ASSOCIATION FOR LEARNING TECHNOLOGY

Registered charity 1160039 · accounts filings on the Charity Commission register · also known as ALT

ALT's mission is to ensure that the use of Learning Technology is effective and efficient, informed by research and practice, and grounded in an understanding of the underlying technologies, their capabilities and the situations into which they are placed. We pursue our mission by improving practice, promoting research and influencing policy.

Objects

TO ADVANCE EDUCATION THROUGH INCREASING, EXPLORING AND DISSEMINATING KNOWLEDGE IN THE FIELD OF LEARNING TECHNOLOGY FOR THE BENEFIT OF THE GENERAL PUBLIC

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

Causes: Education/training · website · Get email alerts

Financial health, per its FY2025 accounts

The accounts state that the charity reported a deficit of £35,090 for the year ended 31 January 2025, driven by decreased income from conferences and CMALT fees alongside rising costs. Per the Honorary Treasurer's report, running at an annual deficit is not sustainable, and the charity has reduced staff numbers and implemented cost reduction initiatives to address this. The unrestricted fund balance decreased from £129,315 to £94,225, with designated reserves held to cover two months of operating costs.

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

What the accounts disclose

Accounts independently examined (not a full audit). Discloses 5 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.

• 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
• Paying staff
• Risk management
• Serious incident reporting policy and procedures
• Social media policy and procedures
• Trustee conflicts of interest policy and procedures
• Trustee expenses policy and procedures
• Volunteer management

Structured financials (annual return, FY ending 31/01/2024)

Reported reserves equal ~3.0 months of spending — below the median for charities its size (median 7.1 months; benchmarks).

Per its annual return, largest income source: Charitable activities (70% 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 (3.0%) (benchmarks).

Register events

• Received assets from another charity (19/01/2017) — per the register’s event history; asset transfers typically record mergers or reorganisations.

Trustees · trustee networks

• Keith Smythchair
• David Hopkins
• David White
• Matthew Cornock
• Natalie Lafferty
• Puiyin Wong
• Sharon Flynn
• Shonagh Douglas

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

Operates in: Northern Ireland · Scotland · Throughout England And Wales

Income and spending

Common questions