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

LEEDS UNIVERSITY UNION

Registered charity 1136742 · accounts filings on the Charity Commission register · Wikidata: Q6516152 · Wikipedia

LUU promotes the interests and welfare of students and represents, supports and advises studentsIt is the recognised representative channel between students and the University and external bodiesLUU also provides social, cultural, sporting, recreational activities, forums for discussions and debate

Objects

THE ADVANCEMENT OF EDUCATION OF STUDENTS AT THE UNIVERSITY OF LEEDS FOR THE PUBLIC BENEFIT BY:1 PROMOTING THE INTERESTS AND WELFARE OF STUDENTS AT THE UNIVERSITY OF LEEDS DURING THEIR COURSE OF STUDY AND REPRESENTING, SUPPORTING AND ADVISING STUDENTS2 BEING THE RECOGNISED REPRESENTATIVE CHANNEL BETWEEN STUDENTS AND THE UNIVERSITY OF LEEDS AND ANY OTHER EXTERNAL BODIES; AND3 PROVIDING SOCIAL, CULTURAL, SPORTING AND RECREATIONAL ACTIVITIES AND FORUMS FOR DISCUSSIONS AND DEBATE FOR THE PERSONAL DEVELOPMENT OF ITS STUDENTSS

Area of benefit: THE UNIVERSITY OF LEEDS

The charity’s charitable objects and area of benefit, quoted from its governing document as held on the Charity Commission register.

Causes: Education/training · website · Get email alerts

Latest income
£15.3m
Latest spending
£15.1m
Registered
2010
Accounts read
FY2025

Financial health, per its FY2025 accounts

The accounts state that the charity reported a net surplus of £214k for the year, with total net assets increasing to £3.8m. The trustees confirm that free reserves of £1.2m are above the calculated target level of £829k, providing comfort regarding going concern despite reliance on the University of Leeds block grant.

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

What the accounts disclose

Employees paid over £60,000: 5
“Five employees were paid more than £60,000 in salary” — page 31
Per its FY2025 accounts as filed with the Charity Commission.
Reserves policy: calculated based on costs required if operations ceased, specifically referencing average salary, wages and other costs apportioned on the basis of liability risk (reserves figure: £1.2m)
“The calculated free reserves target level at the end of 2024-25 was £829k.”
Per its FY2025 accounts as filed with the Charity Commission.

Accounts audited by Saffery LLP. Discloses 5 of 6 completeness components.

Year-over-year changes

Comparing this charity’s FY2024 and FY2025 accounts as analysed by this site.

In its annual return the charity told the Commission it is also regulated by: Financial Conduct Authority. This is the charity’s own declaration; it is not a rating and has not been verified by the Commission or by this site.

Policies the charity declares

In its annual return the charity told the Commission that it has the policies listed below. This is self-declared: it is not verified by the Commission or by this site, and it is not evidence of how a policy works in practice.

From the charity’s annual return (Part A, self-declared)

Answers and figures the charity gave in Part A of its annual return to the Charity Commission. They are self-declared: not verified by the Commission or by this site. Only positive answers and figures are listed; items not listed are simply not shown.

Self-declared on the annual return for the financial year ending 31/07/2025

  • Volunteers: 5,674
  • Employees paid over £60,000: 5 (£60,001–£70,000: 3; £70,001–£80,000: 1; £110,001–£120,000: 1)
  • Trustee benefits, answered Yes to: any trustee benefit; payments to trustees for acting as trustee

Self-declared on the annual return for the financial year ending 31/07/2024

  • Volunteers: 5,600
  • Employees paid over £60,000: 4 (£60,001–£70,000: 2; £70,001–£80,000: 1; £100,001–£110,000: 1)
  • Trustee benefits, answered Yes to: any trustee benefit; payments to trustees for acting as trustee

Self-declared on the annual return for the financial year ending 31/07/2023

  • Employees paid over £60,000: 4 (£60,001–£70,000: 1; £80,001–£90,000: 2; £120,001–£130,000: 1)

Source: this charity’s annual returns on the Charity Commission register.

In the news

Recent coverage mentioning this charity by name (automated match; headlines belong to their publishers).

Corporate structure

Public fundraising profile: JustGiving — Leeds University Union (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.

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): instagram

Advertised salaries (public job ads)

Roles this charity has advertised on CharityJob, matched on the exact employer name. A different source from the statutory pay bands above: these are asking salaries for vacancies, not what anyone was paid.

Structured financials (annual return, FY ending 31/07/2025)

Total income
£15.3m
Total spending
£15.1m
Reserves (reported)
£1.2m
Employees
492

Reported reserves equal ~1.0 months of spending — in the bottom quarter for charities its size (median 4.6 months; benchmarks).

Per its annual return, largest income source: Charitable activities (65% 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: 0.0% of total income — below the median for charities its size (3.7%) (benchmarks).

Trustees · trustee networks

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

Operates in: Leeds City

Income and spending

Financial year endIncomeSpending
31/07/2025£15.3m£15.1m
31/07/2024£14.6m£14.4m
31/07/2023£14.0m£14.0m
31/07/2022£13.1m£13.1m
31/07/2021£8.4m£8.6m

Common questions

Is LEEDS UNIVERSITY UNION financially healthy?

Per its FY2025 accounts: The accounts state that the charity reported a net surplus of £214k for the year, with total net assets increasing to £3.8m. The trustees confirm that free reserves of £1.2m are above the calculated target level of £829k, providing comfort regarding going concern despite reliance on the University of Leeds block grant. Its FY2025 accounts were audited by Saffery LLP.

Who funds LEEDS UNIVERSITY UNION?

Funders whose own accounts filings name LEEDS UNIVERSITY UNION as a grant recipient include BRITISH UNIVERSITIES AND COLLEGES SPORT LIMITED.

Known funders

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

FunderYearAmountPurpose (as stated by the funder)
BRITISH UNIVERSITIES AND COLLEGES SPORT LIMITEDFY2024£92Inclusivity Fund

Government & lottery funding

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

FunderDateAmountPurpose
The National Lottery Heritage Fund28/09/2017£16k"Uncovering Leeds University Union's Chilean Mural"
The National Lottery Community Fund01/07/2015£10kLeeds University Union suicide prevention training for staff & student

Charities like this

Semantically similar by activities and financial character, from our analysed corpus. Compare with LEEDS TRINITY STUDENTS UNION.

Side by side with its peers

CharityIncomeTop pay bandStaff >£60kReserves vs policyFundraising costGoing concern
LEEDS UNIVERSITY UNION£15.3m—5above—no doubt
LEEDS TRINITY STUDENTS UNION FY2025£526k—0above—no doubt
LANCASTER UNIVERSITY STUDENTS' UNION FY2025£4.9m£70,000 - £80,0003unclear—no doubt
UNIVERSITY OF LEICESTER STUDENTS' UNION FY2025£3.0m—0unclear—no doubt
WEST LONDON STUDENTS' UNION FY2025£4.1m£80,001 - £90,000—unclear0.0%no doubt
LONDON METROPOLITAN UNIVERSITY STUDENTS' UNION FY2025£704k—0above—noted

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