Charity Accounts Intelreading the accounts so you don’t have to

ABSOLUTE RETURN FOR KIDS (ARK)

Registered charity 1095322 · accounts filings on the Charity Commission register

Ark is an education charity that exists to make sure that all children, regardless of their background, have access to a great education and real choices in life. Ark incubates, launches and scales ventures that share our mission and values.

Causes: General Charitable Purposes · Education/training · The Prevention Or Relief Of Poverty · Grant history (this charity is a funder) · website · Get email alerts

Latest income
£6.4m
Latest spending
£7.5m
Registered
2003
Accounts read
FY2025

Financial health, per its FY2025 accounts

The accounts state that the group reported a net surplus of £4.8m for the year, driven largely by a £4.3m revaluation gain on its investment property, resulting in total group reserves increasing to £42.5m. The trustees confirm that unrestricted reserves of £2.7m are sufficient to cover core costs for the coming year, exceeding the stated policy target of six months' expenditure. The charity maintains adequate liquidity and has no material uncertainties regarding its ability to continue as a going concern.

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

What the accounts disclose

Largest income source: Restricted funds (73% of income)
“Total income of £50,266k (2023/24 – £44,787k) comprises £3,726k (2023/24 – £2,417k) in relation to unrestricted funds and £46,260k (2023/24 – £42,370k) in relation to restricted funds.” — page 27
Per its FY2025 accounts as filed with the Charity Commission.
Reserves policy: six months of unrestricted expenditure (held: £2.7m)
“The appropriate level of free reserves is set at an amount sufficient to cover unfunded expenditure from unrestricted funds for a minimum period of six months in the event of a significant fall in income. The value of six months’ core (unrestricted) operating expenditure approximates to £1.3m with the year-end unrestricted reserves for costs standing at £2.7m (2023/24 – £2.0m).” — page 14
Per its FY2025 accounts as filed with the Charity Commission.
Related-party transaction: Grants to Ark Schools
“During the year, £1,238k of grants were declared by Ark in support of Ark Schools’ programmes (2023/24 - £3,633k). In addition, £16k of grants were declared by Ark in support of Ark Schools’ academies (2023/24 - £66k). The closing grant creditor due to Ark Schools from Ark was £10,149k (2023/24 – £15,656k) of which £7,547k (2023/24 - £8,758k) was due within one year.” — page 62
“Ark Group received £316k fee rebates from MW Eureka Fund for its core operations and EdCity (2023/24 - £124k). This was 100% of the fee charged for managing investments. The carrying value of investments in the MW Eureka Fund at the balance sheet date of 31 August 2025 was £5.5m (2023/24 – £8.2m).” — page 63
Per its FY2025 accounts as filed with the Charity Commission.
Related-party transaction: Investment fee rebates from Marshall Wace
“During the year, £1,238k of grants were declared by Ark in support of Ark Schools’ programmes (2023/24 - £3,633k). In addition, £16k of grants were declared by Ark in support of Ark Schools’ academies (2023/24 - £66k). The closing grant creditor due to Ark Schools from Ark was £10,149k (2023/24 – £15,656k) of which £7,547k (2023/24 - £8,758k) was due within one year.” — page 62
“Ark Group received £316k fee rebates from MW Eureka Fund for its core operations and EdCity (2023/24 - £124k). This was 100% of the fee charged for managing investments. The carrying value of investments in the MW Eureka Fund at the balance sheet date of 31 August 2025 was £5.5m (2023/24 – £8.2m).” — page 63
Per its FY2025 accounts as filed with the Charity Commission.

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

Corporate structure

What the charity says about itself (2025)

From its own voluntary annual review / impact report — the charity’s account of its work, distinct from the statutory accounts analysed above.

