THE MANCHESTER GRAMMAR SCHOOL FOUNDATION

Registered charity 529909 · accounts filings on the Charity Commission register · also known as THE MANCHESTER GRAMMAR SCHOOL

Manchester Grammar School is an independent boys school whose purpose is to educate boys who qualify by nature of their ability, regardless of family circumstances. Income from the school's foundation bursary fund, held by the MGS Trust, is used on a means tested basis to support boys from lower-income families who would not otherwise be able to accept a place at the school.

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Latest income

£32.4m

Latest spending

£29.5m

Registered

1966

Accounts read

FY2025

Financial health, per its FY2025 accounts

The accounts state that unrestricted funds totalled £20.1m, but the charity reports a free reserves deficit of £0.8m because £20.9m of school funds are invested in the estate. The trustees consider reserves adequate given the use of bank facilities and fees paid in advance, with no material uncertainty regarding going concern.

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: £20.1m; policy: adequate to meet the future needs of the School and allow further capital expenditure, repairs and refurbishment)

“School funds of £20.9m (2024: £15.5m) are invested in the School estate, meaning there was a free reserves deficit amounting to £0.8m at 31 July 2025”

Per its FY2025 accounts as filed with the Charity Commission.

Related-party transaction: Governor Michael Robinson is a director of IN4M Property Consultants Ltd. The School purchased consultancy services from IN4M Property Consultants Ltd at a cost of £26,000.

“One of the Governors, Mr Michael Robinson, is a director of IN4M Property Consultants Ltd. During the year the School purchased consultancy services in relation to the new Sixth Form Centre from IN4M Property Consultants Ltd at a cost of £26,000” — page 39

“Also, Mr Marc Yaffe was Managing Partner of JMW Solicitors LLP and was a Governor until his resignation on 25 June 2025. During the year the School purchased legal services in relation to the new building project from JMW Solicitors LLP at a cost of £1,060”

Per its FY2025 accounts as filed with the Charity Commission.

Related-party transaction: Governor Marc Yaffe (until June 2025) was Managing Partner of JMW Solicitors LLP. The School purchased legal services from JMW Solicitors LLP at a cost of £1,060.

“One of the Governors, Mr Michael Robinson, is a director of IN4M Property Consultants Ltd. During the year the School purchased consultancy services in relation to the new Sixth Form Centre from IN4M Property Consultants Ltd at a cost of £26,000” — page 39

“Also, Mr Marc Yaffe was Managing Partner of JMW Solicitors LLP and was a Governor until his resignation on 25 June 2025. During the year the School purchased legal services in relation to the new building project from JMW Solicitors LLP at a cost of £1,060”

Per its FY2025 accounts as filed with the Charity Commission.

Related-party transaction: The School received bursary funding of £2,674,411 from M.G.S. Trust.

“One of the Governors, Mr Michael Robinson, is a director of IN4M Property Consultants Ltd. During the year the School purchased consultancy services in relation to the new Sixth Form Centre from IN4M Property Consultants Ltd at a cost of £26,000” — page 39

“Also, Mr Marc Yaffe was Managing Partner of JMW Solicitors LLP and was a Governor until his resignation on 25 June 2025. During the year the School purchased legal services in relation to the new building project from JMW Solicitors LLP at a cost of £1,060”

Per its FY2025 accounts as filed with the Charity Commission.

Accounts audited by RSM UK Audit LLP. Discloses 4 of 6 completeness components.

Leadership, per the charity’s website

Martin Boulton — High Master (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.

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

Total income

£32.4m

Total spending

£29.5m

Cost of raising funds

£303k

Reserves (reported)

£0

Employees

339

Reported reserves equal ~0.0 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 (82% 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: 0.9% of total income — below the median for charities its size (3.8%) (benchmarks).

