THE MARGARET THATCHER SCHOLARSHIP TRUST

Registered charity 1154547 · accounts filings on the Charity Commission register · also known as MTST

To promote and advance education at the University of Oxford, and in particular at Somerville College, providing financial support to outstanding students from all over the world and supporting academic posts and other initiative which help nurture the talents of these students.

Causes: Education/training · Grant history (this charity is a funder) · Get email alerts

Latest income

£858k

Latest spending

£818k

Registered

2013

Accounts read

FY2025

Financial health, per its FY2025 accounts

The accounts state that the charity holds unrestricted reserves of £242,532, which the trustees monitor against best practice guidance recommending reserves for at least 12 months of operations. The charity reported a net income before investment gains of £40,301 and total incoming resources of £857,922, funded by donations and investment income. The trustees confirm adequate resources to continue operating for the foreseeable future with no requirement for external funding beyond current facilities.

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

What the accounts disclose

Reserves position: below the charity's own stated reserves policy (held: £243k; policy: 12 months of operations)

“Whereas the guidance recommends charities hold reserves sufficient to deliver at least 12 months of operations, the Trust currently has reserves of £243k and an annual operating surplus on unrestricted funds of 53k.” — page 6

Per its FY2025 accounts as filed with the Charity Commission.

Related-party transaction: Somerville College owed the Trust £29,632 (2024: The Trust owed Somerville College £587,323). The movement in the year represents the intercompany position between the two group entities. No income or expenditure was incurred between the parties, but certain transactions were carried out by Somerville College on behalf of the Trust and remain outstanding for recharge at year end.

“At the year end Somerville College owed the Trust £29,632 (2024: The Trust owed Somerville College £587,323). The movement in the year represents the intercompany position between the two group entities. No income or expenditure was incurred between the parties, but certain transactions were carried out by Somerville College on behalf of the Trust and remain outstanding for recharge at year end.” — page 18

Per its FY2025 accounts as filed with the Charity Commission.

Accounts audited by Crowe U.K. LLP. Discloses 4 of 6 completeness components.

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

Total income

£858k

Total spending

£818k

Reserves (reported)

£243k

Employees

Reported reserves equal ~3.6 months of spending — below the median for charities its size (median 5.2 months; benchmarks).

Per its annual return, largest income source: Investments (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 (4.9%) (benchmarks).

Trustees · trustee networks

ANDREW PARKER · trustee of 1 other charity
CLARA ELIZABETH MARY FREEMAN OBE · trustee of 1 other charity
Catherine Royle · trustee of 1 other charity
Lord Stephen Sherbourne
Professor Almut Suerbaum · trustee of 1 other charity
Professor Dan Ciubotaru
Professor Stephen Weatherill

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

Operates in: Throughout England And Wales

Income and spending

Financial year end	Income	Spending
31/07/2025	£858k	£818k
31/07/2024	£690k	£737k
31/07/2023	£643k	£726k
31/07/2022	£542k	£629k
31/07/2021	£512k	£519k

Common questions

Is THE MARGARET THATCHER SCHOLARSHIP TRUST financially healthy?

Per its FY2025 accounts: The accounts state that the charity holds unrestricted reserves of £242,532, which the trustees monitor against best practice guidance recommending reserves for at least 12 months of operations. The charity reported a net income before investment gains of £40,301 and total incoming resources of £857,922, funded by donations and investment income. The trustees confirm adequate resources to continue operating for the foreseeable future with no requirement for external funding beyond current facilities. Its FY2025 accounts were audited by Crowe U.K. LLP.

Who funds THE MARGARET THATCHER SCHOLARSHIP TRUST?

Funders whose own accounts filings name THE MARGARET THATCHER SCHOLARSHIP TRUST as a grant recipient include THE MICHAEL BISHOP FOUNDATION.

Known funders

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

Funder	Year	Amount	Purpose (as stated by the funder)
THE MICHAEL BISHOP FOUNDATION	FY2023	£113k	education at Somerville College, Oxford
THE MICHAEL BISHOP FOUNDATION	FY2023	£75k	education at Somerville College, Oxford (part of 5 year commitment)
THE MICHAEL BISHOP FOUNDATION	FY2022	£74k	as part of a five year commitment totalling approximately £341,000 to assist promising students to benefit from education at Somerville College, Oxford regardle
THE MICHAEL BISHOP FOUNDATION	FY2025	£50k
THE MICHAEL BISHOP FOUNDATION	FY2023	£38k	new intake of students

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
WORCESTER COLLEGE OXFORD ENDOWMENT TRUST	1	£675k
Tinsley Charitable Trust	1	£85k
THE SAVOY EDUCATIONAL TRUST	1	£63k
CATKIN PUSSYWILLOW CHARITABLE TRUST	1	£39k
JOHN SWIRE 1989 CHARITABLE TRUST	1	£3k

Charities like this

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

WORCESTER COLLEGE, OXFORD income £20.3m
THE PRINCIPAL AND FELLOWS OF THE COLLEGE OF THE LADY MARGARET IN THE UNIVERSITY OF OXFORD income £16.7m
THE WARDEN AND SCHOLARS OF THE HOUSE OR COLLEGE OF SCHOLARS OF MERTON IN THE UNIVERSITY OF OXFORD income £20.4m
OXFORD ROUND TABLE CHARITABLE TRUST income £173k
HILDEN OAKS SCHOOL EDUCATIONAL TRUST LIMITED income £2.5m
University of California Trust income £1.7m

Side by side with its peers

Charity	Income	Top pay band	Staff >£60k	Reserves vs policy	Fundraising cost	Going concern
THE MARGARET THATCHER SCHOLARSHIP TRUST	£858k	—	0	below	—	no doubt
WORCESTER COLLEGE, OXFORD FY2025	£20.3m	£169,000 - £169,999	—	unclear	—	no doubt
THE PRINCIPAL AND FELLOWS OF THE COLLEGE OF THE LADY MARGARET IN THE UNIVERSITY OF OXFORD FY2025	£16.7m	—	—	unclear	—	no doubt
THE WARDEN AND SCHOLARS OF THE HOUSE OR COLLEGE OF SCHOLARS OF MERTON IN THE UNIVERSITY OF OXFORD FY2025	£20.4m	—	—	unclear	—	no doubt
OXFORD ROUND TABLE CHARITABLE TRUST FY2025	£173k	—	0	above	107.9%	no doubt
HILDEN OAKS SCHOOL EDUCATIONAL TRUST LIMITED FY2025	£2.5m	£70,001 - £80,000	—	below	—	no doubt

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