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DRAGON SCHOOL TRUST LIMITED

Registered charity 309676 · accounts filings on the Charity Commission register · also known as DRAGON SCHOOL

The primary object is to advance the education of the public by running schools, in particular the Dragon preparatory school and its pre-prep department Lynams.

Causes: Education/training · website · Get email alerts

Latest income
£25.5m
Latest spending
£23.1m
Registered
1964
Accounts read
FY2025

Financial health, per its FY2025 accounts

The accounts state that the charity reported a deficit in free reserves of £17,093k, primarily due to land and buildings financed by accumulated surpluses and bank borrowings. However, the trustees confirmed that working capital and cash flow are monitored closely, and the charity maintains a strong cash position with adequate resources to continue operations for at least 12 months.

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

What the accounts disclose

Largest income source: School fees (90% of income)
“During the year £22,926k (2024: £22,453k) was generated from fees, 90% of its total income of £25,471k (2024: £25,038k).” — page 17
Per its FY2025 accounts as filed with the Charity Commission.
Reserves policy: continue building up reserves out of operating surpluses, subject to the requirements for further capital expenditure (held: £-17.1m)
“The Governors’ policy is to continue building up reserves out of operating surpluses, subject to the requirements for further capital expenditure.” — page 11
Per its FY2025 accounts as filed with the Charity Commission.

Accounts audited by Crowe U.K LLP. Discloses 4 of 6 completeness components.

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)

16 registered titles in England and Wales held by the charity’s company or corporate body (14 freehold); recorded price paid £1.4m. All charity-held property. Contains HM Land Registry data © Crown copyright, OGL v3.0.

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

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

Total income
£25.5m
Total spending
£23.1m
Cost of raising funds
£536k
Reserves (reported)
£38.1m
Employees
326

Reported reserves equal ~19.8 months of spending — in the top quarter for charities its size (median 4.6 months; benchmarks).

Per its annual return, cost of raising funds: 2.1% of total income — below the median for charities its size (3.8%) (benchmarks).

Register events

Trustees · trustee networks

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

Operates in: Oxfordshire

Income and spending

Financial year endIncomeSpending
31/08/2025£25.5m£23.1m
31/08/2024£25.0m£22.9m
31/08/2023£21.5m£20.4m
31/08/2022£20.9m£19.3m
31/08/2021£17.9m£17.5m

Common questions

Is DRAGON SCHOOL TRUST LIMITED financially healthy?

Per its FY2025 accounts: The accounts state that the charity reported a deficit in free reserves of £17,093k, primarily due to land and buildings financed by accumulated surpluses and bank borrowings. However, the trustees confirmed that working capital and cash flow are monitored closely, and the charity maintains a strong cash position with adequate resources to continue operations for at least 12 months. Its FY2025 accounts were audited by Crowe U.K LLP.

Who funds DRAGON SCHOOL TRUST LIMITED?

Funders whose own accounts filings name DRAGON SCHOOL TRUST LIMITED as a grant recipient include The A and J Charitable Trust, THE TOLKIEN TRUST, THE EDWARD & CATHERINE WRAY CHARITABLE TRUST, DRAGON CHRISTMAS CHARITY SALE.

Known funders

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

FunderYearAmountPurpose (as stated by the funder)
The A and J Charitable TrustFY2022£130k
THE TOLKIEN TRUSTFY2023£49k
THE EDWARD & CATHERINE WRAY CHARITABLE TRUSTFY2023£30k
THE TOLKIEN TRUSTFY2021£25k
DRAGON CHRISTMAS CHARITY SALEFY2022£22kDragon School Bursary Scheme
THE TOLKIEN TRUSTFY2022£15k
THE TOLKIEN TRUSTFY2024£11k
The A and J Charitable TrustFY2024£10k
The A and J Charitable TrustFY2023£10k
The A and J Charitable TrustFY2025£5k

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 CHARIS TRUST1£54k

Charities like this

Semantically similar by activities and financial character, from our analysed corpus. Compare with DOLPHIN SCHOOL TRUST.

Side by side with its peers

CharityIncomeTop pay bandStaff >£60kReserves vs policyFundraising costGoing concern
DRAGON SCHOOL TRUST LIMITED£25.5m——unclear—no doubt
DOLPHIN SCHOOL TRUST FY2025£2.2m——unclear—no doubt
DRAGON CHRISTMAS CHARITY SALE FY2025£130k—0unclear—no doubt
HILDEN OAKS SCHOOL EDUCATIONAL TRUST LIMITED FY2025£2.5m£70,001 - £80,000—below—no doubt
PARKSIDE SCHOOL TRUST FY2025£4.5m——unclear—no doubt
ST OLAVE'S SCHOOL TRUST FY2025£3.4m£70,001 - £80,000—unclear—no doubt

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