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Alzheimer's Research UK

84 /100

Clarity score

Good

Charity accounts, evidence & financial rating

84/100 Clarity Score · 4 stars · Charity Commission filings · How we score

Register checked 4 October 2026 · latest accounts 2025

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Quick answer

Is Alzheimer's Research UK a good charity?

Alzheimer's Research UK scores 84/100 (4 stars, Good) on CharityCompare's Clarity Score, calculated from its UK regulator filings. Its latest accounts year is 2025 (£62m total income, 68% cause spend, 3-yr avg). This reflects financial transparency and stewardship on paper — not the real-world impact of its programmes. See the full breakdown.

Income

£62m

Accounts 2025-03-31

Spending

£58m

Accounts 2025-03-31

Charitable activities

68%

3-yr avg · share of spending

Accounts filing

On time

Charity Commission

On this pageJump to a section
Cambridge · UK-wide · CB21 6AD Reg 1077089 Registered charity Official website Charity Commission register

What does Alzheimer's Research UK do?

Alzheimer's Research UK is the UK's leading dementia research charity. We believe in the power of research to defeat dementia. We fund pioneering studies that will make a difference to people's lives and we're committed to increasing funds for the next breakthrough. We are energising a movement to support and take part in research and to empower people through greater understanding of dementia.

Activities reported by the charity on the official register · extract . This is separate from the accounts data used for its rating.

Alzheimer's Research UK hasn't added a description directly to CharityCompare yet. Work here? Add it free →

How much does Alzheimer's Research UK raise and spend?

Accounts period 2024-04-01 to 2025-03-31 · Source: Charity Commission filings

Alzheimer's Research UK revenue and expenses for 2025
Category Amount % of spend
Total income £62m —
Total expenditure £58m —
Charitable activities £39m 68%
Fundraising £18m 32%
Reported governance £870k 2%

Governance can already be allocated within other expenditure categories. It is not a separate measure of all administration costs; do not add these rows without checking the accounts notes.

What changed in Alzheimer's Research UK’s latest accounts?

Reported totals for 2025 compared with 2024. Changes can reflect the accounting period, restricted grants or restructuring as well as the charity’s work.

Income change
+8.9%
£57m → £62m
Spending change
+15.7%
£50m → £58m
Charitable activities share
−1.4 pp
70% → 68% · percentage points

These are annual figures. The Clarity Score may use averages across several disclosed years. Source: official accounts.

68%On charitable activities

Where does the money go?

Latest accounts (2025) · £58m spent

  • Charitable activities68%
  • Fundraising32%

Charities usually allocate governance costs across their other spending categories, and these reported figures add up to more than total spending, so governance is not drawn as a separate slice. The accounts table shows it separately.

From the annual return

What does Alzheimer's Research UK pay its staff, and where does its money come from?

Answers Alzheimer's Research UK gave in its annual return to the Charity Commission for the year ending 31 March 2025, plus its register entry. These are the charity's own disclosures, not part of the Clarity Score.

How much are Alzheimer's Research UK's highest-paid staff paid?

Alzheimer's Research UK's annual return for the year ending 31 March 2025 reports 33 employees paid more than £60,000, including 6 employees paid more than £100,000. The highest reported pay band is £150,001–£200,000 (1 employee).

Alzheimer's Research UK employees paid over £60,000, by salary band
Salary bandEmployees
£150,001–£200,000 1
£130,001–£140,000 1
£120,001–£130,000 1
£110,001–£120,000 2
£100,001–£110,000 1
£90,001–£100,000 3
£80,001–£90,000 5
£70,001–£80,000 9
£60,001–£70,000 10

The register reports headcounts in salary bands, not names. The chief executive's pay is normally disclosed in the remuneration note of the trustees' annual report.

Where does Alzheimer's Research UK's money come from?

Alzheimer's Research UK reported £62m total income for the year ending 31 March 2025. The largest sources were donations and legacies £60m (97%), investments £1.4m (2%), trading and fundraising events £297k (0%). Legacies (gifts in wills) contributed £22m.

  • Donations and legacies £60m · 97%
  • Investments £1.4m · 2%
  • Trading and fundraising events £297k · 0%
  • Charitable activities (fees and contracts) £255k · 0%
  • Other income £61k · 0%

Cash at year end: £3.6m · unrestricted funds: £25m · restricted funds: £11m. Restricted funds can only be spent on purposes set by the donor.

Can I claim Gift Aid, and are the trustees paid?

The register records Alzheimer's Research UK as registered with HMRC for Gift Aid, so a UK taxpayer can usually add 25p to every £1 they give by making a Gift Aid declaration. Work out your Gift Aid

Alzheimer's Research UK's annual return for the year ending 31 March 2025 reports that no trustee received remuneration or other benefits from the charity.

