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AUSTIN FRIARS

Registered charity 516289 · accounts filings on the Charity Commission register · also known as AUSTIN FRIARS & ST MONICA'S PREPARATORY SCHOOL LIMITED, AUSTIN FRIARS SCHOOL, ST MONICA'S PREPARATORY SCHOOL LIMITED · filing overdue (register status)

As the only Independent day school for girls and boys aged 3 - 18 in the North of Cumbria and south-west Scotland, Austin Friars is continuing to develop its strong reputation for meeting the individual needs of all its pupils.

Causes: Education/training · website · Get email alerts

Latest income
£5.4m
Latest spending
£5.4m
Registered
1985
Accounts read
FY2024

Financial health, per its FY2024 accounts

The accounts state that the charity generated a surplus of £57,455 for the year ended 31 August 2024, with total group income of £5,428,157. However, the trustees report that there are no free reserves, as the remaining unrestricted funds of £6,325,373 can only be realised by disposing of tangible fixed assets and settling associated loans. The charity maintains a reserves policy target of covering a minimum of three months of expenditure.

Automated summary of the FY2024 accounts; the evidenced findings below carry the verbatim passages.

What the accounts disclose

Largest income source: Tuition fees (94% of income)
“Total group income for the Year was £5,428,157 (2023: £4,829,643), with the main funding source being tuition fees.” — page 10
Per its FY2024 accounts as filed with the Charity Commission.
Reserves position: below the charity's own stated reserves policy
“This leaves no free reserves.” — page 10
Per its FY2024 accounts as filed with the Charity Commission.
Related-party transaction: 33
“Austin Friars St Monica's School Parent Teacher Association, a connected charity donated £6,500 (2023: £11,111) to Austin Friars School to use on certain items / projects.” — page 43
“One of the Trustees, Mr S Mitton and three members of Key Management Personnel, Mr M Harris, Mr S Parry and Miss K Quinn, had children attending the school during the year. All transactions were on normal commercial terms and no preferential rates or terms were received by the Trustees, key management personnel received discounts on fees on the same basis as all other members of staff.” — page 43
Per its FY2024 accounts as filed with the Charity Commission.
Related-party transaction: 33
“Austin Friars St Monica's School Parent Teacher Association, a connected charity donated £6,500 (2023: £11,111) to Austin Friars School to use on certain items / projects.” — page 43
“One of the Trustees, Mr S Mitton and three members of Key Management Personnel, Mr M Harris, Mr S Parry and Miss K Quinn, had children attending the school during the year. All transactions were on normal commercial terms and no preferential rates or terms were received by the Trustees, key management personnel received discounts on fees on the same basis as all other members of staff.” — page 43
Per its FY2024 accounts as filed with the Charity Commission.
Related-party transaction: 33
“Austin Friars St Monica's School Parent Teacher Association, a connected charity donated £6,500 (2023: £11,111) to Austin Friars School to use on certain items / projects.” — page 43
“One of the Trustees, Mr S Mitton and three members of Key Management Personnel, Mr M Harris, Mr S Parry and Miss K Quinn, had children attending the school during the year. All transactions were on normal commercial terms and no preferential rates or terms were received by the Trustees, key management personnel received discounts on fees on the same basis as all other members of staff.” — page 43
Per its FY2024 accounts as filed with the Charity Commission.
Related-party transaction: 33
“Austin Friars St Monica's School Parent Teacher Association, a connected charity donated £6,500 (2023: £11,111) to Austin Friars School to use on certain items / projects.” — page 43
“One of the Trustees, Mr S Mitton and three members of Key Management Personnel, Mr M Harris, Mr S Parry and Miss K Quinn, had children attending the school during the year. All transactions were on normal commercial terms and no preferential rates or terms were received by the Trustees, key management personnel received discounts on fees on the same basis as all other members of staff.” — page 43
Per its FY2024 accounts as filed with the Charity Commission.
Trading subsidiary: Austin Friars School Trading Limited
“The parent charity has one subsidiary undertaking; Austin Friars School Trading Limited (company registration number: 03091390) as the sole member, the subsidiary is included in the group accounts.” — page 34
Per its FY2024 accounts as filed with the Charity Commission.

Accounts audited by Saint & Co. 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.

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

Structured financials (annual return, FY ending 31/08/2024)

Total income
£5.4m
Total spending
£5.4m
Cost of raising funds
£8k
Reserves (reported)
£0
Employees
92

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: Charitable activities (94% 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: 0.1% 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: Cumbria

Income and spending

Financial year endIncomeSpending
31/08/2025——
31/08/2024£5.4m£5.4m
31/08/2023£4.8m£4.9m
31/08/2022£4.6m£4.7m
31/08/2021£4.7m£4.4m

Common questions

Is AUSTIN FRIARS financially healthy?

Per its FY2024 accounts: The accounts state that the charity generated a surplus of £57,455 for the year ended 31 August 2024, with total group income of £5,428,157. However, the trustees report that there are no free reserves, as the remaining unrestricted funds of £6,325,373 can only be realised by disposing of tangible fixed assets and settling associated loans. The charity maintains a reserves policy target of covering a minimum of three months of expenditure. Its FY2024 accounts were audited by Saint & Co.

Who funds AUSTIN FRIARS?

Funders whose own accounts filings name AUSTIN FRIARS as a grant recipient include THE AUSTIN FRIARS ST. MONICA'S DEVELOPMENT FUND.

Shared trustees with funders

Register facts shown side by side: a person serves as trustee of both this charity and a funder whose accounts record grants to it. Shared trusteeship is lawful and common; well-run charities manage it through declared-interest procedures.

Known funders

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

FunderYearAmountPurpose (as stated by the funder)
THE AUSTIN FRIARS ST. MONICA'S DEVELOPMENT FUNDFY2022£4kDonations to Austin Friars School / tuition fees support

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 PALOMA FOUNDATION1£300k
TRUST PROPERTY HELD BY TRUSTEES OF ST AUGUSTINE'S PRIORY1£300k
THE CROSS TRUST1£50k

Charities like this

Semantically similar by activities and financial character, from our analysed corpus. Compare with THE AUSTIN FRIARS ST. MONICA'S DEVELOPMENT FUND.

Side by side with its peers

CharityIncomeTop pay bandStaff >£60kReserves vs policyFundraising costGoing concern
AUSTIN FRIARS£5.4m——below—no doubt
THE AUSTIN FRIARS ST. MONICA'S DEVELOPMENT FUND FY2025£268k—0unclear—no doubt
THE FREWEN EDUCATIONAL TRUST LIMITED FY2025£4.8m——unclear—no doubt
THE FRIARS, AYLESFORD FY2024£1.7m—0unclear—no doubt
OUR LADY'S ABINGDON TRUSTEES LIMITED FY2023£6.2m£100,001 - £110,000—below—material uncertainty
ST CATHERINE'S SCHOOL, TWICKENHAM FY2025£7.5m£150,001 - £180,000—unclear—no doubt

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