EXETER CATHEDRAL SCHOOL

Registered charity 1151444 · accounts filings on the Charity Commission register · Wikidata: Q66162110 · Wikipedia · also known as ECS · filing overdue (register status)

The charitable objectives of the school are to promote and provide residential and non-residential schools for the advancement of education and the advancement of religion in accordance with the practices of the Church of England for the benefit of the public and of the choristers of Exeter Cathedral by providing facilities for their education.

Objects

2.1. THE EXCLUSIVELY CHARITABLE OBJECTS FOR WHICH THE COMPANY IS ESTABLISHED (“THE OBJECTS”) ARE SPECIFICALLY RESTRICTED TO THE FOLLOWING:2.1.1. TO PROMOTE AND PROVIDE RESIDENTIAL AND NON-RESIDENTIAL SCHOOLS FOR THE ADVANCEMENT OF EDUCATION AND THE ADVANCEMENT OF RELIGION IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE PRACTICES OF THE CHURCH OF ENGLAND FOR THE BENEFIT OF THE PUBLIC; AND2.1.2 FOR THE BENEFIT OF THE PUBLIC, TO ADVANCE THE EDUCATION OF THE CHORISTERS OF EXETER CATHEDRAL, BY PROVIDING THE FACILITIES FOR THEIR EDUCATION.

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

Causes: Education/training · Accommodation/housing · Religious Activities · website · Get email alerts

Registered contact address: South Hams, South West, England (from the postcode on the register)

Latest income

£2.7m

Latest spending

£3.0m

Registered

2013

Accounts read

FY2024

Financial health, per its FY2024 accounts

The accounts state that the charity reported a net expenditure of £315,636 for the year, resulting in a decline in total funds from £567,086 to £251,450. The trustees note that the level of deficit must be reduced to ensure sustainability, citing challenges such as declining pupil numbers and upcoming cost increases. However, the trustees and auditors confirm the school remains a going concern based on reviewed budgets and cash flow forecasts.

Automated summary of the FY2024 accounts; the evidenced findings below carry the verbatim passages.

What the accounts disclose

Going concern: noted by the trustees or auditor

“The financial statements have been prepared on a going concern basis. The Governors have reviewed and considered relevant information, including annual budgets, pupil number and cash flow forecasts, in reaching this position. They continue to keep the position under close review, given the risks identified above.” — page 7

Per its FY2024 accounts as filed with the Charity Commission.

Governance: The School moved quickly to rectify these failures in governance, and a subsequent progress monitoring inspection after the year end has confirmed that these standards are all fully met.

“In April 2023 the School received an unannounced Short Visit from the Independent Schools Inspectorate, following a matter of procedure that was incorrectly handled by a governor. The inspectors consequently concluded that the School did not meet all of the regulatory standards.” — page 10

Per its FY2024 accounts as filed with the Charity Commission.

Accounts audited by Gravita Audit Western Limited. Discloses 3 of 6 completeness components.

Year-over-year changes

Going concern: no going-concern doubt (FY2023) → going-concern doubt noted (FY2024).

Comparing this charity’s FY2023 and FY2024 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.

Bullying and harassment policy and procedures
Complaints handling
Complaints policy and procedures
Conflicting interests
Engaging external speakers at charity events policy and procedures
Financial reserves policy and procedures
Internal charity financial controls policy and procedures
Internal risk management policy and procedures
Investing charity funds policy and procedures
Investment
Paying staff
Risk management
Safeguarding policy and procedures
Safeguarding vulnerable beneficiaries
Serious incident reporting policy and procedures
Social media policy and procedures
Trustee conflicts of interest policy and procedures
Volunteer management

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 31/08/2024

Volunteers: 1
Employees paid over £60,000: 3 (£60,001–£70,000: 3)

Self-declared on the annual return for the financial year ending 31/08/2023

Volunteers: 2
Employees paid over £60,000: 2 (£60,001–£70,000: 1; £80,001–£90,000: 1)

Self-declared on the annual return for the financial year ending 31/08/2022

Volunteers: 2
Employees paid over £60,000: 3 (£60,001–£70,000: 2; £70,001–£80,000: 1)

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

Annual return filing dates (Charity Commission record)

1 annual return is past its due date with no recorded received date (Charity Commission register).

Due and received dates as recorded in the Commission’s annual-return data; the data does not say whether an extension was agreed. Source: this charity’s annual returns on the Charity Commission register.

Leadership, per the charity’s website

James Featherstone — Headmaster (source)

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)

6 registered titles 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): facebook · instagram

Structured financials (annual return, FY ending 31/08/2024)

Total income

£2.7m

Total spending

£3.0m

Reserves (reported)

£180k

Employees

Reported reserves equal ~0.7 months of spending — in the bottom quarter for charities its size (median 4.7 months; benchmarks).

