Royal Academy Trust

Analysis

Royal Academy Trust is a registered charity in England and Wales, based in London. It was registered in January 1998, 28 years ago. Its declared purposes cover education/training and arts/culture/heritage/science, which this site groups under arts, culture, heritage and science. It says it makes grants to organisations.

In the financial year ending August 2025, Royal Academy Trust reported income of £5.4m and spending of £2.9m, leaving 46% of income unspent that year. Across the 5 years on record, from August 2021 to August 2025, income grew from £951k to £5.4m (+470%), an average of +54% a year. The sharpest change came in the year to August 2025, when income rose by 257%. Over the whole period it spent 116% of the income it received.

Among 17,634 England and Wales charities whose main cause is arts, culture, heritage and science and that reported income, Royal Academy Trust sits at the 99th percentile: it is larger than about 98% of them. Against every charity in England and Wales with reported income it ranks in the 98th percentile. Charities of a similar size with the same main cause include Elmhurst Ballet School (£5.4m), The Complete Works Limited (£5.4m) and The National Botanic Garden of Wales (£5.4m).

In its latest detailed accounts, income came from donations and legacies 71%, investments 26% and charitable activities 3.7%. Gifts in wills alone brought in £3.8m. Charitable activities took 95% of spending and raising funds 4.6%. Grants to other organisations totalled £2.8m. Reserves of £11.9m would cover about 49 months of spending at that rate. It employed 1 people.