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

THE BRILLIANT CLUB

Registered charity 1147771 · accounts filings on the Charity Commission register · also registered in Scotland as SC048774 (OSCR)

The Brilliant Club exists to increase the number of pupils from under-represented backgrounds progressing to highly selective universities. We do this by mobilising the PhD community to share its academic expertise with state schools.

Causes: Education/training · website · Get email alerts

Latest income
£5.6m
Latest spending
£5.9m
Registered
2012
Accounts read
FY2025

Financial health, per its FY2025 accounts

The accounts state that the charity incurred a planned deficit of £320,653 for the year, utilizing designated strategic funds to support new initiatives. Per the trustees' report, general reserves of £1,398,960 remain within the stated policy target of three to four months of core costs, providing a safeguard against rising costs and financial risks.

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

What the accounts disclose

Reserves policy: three to four months of certain core costs (held: £1.4m)
“The Board of Trustees has set the charity’s reserves requirement as at least three but not more than four months of certain core costs.” — page 19
Per its FY2025 accounts as filed with the Charity Commission.

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

In the news

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

Public fundraising profile: JustGiving — The Brilliant Club (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.

Public profiles (found on the charity’s own website): facebook

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

Total income
£5.6m
Total spending
£5.9m
Cost of raising funds
£377k
Reserves (reported)
£1.4m
Employees
365

Reported reserves equal ~2.8 months of spending — below the median for charities its size (median 4.8 months; benchmarks).

Per its annual return, largest income source: Charitable activities (79% 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: 6.7% 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: Scotland · Throughout England And Wales

Income and spending

Financial year endIncomeSpending
31/07/2025£5.6m£5.9m
31/07/2024£5.7m£6.3m
31/07/2023£6.4m£6.7m
31/07/2022£7.5m£6.4m
31/07/2021£8.3m£7.2m

Common questions

Is THE BRILLIANT CLUB financially healthy?

Per its FY2025 accounts: The accounts state that the charity incurred a planned deficit of £320,653 for the year, utilizing designated strategic funds to support new initiatives. Per the trustees' report, general reserves of £1,398,960 remain within the stated policy target of three to four months of core costs, providing a safeguard against rising costs and financial risks. Its FY2025 accounts were audited by Buzzacott Audit LLP.

Who funds THE BRILLIANT CLUB?

Funders whose own accounts filings name THE BRILLIANT CLUB as a grant recipient include THE MOHN WESTLAKE FOUNDATION, SOCIAL BUSINESS TRUST, AKO FOUNDATION, THE ASTRA FOUNDATION, GARFIELD WESTON FOUNDATION.