Per its annual return, largest income source: Charitable activities (99% 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 (5.3%) (benchmarks).

Register events

Received assets from another charity (08/02/2017) — per the register’s event history; asset transfers typically record mergers or reorganisations.
Received assets from another charity (08/02/2017) — per the register’s event history; asset transfers typically record mergers or reorganisations.

Trustees · trustee networks

Charles Esmond Beer · trustee of 1 other charity
Charles Kislingbury
James Montagu Beale
Jennifer Ellis · trustee of 13 other charities
Michael Totterdell Prof
NEIL RICHARD POCKETT
Nigel Sean Mitchell
Rev JAMES MUSTARD · trustee of 1 other charity
THE VERY REVD JONATHAN GREENER · trustee of 1 other charity
TIMOTHY RICHARD CANNELL · trustee of 2 other charities

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

Operates in: Devon

Income and spending

Financial year end	Income	Spending
31/08/2025	—	—
31/08/2024	£2.7m	£3.0m
31/08/2023	£3.0m	£3.2m
31/08/2022	£2.9m	£2.8m
31/08/2021	£2.5m	£2.5m

Common questions

Is EXETER CATHEDRAL SCHOOL financially healthy?

Per its FY2024 accounts: The accounts state that the charity reported a net expenditure of £315,636 for the year, resulting in a decline in total funds from £567,086 to £251,450. The trustees note that the level of deficit must be reduced to ensure sustainability, citing challenges such as declining pupil numbers and upcoming cost increases. However, the trustees and auditors confirm the school remains a going concern based on reviewed budgets and cash flow forecasts. Its FY2024 accounts were audited by Gravita Audit Western Limited.

Who funds EXETER CATHEDRAL SCHOOL?

Funders whose own accounts filings name EXETER CATHEDRAL SCHOOL as a grant recipient include VISCOUNT AMORY'S CHARITABLE TRUST, THE OUSELEY CHURCH MUSIC TRUST.

Known funders

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

Funder	Year	Amount	Purpose (as stated by the funder)
VISCOUNT AMORY'S CHARITABLE TRUST	FY2024	£42k	Educational
VISCOUNT AMORY'S CHARITABLE TRUST	FY2025	£28k	Educational
VISCOUNT AMORY'S CHARITABLE TRUST	FY2023	£12k	Educational
VISCOUNT AMORY'S CHARITABLE TRUST	FY2022	£9k	Educational
THE OUSELEY CHURCH MUSIC TRUST	FY2023	£3k	Fees

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.

Funder	Similar charities funded	Amount to them
LEICESTER CATHEDRAL CHARITABLE TRUST	1	£3.6m
THE LEICESTER DIOCESAN BOARD OF FINANCE	1	£374k
WESTMINSTER CATHEDRAL CHOIR SCHOOL FUND	1	£225k
THE KIRBY LAING FOUNDATION	1	£100k
THE IAN AND CLARE MATTIOLI CHARITABLE TRUST	1	£75k
CATHEDRAL MUSIC TRUST	1	£64k
EDITH MURPHY FOUNDATION	1	£30k
LORD BARNBY'S FOUNDATION	1	£9k

Charities like this

Semantically similar by activities and financial character, from our analysed corpus. Compare with EXETER SCHOOL.

EXETER SCHOOL income £1.6m
EXETER CATHEDRAL OLD CHORISTERS' ASSOCIATION BURSARY FUND income £33k
THE CATHEDRAL CHURCH OF ST MARTIN, LEICESTER income £1.7m
WESTMINSTER CATHEDRAL CHOIR SCHOOL income £7.1m
THE EXETER EPISCOPAL SCHOOLS TRUST income £44k
THE WELLS CATHEDRAL SCHOOL FOUNDATION income £240k

Side by side with its peers

Charity	Income	Top pay band	Staff >£60k	Reserves vs policy	Fundraising cost	Going concern
EXETER CATHEDRAL SCHOOL	£2.7m	—	—	unclear	—	noted
EXETER SCHOOL FY2025	£1.6m	—	—	unclear	—	no doubt
EXETER CATHEDRAL OLD CHORISTERS' ASSOCIATION BURSARY FUND FY2025	£33k	—	—	unclear	—	no doubt
THE CATHEDRAL CHURCH OF ST MARTIN, LEICESTER FY2024	£1.7m	—	0	unclear	—	no doubt
WESTMINSTER CATHEDRAL CHOIR SCHOOL FY2025	£7.1m	—	—	unclear	—	no doubt
THE EXETER EPISCOPAL SCHOOLS TRUST FY2026	£44k	—	—	unclear	—	no doubt

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