BURSAR ’ S REPORT
We open our doors each year to thousands of residents through events such as Heritage Open Days and the National Garden Scheme . No less impactful , our pupils dedicated over 20,000 hours of community service — serving meals , rewilding land and cleaning rivers .
Estate Modernisation The College is simultaneously near the end of one major project and at the start of another . With the finishing in recent months of its external façades , the Sports Centre approaches completion . This project has not been immune from both known unknowns — water tables and archaeological digs — and unknown unknowables caused by Covid and shortages of materials and labour . We continue to work closely with the contractor to ensure a strong finish to the project .
Stanton Williams has been appointed as architects for the new Girls ’ Boarding Houses on Kingsgate Park . The last 12 months have seen designs developed at pace and a series of consultations with planners , neighbours and staff . We have produced a design which we think both draws on the architectural tradition of Winchester and has a modern and innovative interpretation . This will be an inspirational space for many generations of pupils . As some OWs have pointed out , our new girls will miss out on the old Winchester traditions of cold showers and draughty galleries , though I hasten to add that these no longer feature in current boys ’ Houses either ! The buildings will be built to high levels of sustainability and comfort . As you read this , the project will be working its way through the planning process .
Financial Summary A return to a full and pandemic-free year of operation has seen total school income rise from £ 29.2m to £ 32.9m . Before Covidrelated one-off factors and the inclusion of income from music lessons , gross fee income recovered to £ 30.3m against
£ 29.1m last year . The school ’ s other income streams — trading activity and investment income , which included financial exchange gains , also recovered . We had another successful fundraising year — over £ 18m of new endowment and capital contributions for bursaries and the Kingsgate Park Sports Centre . Many thanks to all our donors who continue to support the school .
Total charitable expenditure rose from £ 32.4 to £ 37.2m as the school returned to more normal levels of activity . The largest contributions to this were increases of 18 % in teaching costs and 17 % in welfare costs . Both income and expenditure reflect a resumption of normal education and the onboarding of visiting music teachers as employees . Overall , the school operations reported a loss after depreciation of £ 4.3m ( 2021 : £ 3.2m ). After trading , investment and fundraising income is factored in , the net operating loss narrowed from £ 2.1m to £ 1.6m .
Despite a volatile year for investments , the balance sheet valuation rose from £ 417m to £ 434m . Small gains in the property portfolio offset a negative 0.8 % return from financial investments . The increase in investments overall was due to new donations and receipts from land sales , including a follow-up tranche of funds from the Kings Barton development .
Uncertainties ahead The school continues to invest ahead of increasing numbers in both 2023 and 2024 . The higher operating deficit reflects some of those investments to date . However , it is impossible to articulate the financial position of the school without mention of the potential political and economic risks ahead . Many of these have been well rehearsed in the media : VAT on school fees , the threat to charitable status and further increases in pension and social costs loom large . Winchester , although financially well placed to weather these policy changes in the longer term , cannot be immune from the impact of even one of them . Planning has begun in earnest . 15