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ROYAL WELSH COLLEGE OF MUSIC AND DRAMA

Registered charity 1139282 · accounts filings on the Charity Commission register

The Royal Welsh College of Music and Drama is the National Conservatoire of Wales and a leading UK provider of specialist practical and performance-based training in music and drama.

Objects

4.1 THE COLLEGE SHALL BE SET UP AND CONDUCTED FOR THE ADVANCEMENT OF EDUCATION AND LEARNING FOR THE PUBLIC BENEFIT.4.2 THE OBJECT OF THE COLLEGE SPECIFIED IN ARTICLE 4.1 ABOVE SHALL IN PARTICULAR AND WITHOUT PREJUDICE TO THE GENERALITY THEREOF INCLUDE:4.2.1 THE TRAINING OF PERFORMERS AND OTHERS IN MUSIC, DRAMA, THEATRE AND OTHER PERFORMING ARTS INTENDING TO ENTER OR ENGAGED IN THE MUSIC, THEATRICAL AND PERFORMING ARTS PROFESSIONS;4.2.2 THE PROVISION OF ADVANCED COURSES OF INSTRUCTION LEADING TO THE AWARD OF DEGREES OR OTHER APPROPRIATE QUALIFICATIONS; AND4.2.3 THE PROVISION, MAINTENANCE AND IMPROVEMENT OF PERFORMANCE FACILITIES FOR THE BENEFIT OF THE LOCAL COMMUNITY.

Area of benefit: CARDIFF

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

Causes: Education/training · Arts/culture/heritage/science · website · Get email alerts

Registered contact address: Rhondda Cynon Taf, Wales (from the postcode on the register)

Latest income
£20.8m
Latest spending
£19.4m
Registered
2010
Accounts read
FY2025

Financial health, per its FY2025 accounts

The accounts state that the College reported an operating surplus of £1.774m for the year ended 31 July 2025, resulting in an increase in net assets to £21.647m. The Trustees confirm that the financial statements have been prepared on a going concern basis, citing sufficient funds to meet liabilities as they fall due over the assessment period. Per the Principal’s Review, the College remains reliant on generous regular financial support from individuals, trusts, and corporations to sustain its operations.

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

What the accounts disclose

Highest-paid employee band: £170,001 - £180,000 — in the top quarter for charities its size (median £130k)
“£170,000 to £179,999 1 1” — page 38
Per its FY2025 accounts as filed with the Charity Commission.

Accounts audited by HaysMac LLP. Discloses 4 of 6 completeness components.

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

  • Employees paid over £60,000: 17 (£60,001–£70,000: 10; £70,001–£80,000: 2; £80,001–£90,000: 3; £110,001–£120,000: 1; £150,001–£200,000: 1)
  • Trustee benefits, answered Yes to: any trustee benefit; payments to trustees for services to the charity

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

  • Employees paid over £60,000: 18 (£60,001–£70,000: 11; £70,001–£80,000: 5; £110,001–£120,000: 1; £150,001–£200,000: 1)
  • Trustee benefits, answered Yes to: any trustee benefit; payments to trustees for services to the charity

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

  • Employees paid over £60,000: 18 (£60,001–£70,000: 10; £70,001–£80,000: 6; £100,001–£110,000: 1; £150,001–£200,000: 1)
  • Trustee benefits, answered Yes to: any trustee benefit; payments to trustees for services to the charity

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).

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.

Property (HM Land Registry)

5 registered titles in England and Wales held by the charity’s company or corporate body (1 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 (22,677 followers) · instagram (19K followers)

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

Total income
£21.1m
Total spending
£19.4m
Cost of raising funds
£295k
Reserves (reported)
£21.6m
Employees
256

Reported reserves equal ~13.4 months of spending — in the top quarter for charities its size (median 4.6 months; benchmarks).

Per its annual return, cost of raising funds: 1.4% of total income — below the median for charities its size (3.7%) (benchmarks).

Register events

Trustees · trustee networks

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

Operates in: Cardiff

Income and spending

Financial year endIncomeSpending
31/07/2025£20.8m£19.4m
31/07/2024£22.1m£20.1m
31/07/2023£19.2m£20.3m
31/07/2022£16.6m£18.1m
31/07/2021£15.2m£16.1m

Common questions

Is ROYAL WELSH COLLEGE OF MUSIC AND DRAMA financially healthy?

