THE BRITISH COUNCIL

Charity number: 209131
Charity reporting is up to date (54 days late)

Charity overview

Activities - how the charity spends its money

The British Council creates friendly knowledge and understanding between the people of the UK and other countries. We do this by making a positive contribution to the UK and the countries we work with. We reach millions of people across the world, working with over 100 countries in the fields of arts and culture, English language, education and civil society.

Income and expenditure

Data for financial year ending 31 March 2025

Total income:
£1,010,444,269

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Donations and legacies £162.50m
Charitable activities £826.25m
Other trading activities £665.19k
Investments £10.41m
Other £10.62m

Total expenditure:
£1,053,798,262

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Raising funds £44.21k
Charitable activities £1.04bn
Other £16.25m

£3,230,266 investments gains (losses)

Total income includes £15,142,901 from 5 government contract(s) and £226,979,165 from 9 government grant(s)

Charitable expenditure

Charitable expenditure

Some charities generate all, or a substantial part, of their income from investments which may have been donated to the charity as endowment or set aside by the charity from its own resources in the past. Such investments usually take the form of stocks and shares but may include other assets, such as property, that are capable of generating income and/or capital growth.

In managing their spending and investments charities need to strike a balance between the needs of future and current beneficiaries. They also need to take account of spending commitments that may stretch over a number of future years. To do this, charities will normally adopt an investment strategy designed to generate both income and capital growth. To maximise returns trustees may commit to investment strategies for several years.

Investments can experience large swings in value so trustees may, in a particular year, decide to realise and spend part of their charity’s capital or to invest part of its income.

By clicking the investment gains checkbox the charitable spending bar is adjusted to take account of capital growth as well as income. This shows the balance the charity is striking, between spending on current beneficiaries and retaining resources for future beneficiaries.

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Raising funds and other expenditure £16.30m
Charitable expenditure £1.04bn

People

9446 Employee(s)

12 Trustee(s)

Employees with total benefits over £60,000

Number of employees
£60k to £70k 256
£70k to £80k 184
£80k to £90k 86
£90k to £100k 68
£100k to £110k 40
£110k to £120k 27
£120k to £130k 36
£130k to £140k 6
£140k to £150k 7
£150k to £200k 16
£200k to £250k 2
£250k to £300k 1

Fundraising

No information available

Trading

One or more trustees are also directors of the subsidiaries

Trustee payments

No trustees receive any remuneration, payments or benefits from the charity.

What, who, how, where

What the charity does:
  • Education/training
  • Overseas Aid/famine Relief
  • Arts/culture/heritage/science
  • Other Charitable Purposes
Who the charity helps:
  • The General Public/mankind
How the charity helps:
  • Makes Grants To Individuals
  • Makes Grants To Organisations
  • Provides Services
  • Acts As An Umbrella Or Resource Body
  • Other Charitable Activities
Where the charity operates:
  • Afghanistan
  • Albania
  • Algeria
  • Argentina
  • Armenia
  • Australia
  • Austria
  • Azerbaijan
  • Bahrain
  • Bangladesh
  • Belgium
  • Bosnia And Herzegovina
  • Botswana
  • Brazil
  • Brunei
  • Bulgaria
  • Burma
  • Cameroon
  • Canada
  • Chile
  • China
  • Colombia
  • Congo (Democratic Republic)
  • Croatia
  • Cuba
  • Cyprus
  • Czech Republic
  • Denmark
  • Egypt
  • Estonia
  • Ethiopia
  • Finland
  • France
  • Georgia
  • Germany
  • Ghana
  • Greece
  • Hong Kong
  • Hungary
  • India
  • Indonesia
  • Iran
  • Iraq
  • Ireland
  • Israel
  • Italy
  • Jamaica
  • Japan
  • Jordan
  • Kazakhstan
  • Kenya
  • Kosovo
  • Kuwait
  • Latvia
  • Lebanon
  • Libya
  • Lithuania
  • Macedonia
  • Malawi
  • Malaysia
  • Malta
  • Mauritius
  • Mexico
  • Montenegro
  • Morocco
  • Mozambique
  • Namibia
  • Nepal
  • Netherlands
  • New Zealand
  • Nigeria
  • Northern Ireland
  • Norway
  • Occupied Palestinian Territories
  • Oman
  • Pakistan
  • Peru
  • Philippines
  • Poland
  • Portugal
  • Qatar
  • Romania
  • Russia
  • Rwanda
  • Saudi Arabia
  • Scotland
  • Senegal
  • Serbia
  • Sierra Leone
  • Singapore
  • Slovakia
  • Slovenia
  • South Africa
  • South Korea
  • South Sudan
  • Spain
  • Sri Lanka
  • Sudan
  • Sweden
  • Switzerland
  • Syria
  • Taiwan
  • Tanzania
  • Thailand
  • Trinidad And Tobago
  • Tunisia
  • Turkey
  • Uganda
  • Ukraine
  • United Arab Emirates
  • United States
  • Uruguay
  • Uzbekistan
  • Venezuela
  • Vietnam
  • Yemen
  • Zambia
  • Zimbabwe