Registration details

Registered as a charity
Company number
03681291 (Companies House)
Also known as
Alzheimer's Research; Art
Previous names on the register
Alzheimer's Research Trust
Where it says it operates
Throughout England and Wales · Scotland · Northern Ireland

Source: Charity Commission register and annual return data, Open Government Licence v3.0. A blank answer in the return is shown as not reported, never as “no”.

How have Alzheimer's Research UK's finances changed over five years?

Income rose 58% from £39m in 2021 to £62m in 2025; spending was £58m in 2025.

£0 £20m £40m £60m £80m 2021 2022 2023 2024 2025 Income 2021: £39m Spending 2021: £31m Cause spend 2021: £21m Income 2022: £42m Spending 2022: £45m Cause spend 2022: £29m Income 2023: £50m Spending 2023: £43m Cause spend 2023: £29m Income 2024: £57m Spending 2024: £50m Cause spend 2024: £35m Income 2025: £62m Spending 2025: £58m Cause spend 2025: £39m
  • Income
  • Spending
  • Cause spend
Alzheimer's Research UK income and spending by accounts year
Year Income Spending Charitable activities
2025 £62m £58m £39m
2024 £57m £50m £35m
2023 £50m £43m £29m
2022 £42m £45m £29m
2021 £39m £31m £21m

Cause spend is plotted only when the filing discloses a split · Source: Charity Commission filings

How does Alzheimer's Research UK compare?

The share of each group scoring at or below Alzheimer's Research UK, including tied scores. A group matched on cause, income band and accounts year appears when at least ten records qualify. Broader groups below may mix reporting periods and operating models. Groups include this charity; percentiles measure our financial rating, not impact.

Income band (£10m+) 72ndpercentile

Scores at or above 72% of 930 charities in its income band · 84/100 vs 77 peer average.

Medical research charities 86thpercentile

Scores at or above 86% of 22 charities in this cause · 84/100 vs 74 peer average.

Where Alzheimer's Research UK sits

The causes this charity is classified under, and other charities working nearby.

Similar medical research charities

Top-rated peers by CharityCompare score

Evidence and interpretation

What the evidence says about Alzheimer's Research UK

Dementia research and public understanding.

Its work focuses on research and understanding of dementia. Grants, publications and changes in treatment are different stages of progress; a funding total does not measure eventual patient benefit.

In 2025, reported income was £61,949,957 and expenditure was £57,509,463. Income exceeded expenditure by £4,440,494. This annual balance is not the charity’s available cash or unrestricted reserves.

More financial context

Income rose 8.9% compared with 2024. Read the accounts notes for restricted grants, legacies and one-off receipts before treating the movement as a trend.

Calculated from our dated accounts dataset, refreshed 2026-09-06. This is not an audit or a manual review of every filing. Original register and accounts · How calculations work.

Additional source check: 2026-09-07. Editorial responsibility.

Find the right support

Who it supports and how to access its work

Reported beneficiaries: The General Public/mankind.

How it works: Makes Grants To Organisations; Provides Advocacy/advice/information.

Use the official research and information pages to understand its remit. Research participation has study-specific eligibility and should be checked with the relevant study.

Explore source-checked support routes

Classifications supplied to the register; extract 2026-10-04. Register contact and activity details · Website listed for this charity

Look beyond the score

Results and impact evidence

We have not added a source-checked programme outcome for this charity. That is a gap in this profile, not evidence that the charity has no impact. Its annual report may contain results that have not been assessed here.

Reported grants to institutions: £25,398,308 (2025-03-31). This is spending reported in the annual return, not a measure of beneficiary outcomes or an open grant opportunity. It may already be included in charitable expenditure. Check the source accounts.

What these results can tell you

Counts of services delivered describe activity. They do not by themselves establish lasting change, what would have happened without the programme, or cost-effectiveness. Results with different definitions, populations or years should not be ranked against each other.

How to judge charity impact evidence

What is Alzheimer's Research UK's Beacon report?

Detailed accountability and finance metrics from UK regulator filings — structured for transparency in our four-beacon report.

Accountability & Transparency

Baseline trust from filing discipline, board oversight, and declared governance policies.

100/100

Accountability & Transparency metrics for Alzheimer's Research UK
Metric Score Value
Filing history (5 years)

No recorded lateness in available history = 15 pts · one late filing = 5 pts · two or more or unknown status = 0 pts. Missing data is not proof of late filing.

100% 15/15 pts
Trustee oversight

Three or more trustees on the register = 15 pts, scaled down for fewer (governance red flag below three).

100% 12 trustees · 15/15 pts
Declared policies

Safeguarding (4) · conflict of interest (3) · volunteer management (3) — from Charity Commission annual return.

100% 10/10 pts

Financial Health

Stability and solvency — reserves, revenue trend, and debt from Charity Commission accounts.

