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

ARK UK PROGRAMMES

Registered charity 1137932 · accounts filings on the Charity Commission register · also known as ARK SCHOOLS, ASSEMBLY, MATHEMATICS MASTERY

Latest income
£7.3m
Latest spending
£7.4m
Registered
2010
Accounts read
FY2025

Financial health, per its FY2025 accounts

The accounts state that the charity reported a net surplus of £0.2m for the year ended 31 August 2025, with total income rising to £7.3m. The trustees consider the level of free reserves to be satisfactory, noting that unrestricted funds of £37k are in line with the policy of remaining below £100k. The auditor confirmed that the use of the going concern basis of accounting is appropriate with no material uncertainties identified.

What the accounts disclose

Reserves policy: below £100k (held: £37k)
“the charity’s unrestricted reserve levels are expected to remain below £100k”
Per its FY2025 accounts as filed with the Charity Commission.
Related-party transaction: Income from The Education Endowment Foundation
“Income from The Education Endowment Foundation: Lucy Heller is a board member of The Education Endowment Foundation and a trustee of Ark UK Programmes. £0.9m (2023/24 - £0.7m) income was recognised in the year from The Education Endowment Foundation”
“Expenditure with Purposeful Ventures: Lucy Heller is a trustee of Purposeful Ventures and Ark UK Programmes. £28k (2023/24 £3k) was paid to Purposeful Ventures for consultancy support provided.”
Per its FY2025 accounts as filed with the Charity Commission.
Related-party transaction: Expenditure to Purposeful Ventures for consultancy support
“Income from The Education Endowment Foundation: Lucy Heller is a board member of The Education Endowment Foundation and a trustee of Ark UK Programmes. £0.9m (2023/24 - £0.7m) income was recognised in the year from The Education Endowment Foundation”
“Expenditure with Purposeful Ventures: Lucy Heller is a trustee of Purposeful Ventures and Ark UK Programmes. £28k (2023/24 £3k) was paid to Purposeful Ventures for consultancy support provided.”
Per its FY2025 accounts as filed with the Charity Commission.

Accounts audited by Buzzacott Audit LLP.

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 states Ark's current ventures serve 300,000 children, but the summary graphic clarifies this includes 30,000 in Ark schools and 5.5 million in UK independent ventures. The text explicitly says 'serve 300,000 children each year' in the intro, but the breakdown suggests the 300k figure might be a typo for 30k or refers to a specific subset. However, looking at the 'Impact' section, it says 'Ark’s focus is on the UK, where our education programmes and schools serve 300,000 children each year.' This contradicts the '30,000 children in our 39 schools' stat later. Let's look closer. '30,000 children in our 39 schools' is a specific stat. '300,000 + through current Ark ventures' is another. The text says 'serve 300,000 children each year'. Given the contradiction, I will use the more specific, verifiable school count or the venture count if clear. Actually, the '300,000 +' is listed under 'through current Ark ventures'. The text says 'serve 300,000 children each year'. I will use the 30,000 school figure as it is tied to a specific number of schools (39) and is less ambiguous than the venture total which might include past ventures or be a typo. Wait, the graphic says '30,000 children in our 39 schools' and '300,000 + through current Ark ventures'. The text says 'serve 300,000 children each year'. This is likely a typo in the text (30k vs 300k). I will use the 30,000 figure for schools as it is concrete.
“Ark serves over 30,000 students across 39 schools in Birmingham, Hastings, London and Portsmouth.”
GCSE outcomes are clearly stated with percentages.
“In 2025, 78 percent of students met the expected standard in reading, writing and maths, compared to 62 percent nationally.”
University progression stats are specific and verifiable.
“Eighty-five percent of our Year 13s progressed to university, more than twice the national average of 37 percent in 2024.”
Ark Start nursery outcomes are specific.
“In the latest cohort, 95 percent of Ark Start children were school ready (met the GLD), compared to the government’s national target of 75 percent by 2028.”

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.

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

Total income
£7.3m
Total spending
£7.4m
Cost of raising funds
£57k
Reserves (reported)
£9.7m
Employees
85

Reported reserves equal ~15.7 months of spending — in the top quarter for charities its size (median 4.8 months; benchmarks).

Trustees

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

Operates in: Northern Ireland · Throughout England

Income and spending

Financial year endIncomeSpending
31/08/2025£7.3m£7.4m
31/08/2024£6.2m£17.7m
31/08/2023£18.4m£7.8m
31/08/2022£5.7m£5.2m
31/08/2021£5.3m£5.9m

Common questions

Is ARK UK PROGRAMMES financially healthy?

The accounts state that the charity reported a net surplus of £0.2m for the year ended 31 August 2025, with total income rising to £7.3m. The trustees consider the level of free reserves to be satisfactory, noting that unrestricted funds of £37k are in line with the policy of remaining below £100k. The auditor confirmed that the use of the going concern basis of accounting is appropriate with no material uncertainties identified. Its FY2025 accounts were audited by Buzzacott Audit LLP.

Who funds ARK UK PROGRAMMES?

Funders whose own accounts filings name ARK UK PROGRAMMES as a grant recipient include THE EDUCATION ENDOWMENT FOUNDATION, REUBEN FOUNDATION.

Known funders

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

FunderYearAmount
THE EDUCATION ENDOWMENT FOUNDATIONFY2022£977k
THE EDUCATION ENDOWMENT FOUNDATIONFY2024£392k
REUBEN FOUNDATIONFY2021£135k
REUBEN FOUNDATIONFY2024£95k
THE EDUCATION ENDOWMENT FOUNDATIONFY2023£-3k
THE EDUCATION ENDOWMENT FOUNDATIONFY2023£-21k
THE EDUCATION ENDOWMENT FOUNDATIONFY2022£-79k

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
ZOUQ FOUNDATION1—
GREENHAM TRUST LTD1£3.3m
SABEEL FOUNDATION1£424k
THE EDWINA MOUNTBATTEN AND LEONORA CHILDREN'S FOUNDATION1£53k
EPSOM AND EWELL ISLAMIC SOCIETY1£52k
THE HEADLEY TRUST1£45k
THE HISCOX FOUNDATION1£33k
EAST END COMMUNITY FOUNDATION1£11k

Charities like this

Semantically similar by activities and financial character, from our analysed corpus. Compare with ABSOLUTE RETURN FOR KIDS (ARK).