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IMPERIAL COLLEGE UNION

Registered charity 1151241 · accounts filings on the Charity Commission register · Wikidata: Q1660288 · Wikipedia · also known as ICU

Imperial College Union prepares its members to be tomorrow's leaders, by defending and enhancing the student experience at Imperial, through the provision of innovation services, representation and activities.

Objects

THE UNION'S OBJECTS ARE THE ADVANCEMENT OF EDUCATION OF STUDENTS AT IMPERIAL COLLEGE LONDON FOR THE PUBLIC BENEFIT BY:PROMOTING THE INTERESTS AND WELFARE OF STUDENTS AT IMPERIAL COLLEGE LONDON DURING THEIR COURSE OF STUDY AND REPRESENTING, SUPPORTING AND ADVISING STUDENTS;BEING THE RECOGNISED REPRESENTATIVE CHANNEL BETWEEN STUDENTS AND IMPERIAL COLLEGE LONDON AND ANY OTHER EXTERNAL BODIES; ANDPROVIDING SOCIAL, CULTURAL, SPORTING AND RECREATIONAL ACTIVITIES AND FORUMS FOR DISCUSSIONS AND DEBATE FOR THE PERSONAL DEVELOPMENT OF ITS STUDENTS.

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

Causes: Education/training · Amateur Sport · Recreation · website · Get email alerts

Registered contact address: Westminster, London, England (from the postcode on the register)

Latest income
£11.4m
Latest spending
£11.5m
Registered
2013
Accounts read
FY2025

Financial health, per its FY2025 accounts

The accounts state that the charity reported a net deficit of £154k for the year, driven by a £281k catering provision, though operational performance was ahead of budget. Per the trustees' report, the balance sheet remains healthy with net current assets of £2,932k, and the organization is dependent on grant income from Imperial College London to run its core services.

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

What the accounts disclose

Reserves policy: £640,000 (reserves figure: £839k)
“Following the reserves review undertaken in November 2025 the Trustees determined a target level of £640k (2024: £620k).”
Per its FY2025 accounts as filed with the Charity Commission.
Related-party transaction: Note 23
“Imperial College London A block grant from Imperial College of £3,176,000 (2024: £2,767,153) was receivable by the Union in the year. Transactions throughout the year resulted in a trading balance as at 31 July 2025 of £733,051 (2024: £615,540) due to the University. There was also a balance of £34,660 (2024: £165,164) due from the University. In addition, the Union building is provided by the University free of charge together with the provision of support services including HR, Payroll & IT. This donation is valued by the Union at £1,737,413 (2024: £2,038,035)”
Per its FY2025 accounts as filed with the Charity Commission.

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

Year-over-year changes

Comparing this charity’s FY2024 and FY2025 accounts as analysed 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: 2,000
  • Employees paid over £60,000: 8 (£60,001–£70,000: 4; £70,001–£80,000: 3; £90,001–£100,000: 1)
  • Trustee benefits, answered Yes to: any trustee benefit; other trustee benefit
  • Has a trading subsidiary

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

  • Volunteers: 2,000
  • Employees paid over £60,000: 5 (£60,001–£70,000: 3; £70,001–£80,000: 1; £80,001–£90,000: 1)
  • Trustee benefits, answered Yes to: any trustee benefit; other trustee benefit

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

  • Volunteers: 2,000
  • Employees paid over £60,000: 2 (£60,001–£70,000: 1; £80,001–£90,000: 1)
  • Trustee benefits, answered Yes to: any trustee benefit; other trustee benefit

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.

Public profiles (found on the charity’s own website): facebook · 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
£11.3m
Total spending
£11.5m
Reserves (reported)
£839k
Employees
55

Reported reserves equal ~0.9 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 (55% 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: City Of Westminster · Hammersmith And Fulham · Hillingdon · Windsor And Maidenhead

Income and spending

Financial year endIncomeSpending
31/07/2025£11.4m£11.5m
31/07/2024£11.0m£10.5m
31/07/2023£10.4m£10.3m
31/07/2022£9.5m£9.8m
31/07/2021£5.5m£8.5m

Common questions

Is IMPERIAL COLLEGE UNION financially healthy?

Per its FY2025 accounts: The accounts state that the charity reported a net deficit of £154k for the year, driven by a £281k catering provision, though operational performance was ahead of budget. Per the trustees' report, the balance sheet remains healthy with net current assets of £2,932k, and the organization is dependent on grant income from Imperial College London to run its core services. Its FY2025 accounts were audited by Buzzacott Audit LLP.

Who funds IMPERIAL COLLEGE UNION?

Funders whose own accounts filings name IMPERIAL COLLEGE UNION as a grant recipient include CHRIST CHURCH MAYFAIR.

Known funders

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

FunderYearAmountPurpose (as stated by the funder)
CHRIST CHURCH MAYFAIRFY2022£6k
CHRIST CHURCH MAYFAIRFY2023£6k

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 YUSUF AND FARIDA HAMIED FOUNDATION1£3.0m
Aruna and Ambika Paul Foundation1£2.7m
THE JAGCLIF CHARITABLE TRUST1£969k
ASSOCIATION OF NHS CHARITIES1£929k
QUINTIN HOGG TRUST1£540k
BUKHMAN FOUNDATION1£286k
THE EXILARCH'S FOUNDATION1£206k
KUSUMA TRUST UK1£70k

Charities like this

Semantically similar by activities and financial character, from our analysed corpus. Compare with IMPERIAL HEALTH CHARITY.

Side by side with its peers

CharityIncomeTop pay bandStaff >£60kReserves vs policyFundraising costGoing concern
IMPERIAL COLLEGE UNION£11.4m——above—no doubt
IMPERIAL HEALTH CHARITY FY2025£8.9m£140,001 - £150,000—unclear—no doubt
KING'S COLLEGE LONDON STUDENTS' UNION FY2025£12.5m——within—no doubt
UNITARIAN COLLEGE FY2025£128k—0unclear—no doubt
UNIVERSITY OF EAST LONDON STUDENTS' UNION FY2025£1.5m—0above—no doubt
FRIENDS OF IMPERIAL COLLEGE FY2025£33k—0unclear—no doubt

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