83/100

Financial Health metrics for Alzheimer's Research UK
Metric Score Value
Reserves (months of expenditure)

3–24 months = full marks, tapering on both sides · 0 months or 4+ years = 0 pts. Reserves are not necessarily cash; needs vary by operating model.

100% 6 months · 15/15 pts
Income stability / growth

+20% or more over the window = 10 pts · flat = 5 pts · −20% or worse = 0 pts, scaled between.

100% 10/10 pts · 3-year average
Liabilities to assets

0% liabilities-to-assets = 5 pts, scaling down to 0 pts at 60%+ debt.

0% 57% · 0/5 pts

Financial Efficiency

How efficiently funds reach the cause — program spend and fundraising cost ratios.

45/100

Financial Efficiency metrics for Alzheimer's Research UK
Metric Score Value
Program expense ratio

90%+ on charitable activities = full marks, scaling down to 0 pts at 50% or below.

50% 68% · 5/10 pts (3-year average)
Fundraising efficiency

≤10p to raise £1 = full marks, scaling down to 0 pts at 40p or above (fundraising cost ÷ income).

40% 28p per £1 income · 4/10 pts (3-year average, disclosed years)

Community Support

Grassroots backing from Charity Commission workforce data — volunteers vs paid staff.

100/100

Community Support metrics for Alzheimer's Research UK
Metric Score Value
Volunteer-to-staff ratio

Volunteers at 2x staff or more = full marks · no volunteers = 0 pts, scaled between.

100% 1,750 volunteers / 269 staff · 10/10 pts

How we calculate beacon scores →

What trust indicators does Alzheimer's Research UK have?

Pulled from the Charity Commission register — filing behaviour, board size, and workforce where reported.

  • Accounts filed on time

    up to date · last filing

  • Trustee board size (3–12)

    12 trustees on the Charity Commission register

  • Workforce on register

    269 employees · 1,750 volunteers (7:1 volunteer-to-staff)

Fundraising Regulator

Status not yet checked

Separate from our financial scores. Registration records a commitment to the Code of Fundraising Practice; it does not certify every fundraising activity.

Check Fundraising Regulator →

Official register

Reg 1077089

Full trustee list, accounts, and regulatory history on the Charity Commission.

View on Charity Commission →

Trustees & officers

  • Giles Dennison since 2017
  • Dr Ruth McKernan since 2018
  • Divya Chadha Manek since 2022
  • Amanda Jane Farnsworth since 2022
  • Adrian John Lovett since 2024
  • Dr Catherine Lucy Elliott since 2024
  • Clive Gringras since 2024
  • Prof Jeremy Simon Chataway since 2024
  • David Spruce since 2025
  • Kulchetan Sanga since 2025
  • Gavin Patterson since 2025
  • Hilary Jeffrey since 2025

How reliable is Alzheimer's Research UK's data?

Source
Charity Commission (England & Wales)
Accounts year
2025
Filing date
Data refreshed

High confidence — complete filing data

Scores reflect the accounts in our dated data extract. The live register may contain newer filings. Clarity Score measures how clearly the charity accounts for money in those filings — not programme impact.

Check the current register entry · Report a data correction

Financial source extract: 2026-09-06. Organisation identifier: 3964458. Method version: 1.1. View method changes.

Contains public sector information licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0. Sources: Charity Commission for England and Wales, Office of the Scottish Charity Regulator and Charity Commission for Northern Ireland. Open Government Licence v3.0 .

Your donation decision

What should you check before donating to Alzheimer's Research UK?

  1. 1. Match the name and charity number

    Check 1077089 on the official register. A real charity number alone does not prove that a fundraiser or appeal is authentic.

    Verify the registration →
  2. 2. Read the accounts in context

    Our latest accounts data covers 2025. Compare the accounts period, spending and reserves. An administration cost ratio alone cannot tell you how effective a charity is.

    Explore the financial evidence →
  3. 3. Look for evidence of results

    Read the trustees’ annual report for activities, outcomes and limitations. The Clarity Score measures public reporting; it does not establish the impact of a donation.

    How to read charity accounts →
  4. 4. Compare charities serving your cause

    Compare up to four charities, check the dates behind their figures, and decide which work you want to support. Complete your donation through a verified charity channel.

    Start a comparison with Alzheimer's Research UK →
How we score charities +

The Clarity Score is a 100-point rating from UK regulator filings (Charity Commission for England and Wales, OSCR and CCNI). Four pillars — Accountability & Transparency (40), Financial Health (30), Financial Efficiency (20), and Community Support (10) — each scored on a continuous scale, not pass/fail cutoffs. A statutory inquiry sets the score to 0 automatically.

Full methodology →

Accountability & Transparency

Scored from filings

40 points — filing history (15), trustee oversight (15, scaling up to a board of three or more), declared policies (10).

Financial Health

Scored from filings

30 points — reserves (15, full marks 3–24 months, tapering on both sides), income stability (10), liabilities to assets (5, scaling down as debt rises).

