THE ROYAL ACADEMY OF DRAMATIC ART

Registered charity 312819 · accounts filings on the Charity Commission register · also known as R A D A, RADA, THE ROYAL ACADEMY OF DRAMATIC ARTS

To promote and operate an academy of dramatic art. To advance the art of drama by means of giving instruction in and promoting the study, practice and knowledge of dramatic literature. To promote and supervise such instruction most condusive to the cultivation and dissemination of the art of drama in the United Kingdom and English speaking world.

Objects

TO PROMOTE AND CARRY ON A SCHOOL OR ACADEMY OF DRAMATIC ART. TO ADVANCE THE ART OF THE DRAMA BY MEANS OF GIVING INSTRUCTION IN AND PROMOTING THE STUDY, PRACTICE AND KNOWLEDGE OF DRAMATIC LITERATURE AND ACTING IN ALL OR ANY OF ITS BRANCHES EXCLUSIVELY. TO PROMOTE AND SUPERVISE SUCH INSTRUCTION AS MAY BE THOUGHT MOST CONDUCIVE TO THE CULTIVATION AND DISSEMINATION OF THE ART OF THE DRAMA IN THE UNITED KINGDOM AND THE BRITISH DOMINIONS.

Area of benefit: NOT DEFINED

The charity’s charitable objects and area of benefit, quoted from its governing document as held on the Charity Commission register.

Causes: Education/training · Arts/culture/heritage/science · Economic/community Development/employment · website · Get email alerts

Registered contact address: Camden, London, England (from the postcode on the register)

Financial health, per its FY2025 accounts

The accounts state that RADA reported a deficit of £42k for the year ended 31 July 2025, marking the sixth consecutive year of deficits. Despite this, unrestricted reserves stood at £1.04m, and the Trustees confirmed the charity has sufficient funds to operate for at least 12 months from the approval date.

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

What the accounts disclose

Accounts audited by Saffery LLP. Discloses 4 of 6 completeness components.

Policies the charity declares

In its annual return the charity told the Commission that it has the policies listed below. This is self-declared: it is not verified by the Commission or by this site, and it is not evidence of how a policy works in practice.

• Bullying and harassment policy and procedures
• Complaints handling
• Complaints policy and procedures
• Conflicting interests
• Financial reserves policy and procedures
• Internal charity financial controls policy and procedures
• Internal risk management policy and procedures
• Investing charity funds policy and procedures
• Investment
• Paying staff
• Risk management
• Safeguarding policy and procedures
• Serious incident reporting policy and procedures
• Social media policy and procedures
• Trustee conflicts of interest policy and procedures
• Trustee expenses policy and procedures

From the charity’s annual return (Part A, self-declared)

Answers and figures the charity gave in Part A of its annual return to the Charity Commission. They are self-declared: not verified by the Commission or by this site. Only positive answers and figures are listed; items not listed are simply not shown.

Source: this charity’s annual returns on the Charity Commission register.

In the news

Recent coverage mentioning this charity by name (automated match; headlines belong to their publishers).

• Beloved Actor, Who Trained at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Arts, Turns 53 parade.com · 14/09/2026
• King Charles and Cynthia Erivo Share a Laugh at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Arts vanityfair.com · 30/05/2024
• Pick of the Past: A young Sir Kenneth Branagh joins Royal Academy of Dramatic Arts getreading.co.uk · 16/08/2015

Leadership, per the charity’s website

• David Harewood — President (source)

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.

Funders the charity credits

Named as funders/supporters on the charity’s own website (the charity’s claim, distinct from accounts-verified grants).

• Arts Council England — “RADA has successfully secured National Lottery Project Grant funding from Arts Council England for Shakespeare for Young Audiences, one of o…” (source page)

Property (HM Land Registry)

5 registered titles in England and Wales held by the charity’s company or corporate body (1 freehold); recorded price paid £3.4m. All charity-held property. Contains HM Land Registry data © Crown copyright, OGL v3.0.

Public profiles (found on the charity’s own website): facebook (49,965 followers) · instagram (61K followers)

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

Reported reserves equal ~0.7 months of spending — in the bottom quarter for charities its size (median 4.6 months; benchmarks).

Per its annual return, largest income source: Charitable activities (47% 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: 36.8% of total income — above the 90th percentile for charities its size (median 3.7%) (benchmarks).

Register events

• Received assets from another charity (04/05/2023) — per the register’s event history; asset transfers typically record mergers or reorganisations.

Trustees · trustee networks

• Marcus Ryderchair
• Caroline Spicer
• Charlotte Mary Moar
• Helen Selwood
• Helen Slater · trustee of 1 other charity
• JUDITH CHAN · trustee of 1 other charity
• Jacob Steele
• John Romeo
• Maxine Peake
• Michael Mire
• Peter Michael Ward
• Professor Judith Buchanan · trustee of 1 other charity
• Rebecca Mary Snell
• Richard Middleton
• Shona Spence
• Thomas Walker Carswell

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

Operates in: Camden

Income and spending

Common questions

Known funders

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

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 ROYAL ACADEMY OF MUSIC.

• ROYAL ACADEMY OF MUSIC income £33.2m
• RAWD CIO income £221k
• THE ACADEMY FOR THEATRE ARTS LTD income £251k
• RENT-A-ROLE DRAMA SERVICE income £508k
• DPA PERFORMING ARTS ACADEMY income £212k
• Royal Academy Trust income £5.4m

Side by side with its peers

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