The report covers the year 2025, as indicated by the title 'Ark impact report 2025' and data points such as 'In 2025, 78 percent of students met the expected standard...'
“In 2025, 78 percent of students met the expected standard in reading, writing and maths, compared to 62 percent nationally.”
The report states Ark serves 30,000 children in its 39 schools and over 300,000 through current ventures.
“Ark serves over 30,000 students across 39 schools in Birmingham, Hastings, London and Portsmouth.”
The report highlights that 85% of Year 13s progressed to university, more than twice the national average.
“Eighty-five percent of our Year 13s progressed to university, more than twice the national average of 37 percent in 2024.”
The report mentions Ark Start has provided more than 700 children with early years experience since 2020.
“Since opening in 2020, Ark Start has provided more than 700 children with a quality early years experience so they can leave our nurseries ready for their next stage.”

Public fundraising profile: JustGiving — Ark (matched by registered charity number).

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.

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)

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
£6.4m
Total spending
£7.5m
Cost of raising funds
£685k
Reserves (reported)
£4.0m
Employees
31

Reported reserves equal ~6.4 months of spending — above the median for charities its size (median 4.8 months; benchmarks).

Per its annual return, largest income source: Donations and legacies (89% 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: 10.7% of total income — above the median for charities its size (5.2%) (benchmarks).

Trustees · trustee networks

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

Operates in: India · South Africa · Throughout England · Uganda

Income and spending

Financial year endIncomeSpending
31/08/2025£6.4m£7.5m
31/08/2024£31.0m£32.4m
31/08/2023£25.4m£28.7m
31/08/2022£24.4m£24.1m
31/08/2021£35.0m£25.3m

Common questions

Is ABSOLUTE RETURN FOR KIDS (ARK) financially healthy?

Per its FY2025 accounts: The accounts state that the group reported a net surplus of £4.8m for the year, driven largely by a £4.3m revaluation gain on its investment property, resulting in total group reserves increasing to £42.5m. The trustees confirm that unrestricted reserves of £2.7m are sufficient to cover core costs for the coming year, exceeding the stated policy target of six months' expenditure. The charity maintains adequate liquidity and has no material uncertainties regarding its ability to continue as a going concern. Its FY2025 accounts were audited by Buzzacott Audit LLP.

Who funds ABSOLUTE RETURN FOR KIDS (ARK)?

Funders whose own accounts filings name ABSOLUTE RETURN FOR KIDS (ARK) as a grant recipient include CHARITY OF SIR RICHARD WHITTINGTON, Q CHARITABLE TRUST, THE HOBSON CHARITY LIMITED.

Known funders

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

FunderYearAmountPurpose (as stated by the funder)
CHARITY OF SIR RICHARD WHITTINGTONFY2022£130kYoung People & Education
Q CHARITABLE TRUSTFY2024£10k
THE HOBSON CHARITY LIMITEDFY2024£3kMusic

Government & lottery funding

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

FunderDateAmountPurpose
The Mercers' Company06/03/2020£338kGrant to Absolute Return for Kids

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 EDUCATION ENDOWMENT FOUNDATION1£1.3m
REUBEN FOUNDATION1£252k
COLLECTIVE FUTURES (CIO)1£95k
THE HEADLEY TRUST1£80k
THE HISCOX FOUNDATION1£66k
EAST END COMMUNITY FOUNDATION1£46k
THE CLORE DUFFIELD FOUNDATION1£26k
FISHMONGERS' COMPANY'S CHARITABLE TRUST1£25k

Charities like this

Semantically similar by activities and financial character, from our analysed corpus. Compare with ARK UK PROGRAMMES.

Side by side with its peers

CharityIncomeTop pay bandStaff >£60kReserves vs policyFundraising costGoing concern
ABSOLUTE RETURN FOR KIDS (ARK)£6.4m——above—no doubt
ARK UK PROGRAMMES FY2025£7.3m——unclear—no doubt
THE ARK FAMILY RESOURCE CENTRE FY2025£391k—0below—noted
THE ARK AT WELLIN LANE PRE-SCHOOL FY2025£107k—0unclear—no doubt
ARK RESETTLEMENT SERVICES FY2024£1.7m—0unclear—no doubt
THE ARK COMMUNITY CHURCH FY2025£115k—0unclear—no doubt

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