The Principal and Fellows of Somerville College

Analysis

The Principal and Fellows of Somerville College is a registered charity in England and Wales, based in Oxford. It was registered in December 2010, 16 years ago. Its declared purposes cover education/training, which this site groups under education and training. It says it provides services and sponsors or undertakes research.

In the financial year ending July 2025, The Principal and Fellows of Somerville College reported income of £20.0m and spending of £18.4m, spending 92% of its income. Across the 5 years on record, from July 2021 to July 2025, income grew from £12.1m to £20.0m (+65%), an average of +13% a year. The sharpest change came in the year to July 2023, when income rose by 20%. Over the whole period it spent 104% of the income it received.

Among 21,402 England and Wales charities whose main cause is education and training and that reported income, The Principal and Fellows of Somerville College sits at the 99th percentile: it is larger than about 99% of them. Against every charity in England and Wales with reported income it ranks in the 99th percentile. Charities of a similar size with the same main cause include King Edward's School Bath (£20.0m), Nocn (£20.1m) and The Master and Fellows of the College or Hall of Saint Catharine the Virgin in the University of Cambridge (£19.9m).

In its latest detailed accounts, income came from charitable activities 43%, donations and legacies 37%, investments 17% and trading 2.8%. Gifts in wills alone brought in £3.7m. Charitable activities took 91% of spending and raising funds 7.2%. Grants to other organisations totalled £400. Reserves of £136.6m would cover about 88 months of spending at that rate. It employed 290 people.