Governance

Registration history:
  • 03 January 1963: Standard registration
  • 19 November 2015: Removed (Ceased to exist)
Organisation type:
Other
Other names:

No other names

Gift aid:
Recognised by HMRC for gift aid
Other regulators:
No information available
Policies:
  • Bullying and harassment policy and procedures
  • Campaigns and political activity policy and procedures
  • Complaints handling
  • Complaints policy and procedures
  • Conflicting interests
  • Engaging external speakers at charity events policy and procedures
  • 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
  • Safeguarding vulnerable beneficiaries
  • Serious incident reporting policy and procedures
  • Social media policy and procedures
  • Trustee conflicts of interest policy and procedures
  • Trustee expenses policy and procedures
Land and property:
This charity owns and/or leases land or property

Trustees

Trustees are the people responsible for controlling the work, management and administration of the charity on behalf of its beneficiaries. Generally trustees are treasurer, chair, board member etc. The trustees are responsible for keeping this list up to date and can do this by updating their details as they happen through the online service

12 Trustee(s)

Name Role Date of appointment Other trusteeships Reporting status of other trusteeships
Dr Paul Thompson CBE Chair 04 January 2024
None on record
Desmond Patrick Neil Wigan CVO OBE Trustee 30 September 2025
None on record
Kate Marsh Trustee 28 May 2025
None on record
Mariella Frostrup Trustee 13 May 2025
None on record
David Andrew Thompson Todd Trustee 13 May 2025
None on record
Alfred Yaw Oduro Nsarkoh Trustee 13 May 2025
We Are With You
Received: On time
Paul Woodgates Trustee 11 September 2023
ADVANCE HE
Received: On time
Professor Wendy Cowan Alexander Trustee 01 October 2022
None on record
Dr David John Lefevre Trustee 12 October 2021
None on record
Richard Mark Hookway Trustee 12 October 2021
None on record
Professor Malcolm Colin Press Trustee 15 September 2020
None on record
Sushil Kumar Saluja Trustee 01 September 2020
HEART OF THE CITY OF LONDON LIMITED
Received: 11 days late
THE CHARTERED INSTITUTE FOR SECURITIES AND INVESTMENT
Received: On time

Financial history

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Financial period end date

Income / Expenditure 31/03/2021 31/03/2022 31/03/2023 31/03/2024 31/03/2025
Total gross income £924.97m £896.66m £873.33m £989.34m £1.01bn
Total expenditure £1.02bn £942.31m £925.16m £1.05bn £1.05bn
Income from government contracts £30.90m £74.10m £24.90m £16.24m £15.14m
Income from government grants £182.19m £206.65m £188.20m £199.37m £226.98m
Income - Donations and legacies £144.50m £183.44m £165.30m £173.00m £162.50m
Income - Other trading activities £322.87k £287.35k £366.36k £293.17k £665.19k
Income - Charitable activities £762.36m £706.13m £695.11m £786.75m £826.25m
Income - Endowments £0 £0 £0 £0 £0
Income - Investment £2.21m £1.49m £5.14m £12.46m £10.41m
Income - Other £15.57m £5.31m £7.42m £16.83m £10.62m
Income - Legacies £0 £0 £0 £0 £0
Expenditure - Charitable activities £1.01bn £935.23m £914.10m £1.04bn £1.04bn
Expenditure - Raising funds £69.47k £44.15k £37.00k £45.18k £44.21k
Expenditure - Governance £7.24m £7.67m £7.69m £5.15m £4.44m
Expenditure - Grants institution £208.88m £103.86m £13.51m £23.17m £59.02m
Expenditure - Investment management £0 £0 £0 £0 £0
Expenditure - Other £6.81m £7.04m £11.02m £16.12m £16.25m

Assets and liabilities

Definitions for assets and liabilities
Own use assets

These are assets, other than investments, which are held for more than 12 months and used to run and administer the charity such as buildings, offices, exhibits and fixtures and fittings.

Long term Investments

Investments are assets held by the charity with the sole aim of generating income which will be used for their charitable purposes such as deposit accounts, shares, rental property and unit trusts.
Investment assets are re-valued every year and included in the balance sheet at their current market value.
Long term investments are held for more than 12 months.

Other assets

These are assets held generally for less than 12 months such as cash and bank balances, debtors, investments to be sold within the coming year and trading stock.

Defined benefit pension scheme asset or liability

This is a surplus or deficit in any defined benefit pension scheme operated and represents a potential long-term asset or liability.

Total liabilities

These are all the amounts owed by the charity at the balance sheet date to third parties such as bills due but not yet paid, bank overdrafts and loans and mortgages.

