UNIVERSITY OF BATH STUDENTS' UNION (BUSU)

Registered charity 1206187 · accounts filings on the Charity Commission register

Sports, arts, cultural, departmental, recreational, media, volunteering and diversity & support student groups; representation both academic and in areas such as accommodation, campus facilities, town/gown relations and national issues; support in housing, academic and welfare advice, peer mentoring and peer assisted learning; training, development and entrepreneurial opportunities and a job shop.

Causes: Education/training · website · Get email alerts

Latest income
£6.7m
Latest spending
£6.6m
Registered
2023
Accounts read
FY2025

Financial health, per its FY2025 accounts

The accounts state that the charity reported a net movement in funds of £72,795 for the year ended 31 July 2025, resulting in total net assets of £1,279,298. The Trustees confirm that the charity has adequate resources to continue in operational existence for the foreseeable future, with the majority of income received as a block grant from the University of Bath. The balance sheet reflects a robust financial position with net current assets of £1,279,298.

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

What the accounts disclose

Highest-paid employee band: £80k-£90k
“The Chief Executive is employed by the University and is seconded to The SU, which had they be contracted directly by The SU their remuneration lies within the banding £80k-£90k, a further person lies within the £60k-£70k banding.”
Per its FY2025 accounts as filed with the Charity Commission.
Employees paid over £60,000: 2
“No employee received remuneration amounting to more than £60,000 in either year. The Chief Executive is employed by the University and is seconded to The SU, which had they be contracted directly by The SU their remuneration lies within the banding £80k-£90k, a further person lies within the £60k-£70k banding.” — page 38
Per its FY2025 accounts as filed with the Charity Commission.
Related-party transaction: The SU is in receipt of a recurrent grant from the parent body of £1,516,750 (2024: £1,177,362).
“The SU is in receipt of a recurrent grant from the parent body of £1,516,750 (2024: £1, 177,362). The SU also received additional grant funding of £Nil (2024: £1,000) within the year.”
“The SU occupies a University building under an informal licence. The SU is notionally charged by the University a contribution to the costs of maintaining the building. The amount included within expenditure in the Statement of Financial Activities for the year was £946,016 (2024: £437,485) for which equivalent income is shown within 'Donations and grants'.” — page 48
Per its FY2025 accounts as filed with the Charity Commission.
Related-party transaction: The SU occupies a University building under an informal licence. The SU is notionally charged by the University a contribution to the costs of maintaining the building. The amount included within expenditure in the Statement of Financial Activities for the year was £946,016 (2024: £437,485) for which equivalent income is shown within 'Donations and grants'.
“The SU is in receipt of a recurrent grant from the parent body of £1,516,750 (2024: £1, 177,362). The SU also received additional grant funding of £Nil (2024: £1,000) within the year.”
“The SU occupies a University building under an informal licence. The SU is notionally charged by the University a contribution to the costs of maintaining the building. The amount included within expenditure in the Statement of Financial Activities for the year was £946,016 (2024: £437,485) for which equivalent income is shown within 'Donations and grants'.” — page 48
Per its FY2025 accounts as filed with the Charity Commission.
Related-party transaction: The University also pays all wages and salaries on behalf of the SU and recharges them accordingly.
“The SU is in receipt of a recurrent grant from the parent body of £1,516,750 (2024: £1, 177,362). The SU also received additional grant funding of £Nil (2024: £1,000) within the year.”
“The SU occupies a University building under an informal licence. The SU is notionally charged by the University a contribution to the costs of maintaining the building. The amount included within expenditure in the Statement of Financial Activities for the year was £946,016 (2024: £437,485) for which equivalent income is shown within 'Donations and grants'.” — page 48
Per its FY2025 accounts as filed with the Charity Commission.

Accounts audited by Crowe U.K. LLP. Discloses 5 of 6 completeness components.

Year-over-year changes

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

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

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

Total income
£6.7m
Total spending
£6.6m
Cost of raising funds
£204k
Reserves (reported)
£1.3m
Employees
272

Reported reserves equal ~2.3 months of spending — below the median for charities its size (median 4.8 months; benchmarks).

Per its annual return, largest income source: Donations and legacies (52% 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: 3.0% of total income — below the median for charities its size (5.2%) (benchmarks).

Register events

Trustees · trustee networks

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

Operates in: Bath And North East Somerset

Income and spending

Financial year endIncomeSpending
31/07/2025£6.7m£6.6m
31/07/2024£3.0m£3.0m

Common questions

Is UNIVERSITY OF BATH STUDENTS' UNION (BUSU) financially healthy?

Per its FY2025 accounts: The accounts state that the charity reported a net movement in funds of £72,795 for the year ended 31 July 2025, resulting in total net assets of £1,279,298. The Trustees confirm that the charity has adequate resources to continue in operational existence for the foreseeable future, with the majority of income received as a block grant from the University of Bath. The balance sheet reflects a robust financial position with net current assets of £1,279,298. Its FY2025 accounts were audited by Crowe U.K. LLP.

What does the highest-paid employee of UNIVERSITY OF BATH STUDENTS' UNION (BUSU) earn?

Per its FY2025 accounts, the highest-paid employee was in the £80k-£90k band, and 2 employees earned over £60,000.

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
BRITISH UNIVERSITIES AND COLLEGES SPORT LIMITED1£2k

Charities like this

Semantically similar by activities and financial character, from our analysed corpus. Compare with BATH SPA UNIVERSITY STUDENTS' UNION.

Side by side with its peers

CharityIncomeTop pay bandStaff >£60kReserves vs policyFundraising costGoing concern
UNIVERSITY OF BATH STUDENTS' UNION (BUSU)£6.7m£80k-£90k2unclear—no doubt
BATH SPA UNIVERSITY STUDENTS' UNION FY2025£1.8m——unclear—no doubt
THE STUDENTS' UNION AT BU LTD FY2025£4.2m——unclear—no doubt
UNIVERSITY OF BRISTOL STUDENTS' UNION FY2025£7.7m—0unclear—no doubt
TEESSIDE UNIVERSITY STUDENTS' UNION FY2025£2.5m——below—no doubt
UNIVERSITY OF THE ARTS LONDON STUDENTS' UNION FY2025£4.1m£60,000 - £100,0003above—no doubt

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