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ROYAL ASTRONOMICAL SOCIETY

Registered charity 226545 · accounts filings on the Charity Commission register

The Society promotes the study of astronomy and geophysics.

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

Latest income
£7.1m
Latest spending
£5.6m
Registered
1963
Accounts read
FY2025

Financial health, per its FY2025 accounts

The accounts state that total funds increased to £29,663,502, driven by significant one-off revenues from corporate secondary licensing sales. The charity maintains free reserves of £10,476,146, which the trustees consider appropriate given the risks associated with publishing income volatility and building maintenance costs. The auditor confirmed that the going concern basis of accounting is appropriate with no material uncertainties identified.

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

What the accounts disclose

Highest-paid employee band: £80,001 - £90,000 — above the median for charities its size (£70k)
“During the year no employees earned between £90,000 and £100,000 (2024 – one employee), one employee of the Society earned between £80,000 and £90,000 (2024 – one employee), one employee earned between £70,000 and £80,000 (2024 – one employee) and one employee earned between £60,000 and £70,000 (2024 – no employee).” — page 46
Per its FY2025 accounts as filed with the Charity Commission.
Employees paid over £60,000: 3
“During the year no employees earned between £90,000 and £100,000 (2024 – one employee), one employee of the Society earned between £80,000 and £90,000 (2024 – one employee), one employee earned between £70,000 and £80,000 (2024 – one employee) and one employee earned between £60,000 and £70,000 (2024 – no employee).” — page 46
Per its FY2025 accounts as filed with the Charity Commission.
Related-party transaction: The Society awarded £4,000 to the British Geophysical Association (BGA). BGA Committee members Prof James Hammond and Prof Andrew Curtis are trustees.
“The Society awarded funding of £4,000 to the British Geophysical Association (BGA). BGA Committee members Prof James Hammond and Prof Andrew Curtis are trustees.” — page 47
“A £1,500 sponsorship payment was made to the UK Planetary Forum (UKPF) for its Impact of Planetary Geoscience conference. UKPF committee member Mrs Karen Anne Deovil is a trustee.” — page 47
Per its FY2025 accounts as filed with the Charity Commission.
Related-party transaction: A £1,500 sponsorship payment was made to the UK Planetary Forum (UKPF). UKPF committee member Mrs Karen Anne Deovil is a trustee.
“The Society awarded funding of £4,000 to the British Geophysical Association (BGA). BGA Committee members Prof James Hammond and Prof Andrew Curtis are trustees.” — page 47
“A £1,500 sponsorship payment was made to the UK Planetary Forum (UKPF) for its Impact of Planetary Geoscience conference. UKPF committee member Mrs Karen Anne Deovil is a trustee.” — page 47
Per its FY2025 accounts as filed with the Charity Commission.
Related-party transaction: Trustees received reimbursement for travel expenses totaling £29,114.
“The Society awarded funding of £4,000 to the British Geophysical Association (BGA). BGA Committee members Prof James Hammond and Prof Andrew Curtis are trustees.” — page 47
“A £1,500 sponsorship payment was made to the UK Planetary Forum (UKPF) for its Impact of Planetary Geoscience conference. UKPF committee member Mrs Karen Anne Deovil is a trustee.” — page 47
Per its FY2025 accounts as filed with the Charity Commission.

Accounts audited by Buzzacott Audit 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.

Property (HM Land Registry)

1 registered title in England and Wales held by the charity’s company or corporate body (0 freehold); recorded price paid £25.0m. All charity-held property. Contains HM Land Registry data © Crown copyright, OGL v3.0.

Public profiles (found on the charity’s own website): facebook · instagram

Structured financials (annual return, FY ending 31/12/2025)

Total income
£7.1m
Total spending
£5.6m
Reserves (reported)
£10.5m
Employees
31

Reported reserves equal ~22.4 months of spending — in the top quarter for charities its size (median 4.8 months; benchmarks).

Per its annual return, largest income source: Charitable activities (92% 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 (5.2%) (benchmarks).

Trustees · trustee networks

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

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

Income and spending

Financial year endIncomeSpending
31/12/2025£7.1m£5.6m
31/12/2024£5.2m£4.7m
31/12/2023£7.1m£5.3m
31/12/2022£5.3m£4.7m
31/12/2021£5.2m£4.5m

Common questions

Is ROYAL ASTRONOMICAL SOCIETY financially healthy?

Per its FY2025 accounts: The accounts state that total funds increased to £29,663,502, driven by significant one-off revenues from corporate secondary licensing sales. The charity maintains free reserves of £10,476,146, which the trustees consider appropriate given the risks associated with publishing income volatility and building maintenance costs. The auditor confirmed that the going concern basis of accounting is appropriate with no material uncertainties identified. Its FY2025 accounts were audited by Buzzacott Audit LLP.

What does the highest-paid employee of ROYAL ASTRONOMICAL SOCIETY earn?

Per its FY2025 accounts, the highest-paid employee was in the £80,001 - £90,000 band, and 3 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
THE JULIA RAUSING TRUST1£1.4m
THE SINO-BRITISH FELLOWSHIP TRUST1£231k
GARFIELD WESTON FOUNDATION1£225k
THE DORFMAN FOUNDATION1£193k
REUBEN FOUNDATION1£159k
ROYAL COMMISSION FOR THE EXHIBITION OF 18511£155k
THE FOYLE FOUNDATION1£100k
THE RISMAN FOUNDATION1£50k

Charities like this

Semantically similar by activities and financial character, from our analysed corpus. Compare with ROYAL GEOGRAPHICAL SOCIETY (WITH THE INSTITUTE OF BRITISH GEOGRAPHERS).

Side by side with its peers

CharityIncomeTop pay bandStaff >£60kReserves vs policyFundraising costGoing concern
ROYAL ASTRONOMICAL SOCIETY£7.1m£80,001 - £90,0003unclear—no doubt
ROYAL GEOGRAPHICAL SOCIETY (WITH THE INSTITUTE OF BRITISH GEOGRAPHERS) FY2024£6.1m——above—no doubt
MANSFIELD AND SUTTON ASTRONOMICAL SOCIETY CIO FY2025£2.5m—0unclear—no doubt
ROYAL AERONAUTICAL SOCIETY FY2025£6.3m—0unclear—no doubt
THE ROYAL NUMISMATIC SOCIETY FY2024£366k—0unclear—no doubt
THE ROYAL SOCIETY OF LONDON FOR IMPROVING NATURAL KNOWLEDGE (COMMONLY KNOWN AS THE ROYAL SOCIETY) FY2025£157.6m—52above—no doubt

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