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

THE DIFFERENCE EDUCATION LTD

Registered charity 1184843 · accounts filings on the Charity Commission register

Improving life outcomes for the most vulnerable children by raising the status and expertise of those who educate them.

Causes: Education/training · website · Get email alerts

Latest income
£1.6m
Latest spending
£1.8m
Registered
2019
Accounts read
FY2025

Financial health, per its FY2025 accounts

The accounts state that the charity operated at a financial deficit of £231,196 for the year ended 31 August 2025, resulting in a decrease in total funds. However, the trustees report that free reserves of £910,000 exceed the stated policy target of between £411,000 and £822,000, and they consider the charity to be a going concern with adequate resources for the foreseeable future.

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

What the accounts disclose

Reserves policy: three to six months’ budgeted operating costs (held: £230k)
“It is the Difference’s policy that unrestricted funds which includes those we have designated for a specific use should be maintained at a level equivalent to between three to six months’ budgeted operating costs, where possible (currently between £411k and £822k).” — page 11
Per its FY2025 accounts as filed with the Charity Commission.

Accounts audited by Godfrey Wilson Limited. Discloses 4 of 6 completeness components.

Year-over-year changes

Comparing this charity’s FY2024 and FY2025 accounts as analysed by this site.

Corporate structure

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.

Company officers (Companies House)

Current officers of the charity’s own company per the Companies House register, cross-checked against the Charity Commission trustee list by name. A director not on the trustee list is usually a timing or naming difference between the two registers — check both records before drawing conclusions.

Official officers record.

Structured financials (annual return, FY ending 31/08/2025)

Total income
£1.6m
Total spending
£1.8m
Cost of raising funds
£243k
Reserves (reported)
£910k
Employees
21

Reported reserves equal ~6.0 months of spending — above the median for charities its size (median 4.8 months; benchmarks).

Per its annual return, largest income source: Donations and legacies (64% 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: 15.4% 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: Throughout England And Wales

Income and spending

Financial year endIncomeSpending
31/08/2025£1.6m£1.8m
31/08/2024£1.3m£1.7m
31/08/2023£1.5m£1.3m
31/08/2022£1.1m£1.1m
31/08/2021£1.4m£791k

Common questions

Is THE DIFFERENCE EDUCATION LTD financially healthy?

Per its FY2025 accounts: The accounts state that the charity operated at a financial deficit of £231,196 for the year ended 31 August 2025, resulting in a decrease in total funds. However, the trustees report that free reserves of £910,000 exceed the stated policy target of between £411,000 and £822,000, and they consider the charity to be a going concern with adequate resources for the foreseeable future. Its FY2025 accounts were audited by Godfrey Wilson Limited.

Who funds THE DIFFERENCE EDUCATION LTD?

Funders whose own accounts filings name THE DIFFERENCE EDUCATION LTD as a grant recipient include MISSION44, THE FIDELITY UK FOUNDATION.

Known funders

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

FunderYearAmountPurpose (as stated by the funder)
MISSION44FY2023£380kEducation - Preventing the Exclusions Fund
THE FIDELITY UK FOUNDATIONFY2022£190kDevelopment of a new CRM system and scaling the Inclusive Leadership Course
THE FIDELITY UK FOUNDATIONFY2024£121kTowards a new post of Research and Impact Officer to support high-quality monitoring and evaluation.
MISSION44FY2024£50kEducation
MISSION44FY2025£10kEducation

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 DULVERTON TRUST2£193k
AKO FOUNDATION1£1.3m
THE MOHN WESTLAKE FOUNDATION1£800k
THE NUFFIELD FOUNDATION1£246k
The Parochial Church Council of Ecclesiastical Parish of Emmer Green and Caversham Park St Barnabas1£182k
THE STONE FAMILY FOUNDATION1£127k
SWEATY BETTY FOUNDATION1£37k
THE ANGUS LAWSON MEMORIAL TRUST1£25k

Charities like this

Semantically similar by activities and financial character, from our analysed corpus. Compare with CAUSEWAY EDUCATION LTD.

Side by side with its peers

CharityIncomeTop pay bandStaff >£60kReserves vs policyFundraising costGoing concern
THE DIFFERENCE EDUCATION LTD£1.6m——above—no doubt
CAUSEWAY EDUCATION LTD FY2025£772k——above—no doubt
FIVE CHILDREN AND FAMILIES TRUST LTD FY2025£2.3m—0below—no doubt
CHARMINSTER PRE-SCHOOL FY2025£189k—0unclear—no doubt
GET FURTHER LTD FY2025£1.6m——within—no doubt
EDUCATION FOR LIFE FY2025£231k—0below—no doubt

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