Trustees · trustee networks

THE MANCHESTER GRAMMAR SCHOOL FOUNDATION TRUSTEE LIMITED

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

Operates in: Manchester City

Income and spending

Financial year end	Income	Spending
31/07/2025	£32.4m	£29.5m
31/07/2024	£29.8m	£28.2m
31/07/2023	£29.3m	£25.9m
31/07/2022	£25.7m	£24.5m
31/07/2021	£23.9m	£23.2m

Common questions

Is THE MANCHESTER GRAMMAR SCHOOL FOUNDATION financially healthy?

Per its FY2025 accounts: The accounts state that unrestricted funds totalled £20.1m, but the charity reports a free reserves deficit of £0.8m because £20.9m of school funds are invested in the estate. The trustees consider reserves adequate given the use of bank facilities and fees paid in advance, with no material uncertainty regarding going concern. Its FY2025 accounts were audited by RSM UK Audit LLP.

Who funds THE MANCHESTER GRAMMAR SCHOOL FOUNDATION?

Funders whose own accounts filings name THE MANCHESTER GRAMMAR SCHOOL FOUNDATION as a grant recipient include M.G.S. TRUST, THE PRESTON FAMILY CHARITABLE SETTLEMENT, THE PETER KERSHAW TRUST, HULME TRUST ESTATES (EDUCATIONAL).

Known funders

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

Funder	Year	Amount	Purpose (as stated by the funder)
M.G.S. TRUST	FY2024	£2.7m	Bursaries
M.G.S. TRUST	FY2023	£2.6m	Bursaries
M.G.S. TRUST	FY2022	£2.4m	Bursary grant
M.G.S. TRUST	FY2021	£2.2m	Bursary grant
THE PRESTON FAMILY CHARITABLE SETTLEMENT	FY2025	£250k
THE PETER KERSHAW TRUST	FY2025	£6k	School bursaries
HULME TRUST ESTATES (EDUCATIONAL)	FY2024	£5k
HULME TRUST ESTATES (EDUCATIONAL)	FY2023	£4k
HULME TRUST ESTATES (EDUCATIONAL)	FY2022	£4k	Distribution
THE PETER KERSHAW TRUST	FY2024	£4k	School bursary
THE PETER KERSHAW TRUST	FY2023	£4k	School bursary
THE PETER KERSHAW TRUST	FY2022	£4k	School bursaries

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.

Funder	Similar charities funded	Amount to them
THE MANCHESTER HIGH SCHOOL FOR GIRLS GENERAL CHARITABLE TRUST	1	£1.2m
THE JOHN SLATER FOUNDATION	1	£30k
BROOM FOUNDATION	1	£26k
MOLE CHARITABLE TRUST	1	£14k
THE BEAVERBROOKS CHARITABLE TRUST	1	£10k
BCH TRUST	1	£0

Charities like this

Semantically similar by activities and financial character, from our analysed corpus. Compare with M.G.S. TRUST.

M.G.S. TRUST income £3.5m
MANCHESTER HIGH SCHOOL FOR GIRLS income £13.5m
MANCHESTER JUNIOR GIRLS SCHOOL income £1.3m
BURY GRAMMAR SCHOOLS CHARITY income £18.5m
MANCHESTER MESIVTA JEWISH GRAMMAR SCHOOL income £962k
LEEDS GRAMMAR SCHOOL AND LEEDS GIRLS HIGH SCHOOL FOUNDATION income £617k

Side by side with its peers

Charity	Income	Top pay band	Staff >£60k	Reserves vs policy	Fundraising cost	Going concern
THE MANCHESTER GRAMMAR SCHOOL FOUNDATION	£32.4m	—	—	below	—	no doubt
M.G.S. TRUST FY2024	£3.5m	—	0	unclear	—	no doubt
MANCHESTER HIGH SCHOOL FOR GIRLS FY2025	£13.5m	—	—	unclear	—	no doubt
MANCHESTER JUNIOR GIRLS SCHOOL FY2025	£1.3m	—	0	unclear	—	noted
BURY GRAMMAR SCHOOLS CHARITY FY2025	£18.5m	unclear	10	unclear	—	no doubt
MANCHESTER MESIVTA JEWISH GRAMMAR SCHOOL FY2025	£962k	—	0	below	—	noted

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