Per its FY2025 accounts: The accounts state that the College reported an operating surplus of £1.774m for the year ended 31 July 2025, resulting in an increase in net assets to £21.647m. The Trustees confirm that the financial statements have been prepared on a going concern basis, citing sufficient funds to meet liabilities as they fall due over the assessment period. Per the Principal’s Review, the College remains reliant on generous regular financial support from individuals, trusts, and corporations to sustain its operations. Its FY2025 accounts were audited by HaysMac LLP.

What does the highest-paid employee of ROYAL WELSH COLLEGE OF MUSIC AND DRAMA earn?

Per its FY2025 accounts, the highest-paid employee was in the £170,001 - £180,000 band.

Who funds ROYAL WELSH COLLEGE OF MUSIC AND DRAMA?

Funders whose own accounts filings name ROYAL WELSH COLLEGE OF MUSIC AND DRAMA as a grant recipient include THE FOYLE FOUNDATION, THE CLIVE RICHARDS FOUNDATION, THE ALBERT AND EUGENIE FROST MUSIC TRUST CIO, THE MACKINTOSH FOUNDATION, COLWINSTON CHARITABLE TRUST.

Known funders

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

FunderYearAmountPurpose (as stated by the funder)
THE FOYLE FOUNDATIONFY2025£1.5m
THE CLIVE RICHARDS FOUNDATIONFY2025£150k
THE ALBERT AND EUGENIE FROST MUSIC TRUST CIOFY2024£111k
THE MACKINTOSH FOUNDATIONFY2023£60k
COLWINSTON CHARITABLE TRUSTFY2024£30kSupport the String Quartet in residence.
THE HOTSPUR TRUSTFY2026£30k
THE SIMON GIBSON CHARITABLE TRUSTFY2021£20k
COLWINSTON CHARITABLE TRUSTFY2024£15kSupport the String Quartet in residence.
THE HOTSPUR TRUSTFY2022£5k
THE DYERS' COMPANY CHARITABLE TRUSTFY2024£5kEducation and the Young
THE SIMON GIBSON CHARITABLE TRUSTFY2022£5k
THE OAKDALE TRUSTFY2025£2k
THE HOTSPUR TRUSTFY2024Unverified read£2k
THE NEVILLE ABRAHAM FOUNDATIONFY2023£750
THE ASSOCIATED BOARD OF THE ROYAL SCHOOLS OF MUSICFY2021amount not statedScholarships (included in total above)
THE SIMON GIBSON CHARITABLE TRUSTFY2023amount not stated

Grants marked “Unverified read” were flagged by automated checks as possibly misread from the funder’s filed accounts. They are listed, but left out of the totals, counts and funder relationships this site computes.

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 LEVERHULME TRUST2£1.9m
HENRY WOOD ACCOMMODATION TRUST2£294k
FISHMONGERS' COMPANY'S CHARITABLE TRUST2£186k
ST MARYLEBONE EDUCATIONAL FOUNDATION2£100k
DRAPERS CHARITABLE FUND2£70k
MARIA BJORNSON MEMORIAL FUND2£65k
THE HARBOUR FOUNDATION2£61k
ST MARYLEBONE EDUCATIONAL FOUNDATION2£51k

Charities like this

Semantically similar by activities and financial character, from our analysed corpus. Compare with ROYAL ACADEMY OF MUSIC.

Side by side with its peers

CharityIncomeTop pay bandStaff >£60kReserves vs policyFundraising costGoing concern
ROYAL WELSH COLLEGE OF MUSIC AND DRAMA£20.8m£170,001 - £180,000—unclear—no doubt
ROYAL ACADEMY OF MUSIC FY2025£33.2m——unclear14.3%no doubt
THE ROYAL COLLEGE OF MUSIC FY2025£41.1m——unclear—no doubt
MUSIC THEATRE WALES FY2025£318k—0unclear—no doubt
WARE MUSICAL THEATRE FY2025£78k—0unclear—no doubt
THE WELSH CHAMBER ORCHESTRA LIMITED FY2025£99k—0unclear—no doubt

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