Royal Welsh College of Music and Drama

Analysis

Royal Welsh College of Music and Drama is a registered charity in England and Wales, based in Pontypridd. It was registered in December 2010, 16 years ago. Its declared purposes cover education/training and arts/culture/heritage/science, which this site groups under arts, culture, heritage and science. Legally it is a charitable company (Companies House number 06013744). It says it provides services.

In the financial year ending July 2025, Royal Welsh College of Music and Drama reported income of £20.8m and spending of £19.4m, spending 93% of its income. Across the 5 years on record, from July 2021 to July 2025, income grew from £15.2m to £20.8m (+36%), an average of +8.0% a year. The sharpest change came in the year to July 2023, when income rose by 15%. Over the whole period it spent 100% 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 Welsh College of Music and Drama sits at the 100th percentile: it is one of the largest 1% in its cause. Against every charity in England and Wales with reported income it ranks in the 100th percentile. Charities of a similar size with the same main cause include Chichester Festival Theatre (£20.2m), Onside Youth Zones (£20.8m) and Theatre Royal (Norwich) Trust Limited (£20.2m).

In its latest detailed accounts, income came from charitable activities 77%, donations and legacies 9.4%, trading 8.2% and investments 2.1%. Gifts in wills alone brought in £534k. Charitable activities took 98% of spending and raising funds 1.5%. Reserves of £21.6m would cover about 13 months of spending at that rate. It employed 256 people.