Known funders

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

FunderYearAmountPurpose (as stated by the funder)
THE MOHN WESTLAKE FOUNDATIONFY2025£10.0m
SOCIAL BUSINESS TRUSTFY2025£1.3m
SOCIAL BUSINESS TRUSTFY2024£455k
AKO FOUNDATIONFY2024£450kEducation
THE ASTRA FOUNDATIONFY2025£360kYouth Empowerment
GARFIELD WESTON FOUNDATIONFY2024£300kEducation
KUSUMA TRUST UKFY2024£250kLosing Learning Coalition
KUSUMA TRUST UKFY2025£250kBrilliant Club- Core Funding for the Join the Club strategy 2023-2026
THE SIR SIMON MILTON FOUNDATIONFY2025£160kJoin The Dots initiative and Sir Simon Milton Bursaries (first year of 5-year partnership)
THE MOHN WESTLAKE FOUNDATIONFY2024£120k
THE WESTMINSTER FOUNDATIONFY2025£104kThe Brilliant Club mobilizes PhD tutors to support students from less advantaged backgrounds, helping them access competitive universities and succeed through a
THE WESTMINSTER FOUNDATIONFY2024£102kThe Brilliant Club mobilizes PhD tutors to support students from less advantaged backgrounds, helping them access competitive universities and succeed through a
KUSUMA TRUST UKFY2023£68kCore Funding and South London Scholars Programme Expansion
GOD MY SILENT PARTNER FOUNDATIONFY2024£58k
MAN GROUP PLC CHARITABLE TRUSTFY2023£50k
MAN GROUP PLC CHARITABLE TRUSTFY2022£50k
THE DULVERTON TRUSTFY2026£50kCore Costs
MAN GROUP PLC CHARITABLE TRUSTFY2021£50k
SOCIAL BUSINESS TRUSTFY2022£41k
PAVERS CHARITABLE FOUNDATIONFY2023£40k
The Portal TrustFY2023£30kThe Scholars Programme in Inner London
GOD MY SILENT PARTNER FOUNDATIONFY2022£30k
DAVID AND ELAINE POTTER FOUNDATIONFY2023£30kEducation
The Portal TrustFY2024£30kThe Scholars Programme in Inner London
GOD MY SILENT PARTNER FOUNDATIONFY2023£25k
THE GOSLING FOUNDATION LIMITEDFY2024£25kGeneral
UPP FOUNDATIONFY2022£25kJoin the Dots
THE ALLEN OVERY SHEARMAN STERLING FOUNDATIONFY2025£25k
THE TAYLOR FAMILY FOUNDATIONFY2022£20k
THE ALLEN OVERY SHEARMAN STERLING FOUNDATIONFY2022£20k
THE TAYLOR FAMILY FOUNDATIONFY2023£20k
SIR ROBERT GEFFERY'S ALMSHOUSE TRUSTFY2025£20k
THE ALAN EDWARD HIGGS CHARITYFY2023£20kThe Scholars Programme supports disadvantaged students to access competitive universities
REES JEFFREYS ROAD FUNDFY2025£13kCan you shape your City?
THE ALAN EDWARD HIGGS CHARITYFY2025£13k
CULHAM ST GABRIEL'S TRUSTFY2025£12kprogramme supporting displaced young people
THE MOHN WESTLAKE FOUNDATIONFY2022£10k
THE THOMAS HOWELL'S EDUCATION FUND FOR NORTH WALESFY2024£10kScholars Programme
THE ALDGATE AND ALLHALLOWS FOUNDATIONFY2024£10kThe Scholars Programme in Tower Hamlets
THE ALLEN OVERY SHEARMAN STERLING FOUNDATIONFY2023£10k
SIR ROBERT GEFFERY'S ALMSHOUSE TRUSTFY2024£10k
THE THOMAS HOWELL'S EDUCATION FUND FOR NORTH WALESFY2022£10kTowards its Scholars Programme in North Wales state schools to inspire and support students to access the most competitive universities.
THE ALAN EDWARD HIGGS CHARITYFY2024£8kThe Scholars Programme supports disadvantaged students to access competitive universities
THE REED FOUNDATIONFY2022£8kChristmas Challenge
THE ALLEN OVERY SHEARMAN STERLING FOUNDATIONFY2024£5k
THE ALICE ELLEN COOPER-DEAN CHARITABLE FOUNDATIONFY2025£5k
YOUNG HARROW FOUNDATIONFY2025£3k
THE CARMELA & RONNIE PIGNATELLI FOUNDATIONFY2025£3k
GOD MY SILENT PARTNER FOUNDATIONFY2025£0

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
WORSHIPFUL COMPANY OF INSURERS CHARITABLE TRUST2£12k
THE WOODWARD CHARITABLE TRUST2£8k
MONDAY CHARITABLE TRUST1£1.1m
IMPETUS - THE PRIVATE EQUITY FOUNDATION1£750k
BRIGHTON COLLEGE SCHOLARSHIP, BURSARY AND PRIZE ENDOWMENTS1£683k
The Caring Family Foundation1£250k
Insurance Industry Charitable Foundation UK1£228k
THE SAMUEL TAK LEE CHARITABLE TRUST1£200k

Charities like this

Semantically similar by activities and financial character, from our analysed corpus. Compare with BRIGHTON COLLEGE.

Side by side with its peers

CharityIncomeTop pay bandStaff >£60kReserves vs policyFundraising costGoing concern
THE BRILLIANT CLUB£5.6m——unclear—no doubt
BRIGHTON COLLEGE FY2025£80.7m——unclear—no doubt
THE CAMBRIDGE UNION SOCIETY FY2025£2.5m£80,001 - £90,000—above—no doubt
BRIGHTON THEATRE GROUP FY2025£207k—0below—no doubt
THE 93 PERCENT CLUB FOUNDATION FY2024£773k—0unclear—no doubt
KIDZ KLUB BRIGHTON & HOVE FY2025£235kUnder £60,0000below—no doubt

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