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Asset / Liability 31/03/2021 31/03/2022 31/03/2023 31/03/2024 31/03/2025
Own use assets £327.26m £352.14m £367.53m £374.00m £414.39m
Long-term investments £1.40m £1.55m £1.23m £808.13k £410.36k
Other assets £575.18m £664.92m £618.03m £613.65m £470.02m
Defined benefit pension scheme asset or liability £0 £0 £0 £0 £0
Total liabilities £571.27m £571.13m £585.04m £655.01m £580.73m

Accounts and annual returns

This table shows the charity's record of submitting annual returns, accounts and trustees' annual report (TAR) for the last five financial periods.
Title Reporting year Date received Received Download
Annual return 31 March 2025 26 March 2026 54 days late
Accounts and TAR 31 March 2025 26 March 2026 54 days late Download Open in new window
Annual return 31 March 2024 28 March 2025 56 days late
Accounts and TAR 31 March 2024 28 March 2025 56 days late Download Open in new window
Annual return 31 March 2023 21 March 2024 50 days late
Accounts and TAR 31 March 2023 21 March 2024 50 days late Download Open in new window
Annual return 31 March 2022 30 January 2023 On time
Accounts and TAR 31 March 2022 30 January 2023 On time Download Open in new window
Annual return 31 March 2021 31 March 2022 59 days late
Accounts and TAR 31 March 2021 31 March 2022 59 days late Download Open in new window
Submit annual return Open in new window

Governing document

Details of the type of governing document the charity has and when it was established.
It is not the full text of the charity's governing document.

ROYAL CHARTER GRANTED 07/10/1940 AS AMENDED BY SUPPLEMENTAL CHARTER DATED 26/11/1993 AS AMENDED BY ORDER IN COUNCIL DATED 22/07/1976 AS AMENDED BY ORDER IN COUNCIL DATED 05/10/1983 AS AMENDED BY ORDER IN COUNCIL DATED 27/10/1993 AS AMENDED BY ORDER IN COUNCIL DATED 04/12/1984 AS AMENDED BY ORDER IN COUNCIL DATED 16/07/2002 AS AMENDED BY ORDER IN COUNCIL DATED 08/06/2011 AS AMENDED BY ORDER IN COUNCIL DATED 15 DEC 2021 as amended on 26 Oct 2021

Charitable objects

THE OBJECTS FOR WHICH THE BRITISH COUNCIL IS ESTABLISHED AND INCORPORATED ARE TO ADVANCE, FOR THE PUBLIC BENEFIT, ANY PURPOSE WHICH IS EXCLUSIVELY CHARITABLE AND WHICH SHALL: (A) PROMOTE CULTURAL RELATIONSHIPS BETWEEN THE PEOPLE OF THE UNITED KINGDOM AND OTHER COUNTRIES; (B) DEVELOP A WIDER KNOWLEDGE OF THE ENGLISH LANGUAGE; AND (C) ENCOURAGE EDUCATIONAL CO-OPERATION BETWEEN THE UNITED KINGDOM AND OTHER COUNTRIES, SUPPORT THE ADVANCEMENT OF UNITED KINGDOM EDUCATION AND EDUCATION STANDARDS OVERSEAS, AND OTHERWISE PROMOTE EDUCATION.

Area of benefit

The area the charity can operate in, as set out in its governing document.

NOT DEFINED

Linked charities

Linked charities
Linked charity 209131-1 BRITISH COUNCIL BENEVOLENT FUND
Governing document
TRUST DEED DATED 26 FEBRUARY 1948 AS AMENDED BY SCHEME DATED 18/03/2015
Charitable objects
THE OBJECT OF THE FUND IS THE GRANTING OF RELIEF OR ASSISTANCE TO PAST AND PRESENT STAFF OF THE BRITISH COUNCIL AND THEIR FAMILIES OR DEPENDENTS WHO ARE IN NECESSITOUS CIRCUMSTANCES. PROVIDED THAT ‘STAFF’ SHALL INCLUDE THOSE WHO WORK AS AN EMPLOYEE OR A CONTRACTOR FOR: (A) THE BRITISH COUNCIL; (B) ANY WHOLLY OR PARTLY OWNED SUBSIDIARY OF THE BRITISH COUNCIL; (C) A WHOLLY OR PARTLY OWNED SUBSIDIARY OF BC TRADING LIMITED; OR (D) ANY ORGANISATION OFFERING SERVICES TO ANY OF THOSE LISTED IN (A) - (C).
Area of benefit
NOT DEFINED
Registration history
  • 03 January 1963 : Standard registration
  • 19 November 2015 : Removed

Contact information

Address:
1 Redman Place
Stratford
London
United Kingdom
E20 1JQ
Phone:
(0)161 884 0291
Email:
CEO.Office@britishcouncil.org
Website:

www.britishcouncil.org Open in new window