THE BRITISH COUNCIL

Registered charity 209131 · accounts filings on the Charity Commission register · also registered in Scotland as SC037733 (OSCR)

The British Council creates friendly knowledge and understanding between the people of the UK and other countries. We do this by making a positive contribution to the UK and the countries we work with. We reach millions of people across the world, working with over 100 countries in the fields of arts and culture, English language, education and civil society.

Causes: Education/training · Overseas Aid/famine Relief · Arts/culture/heritage/science · Other Charitable Purposes · Grant history (this charity is a funder) · website · Get email alerts

Financial health, per its FY2025 accounts

The accounts state that the British Council made a net loss of £51 million in 2024–25, resulting in unrestricted reserves falling to a deficit of £110.7 million. The charity is reliant on a £197 million loan from the FCDO, which has been committed to extend to September 2027, to meet its financial commitments. Per the trustees' report, a material uncertainty exists regarding the organisation's ability to continue as a going concern in the longer term due to its dependence on securing a long-term restructuring of this loan.

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

What the accounts disclose

Accounts audited by Comptroller and Auditor General. Discloses 4 of 6 completeness components.

UK research funding (UKRI Gateway to Research)

• 'Southall and Beyond' - An Exhibition and Festival of British Asian Culture in Delhi, and community engagement workshops in Bangkok —
• The Business of Fashion, Textiles and Technology Collaborative R&D Partnership —
• Assessing Impact of Translingual Pedagogic Materials on Indian ESL Teachers' Classroom Practices and Learners' Reading Comprehension —
• Transforming Lives: young people, art and the city —
• AHRC-FAPESP MoU - Public Spaces and the Role of the Architect: a comparative study of Modernist and contemporary examples in London and Sao Paulo —
• English as a Medium of Instruction in European Higher Education: Challenges and Opportunities for Europe and the UK —
• Higher Education, Inequality and the Public Good in four African countries: South Africa, Kenya, Nigeria and Ghana —
• Evaluating the Role of Multilingual Literacy in the Classroom to support the Implementation of the new Welsh Curriculum (2015-2022) —
• Arab World in Transition —
• Building Inclusive Civil Societies with, and for, Young People in 5 Post-Conflict Countries —

Property (HM Land Registry)

1 registered title 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.

Electoral Commission register entries

Entries on the Electoral Commission’s public register where this charity (or its company) appears as the source — typically sponsorship of an APPG or an overseas visit provided to an MP, which charities may lawfully do. Shown with the Commission’s own reference; this is a transparency record, not an allegation.

• Visit: Charlotte Nichols (MP - Member of Parliament) — £3k · 31/10/2022 · Tokyo, Japan · ref V0562082
  To experience the work of the British Council across arts, education and the English language, in Japan; a strategic, non-ODA priority operation at the centre of the UK’s Indo-Pacific tilt.
• Visit: Mr John Baron (MP - Member of Parliament) — £3k · 31/10/2022 · Tokyo, Japan · ref V0562133
  To experience the work of the British Council across arts, education and the English language in Japan - a strategic, non-ODA priority operation at the centre of the UK’s Indo-Pacific tilt.
• Visit: Alex Davies-Jones (MP - Member of Parliament) — £3k · 31/10/2022 · Tokyo, Japan · ref V0562081
  To experience the work of the British Council across arts, education and the English language, in Japan - a strategic, non-ODA priority operation at the centre of the UK’s Indo-Pacific tilt.
• Visit: Ms Angela Rayner MP (MP - Member of Parliament) — £4k · 05/08/2019 · Nairobi, Kenya · ref V0409319
  To encourage people from socially disadvantaged groups to become policy leaders and to participate in the British Council’s Future Leaders Connect programme. Flights, hotel accommodation, meals and visa, with a total cos
• Visit: Christian Matheson MP (MP - Member of Parliament) — £4k · 04/08/2019 · Kenya · ref V0409314
  To see the work of the British Council in Kenya, and to participate in the selection process for the British Council Future Leaders Connect programme. Flights costing £2,986.60; hotel accommodation costing £725.08; other
• Visit: Ms Vicky Foxcroft (MP - Member of Parliament) — £4k · 17/02/2019 · Mexico City, Mexico · ref V0403918
  Meeting with local stakeholders in my capacity as Chair of the Youth Violence Commission to discuss our work on tackling youth violence (organised by the British Council)

Structured financials (annual return, FY ending 31/03/2025)

Reported reserves equal ~0.0 months of spending — in the bottom quarter for charities its size (median 2.7 months; benchmarks).

Per its annual return, largest income source: Charitable activities (82% 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 (2.9%) (benchmarks).

Trustees · trustee networks

• Dr Paul Thompson CBEchair
• Alfred Yaw Oduro Nsarkoh · trustee of 1 other charity
• David Andrew Thompson Todd
• Desmond Patrick Neil Wigan CVO OBE
• Dr David John Lefevre
• Kate Marsh
• Kavita Puri
• Mariella Frostrup
• Paul Jonathan Woodgates · trustee of 2 other charities
• Professor Wendy Cowan Alexander
• Richard Mark Hookway

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

Operates in: Afghanistan · Albania · Algeria · Argentina · Armenia · Australia · Austria · Azerbaijan · Bahrain · Bangladesh · Belgium · Bosnia And Herzegovina

Income and spending

Common questions

Known funders

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

Government & lottery funding

Grants to this charity published as open data by government and lottery funders (360Giving).

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.

Charities like this

Semantically similar by activities and financial character, from our analysed corpus. Compare with A S HORNBY EDUCATIONAL TRUST CIO.

• A S HORNBY EDUCATIONAL TRUST CIO income £326k
• ENGLISH UK LIMITED income £1.5m
• THE BRITISH INSTITUTE OF FLORENCE income £1.6m
• THE BRITISH-GERMAN ASSOCIATION income £356k
• BOSNIA AND HERZEGOVINA U.K. NETWORK income £733k
• THE MUSLIM COUNCIL OF BRITAIN CHARITABLE FOUNDATION income £348k

Side by side with its peers

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