY2025£97kRelated party transaction (Education of Emily and Edward Groves)
BIRKENHEAD SCHOOL FOUNDATION TRUSTFY2024£73kGrant funding of activities
BIRKENHEAD SCHOOL FOUNDATION TRUSTFY2025£71kbursaries, fundraising activities and other necessary expenditure
VISCOUNT AMORY'S CHARITABLE TRUSTFY2022£60kfor the benefit of Emily and Edward Groves
VISCOUNT AMORY'S CHARITABLE TRUSTFY2025£16kEducational
VISCOUNT AMORY'S CHARITABLE TRUSTFY2024£14kEducational
VISCOUNT AMORY'S CHARITABLE TRUSTFY2023£12kEducational
BIRKENHEAD SCHOOL FOUNDATION TRUSTFY2024£5kCharitable donations
The Patricia Routledge FoundationFY2025£100
The Patricia Routledge FoundationFY2024£100
The Patricia Routledge FoundationFY2022£100

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 GENERATIONAL FOUNDATION1£207k
SEAVIEW CHARITABLE TRUST1£50k
THE ANGLO-AMERICAN CHARITY LIMITED1£13k
THE OGDEN TRUST1£8k

Charities like this

Semantically similar by activities and financial character, from our analysed corpus. Compare with BIRKENHEAD SCHOOL FOUNDATION TRUST.

Side by side with its peers

CharityIncomeTop pay bandStaff >£60kReserves vs policyFundraising costGoing concern
BIRKENHEAD SCHOOL£13.6m——above—no doubt
BIRKENHEAD SCHOOL FOUNDATION TRUST FY2025£367k—0unclear—no doubt
ST EDMUND'S SCHOOL TRUST LIMITED FY2025£17.3m£230,000 - £240,000—above—no doubt
BERKHAMSTED SCHOOLS GROUP FY2025£49.9m——below—no doubt
EXETER SCHOOL FY2025£1.6m——unclear—no doubt
BENENDEN SCHOOL (KENT) LIMITED FY2025£28.2m£190,000 - £200,000—below—no doubt

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