OPEN COLLEGE OF THE ARTS
Registered charity 327446 · accounts filings on the Charity Commission register · also known as O C A, OCA, THE ARTS AND CRAFTS EDUCATIONAL TRUST
Open access educational charity
Causes: Education/training · Arts/culture/heritage/science · website · Get email alerts
Financial health, per its FY2025 accounts
The accounts state that the charity reported an operating deficit of £197,246 for the year ended 31 July 2025, resulting in total negative reserves of £875,407. Per the trustees' report, the charity has an agreed five-year recovery plan aiming to return to an accumulated surplus position by 2029/30. The trustees confirm that adequate resources exist to continue in operational existence with no material uncertainties regarding going concern.0
Automated summary of the FY2025 accounts; the evidenced findings below carry the verbatim passages.
What the accounts disclose
Reserves position: below the charity's own stated reserves policy (held: £-875k)
“The College now has an agreed longer-term ‘recovery plan’ to ensure it achieves annual operating surpluses from 2025/26 and returns to a positive accumulated financial position by 2029/30, steadily building reserves that will allow us to strengthen our ability to withstand unexpected challenges and invest in future opportunities.” — page 4
Per its FY2025 accounts as filed with the Charity Commission.
Accounts audited by PKF Littlejohn LLP. Discloses 4 of 6 completeness components.
Structured financials (annual return, FY ending 31/07/2025)
Reported reserves equal ~0.0 months of spending — in the bottom quarter for charities its size (median 4.8 months; benchmarks).
Per its annual return, largest income source: Other trading activities (96% 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).
- Asad Arif
- Ceri Rose
- James Blake
- John Boyle
- Marie-Claire Isaaman
- Richard Marsden
- Simon Fenne
Trustee list from the Charity Commission register (current, not historical).
Operates in: Throughout England And Wales
Income and spending
Common questions
Is OPEN COLLEGE OF THE ARTS financially healthy?
Per its FY2025 accounts: The accounts state that the charity reported an operating deficit of £197,246 for the year ended 31 July 2025, resulting in total negative reserves of £875,407. Per the trustees' report, the charity has an agreed five-year recovery plan aiming to return to an accumulated surplus position by 2029/30. The trustees confirm that adequate resources exist to continue in operational existence with no material uncertainties regarding going concern.0 Its FY2025 accounts were audited by PKF Littlejohn LLP.
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 OPEN COLLEGE NETWORK LONDON REGION.
Side by side with its peers
Each row is that charity’s latest analysed filing; every value is quote-backed on its own page.