BURSAR ' S REPORT
Nor have the historic buildings been neglected. The next time you visit the school, I’ d recommend a visit to the newly refurbished and illuminated College Hall, and to War Cloister, which underwent an extensive year‐long restoration. Finally, we have completed design schemes for the remodelling of boarding facilities in College and in Toye ' s. These will serve as future benchmarks for comfortable and sustainable boarding house accommodation. As a building of national historical significance, I don’ t underestimate the sensitivity of the work we will be completing in College, in particular.
Financial summary
The Charity delivered a healthy surplus of £ 9.8m( 2023: £ 25.0m). The reduction is almost entirely due to comparisons with the extraordinary fundraising result of 2023 reverting to more normal levels. Although we report as a single Charity, we can break out the financial result of the School, which delivered a deficit of £ 5.9m in 2024 against £ 5.4m in 2023; approximately half comes from the day-to-day operations and the other half from depreciation. Within this, the eagle-eyed will spot a range of one-off items including £ 2.7m of interest income as we invested cash designated for construction projects, and fees‐in-advance scheme receipts of £ 16.7m.
The deficit was offset by a record surplus for trading, investment and fundraising( excluding contributions to the endowment) of £ 6.4m. The main drivers: Buoyant financial markets; firm property yields and increased demand for lettings and events, which drives our trading income. Together these generated a small operating surplus of £ 0.4m( 2023: deficit of £ 1.5m).
Delivering an excellent education, of course, comes at a price. Many of the hallmarks of a Winchester education – the smaller set sizes, low pupil to teacher ratios, in-house dining and the inspirational surroundings – are reasons why the school is coveted by parents, but also lie behind this deficit. No charity, even one as well-resourced as Winchester, can sustain losses indefinitely and thus reducing this deficit, whilst improving( not just maintaining) standards is the ambition. There is no practical reason why this cannot be achieved as the school increases pupil numbers. Harnessing the economies of scale of an enlarged school will be critical.
147 £ 5m £ 40m
pupils benefited from means-tested financial assistance
Amount dedicated to bursaries
Total sum of bursaries since 2005
16