Financial Efficiency

Scored from filings

20 points — program expense ratio and fundraising cost, each on a graduated scale (not a single cutoff). Kept at 20% of the total: financial-ratio scoring alone is not a reliable effectiveness signal (see "why not just an overhead ratio?" below).

Community Support

Scored from filings

10 points — volunteer-to-staff ratio from Charity Commission workforce data, scaling continuously up to a 2:1 ratio.

Overall score

Sum of all pillar points. Display stars use the same bands as the labels: 90–100 → 5★ Exceptional; 75–89 → 4★ Good; 60–74 → 3★ Needs improvement; 1–59 → 2★ Poor; 0 → not rated.

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How do you add Alzheimer's Research UK's rating to your site?

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What red flags does Alzheimer's Research UK have?

Frequently asked questions

Common questions about Alzheimer's Research UK's rating, finances, and Charity Commission status.

Is Alzheimer's Research UK a good charity? +

Alzheimer's Research UK scores 84 out of 100 (4 stars — Good) on CharityCompare's Clarity Score, our independent read of its UK regulator filings. Around 68% of its spending goes to charitable activities (3-yr avg) and its accounts are up to date. That reflects how transparent and financially healthy it looks on paper — it does not measure the real-world impact of its work, so treat it as one factor alongside the cause you care about. CharityCompare never tells you where to donate.

Is Alzheimer's Research UK a legitimate charity? +

The register data used for this profile lists Alzheimer's Research UK as a registered charity (charity number 1077089). Verify it on the official register: https://register-of-charities.charitycommission.gov.uk/charity-details/?regId=1077089&subId=0. Check the current entry and the identity of anyone requesting money. Registration does not verify a particular appeal; Clarity Score summarises filing transparency, not programme impact.

What is Alzheimer's Research UK's charity number? +

Alzheimer's Research UK's charity number is 1077089. Check that number on the official register (Charity Commission, OSCR or CCNI) or this CharityCompare profile before you donate — scammers sometimes reuse real numbers on fake appeals.

What is Alzheimer's Research UK's charity rating? +

Alzheimer's Research UK scores 84 out of 100 on CharityCompare (4 stars — Good). The Clarity Score (method v1.1) sums four pillars from UK regulator filings: Accountability & Transparency (40 pts), Financial Health (30), Financial Efficiency (20), and Community Support (10). Stars use the same bands as those labels — 90+ is 5★ Exceptional. It is not an impact ranking.

Does Alzheimer's Research UK have reviews and complaints? +

CharityCompare does not host public user reviews for Alzheimer's Research UK. Instead you get a filing-based Clarity Score, cause spend, reserves and red flags such as late accounts (one red flag on this profile: high fundraising costs). For formal complaints about a charity, contact the Charity Commission, OSCR, CCNI or the Fundraising Regulator as appropriate.

How much of my donation reaches Alzheimer's Research UK? +

Across the recent disclosed accounts used for this score, 68% of Alzheimer's Research UK's total spending went to charitable activities (3-yr avg across disclosed years). That is the closest official figure to "how much of your donation reaches the cause" — it is an average across all spending in the filing, not a pound-by-pound breakdown of an individual gift.

What are Alzheimer's Research UK's overheads? +

Across the recent disclosed accounts used for this score, fundraising costs were about 32% of total expenditure and fundraising plus separately reported governance figures amount to about 33% of expenditure (2023–2025, disclosed years); these categories can overlap, so this is not a distinct total of all administration costs at Alzheimer's Research UK. Alzheimer's Research UK's annual return for the year ending 31 March 2025 reports 33 employees paid more than £60,000, including 6 employees paid more than £100,000. The highest reported pay band is £150,001–£200,000 (1 employee). Individual salaries, including the chief executive's, are disclosed in the trustees' annual report rather than on the register.

How much income does Alzheimer's Research UK receive? +

Alzheimer's Research UK reported £62m total income in its 2025 accounts, based on UK regulator filings. Five-year trend: growing.

Are Alzheimer's Research UK's accounts up to date? +

Filing status: up to date (last filing 2025-11-27). CharityCompare flags late or missing accounts separately from the financial score.

Where is Alzheimer's Research UK based? +

Alzheimer's Research UK's registered contact address is in Cambridge (CB21 6AD). It tells the regulator it operates in England and Wales, Scotland, Northern Ireland, with a focus on medical research.

How much is Alzheimer's Research UK's chief executive paid? +

The Charity Commission register does not name individual salaries. Alzheimer's Research UK's annual return for the year ending 31 March 2025 reports 33 employees paid more than £60,000, including 6 employees paid more than £100,000. The highest reported pay band is £150,001–£200,000 (1 employee). Charities normally disclose the chief executive's pay, or the pay of their highest-paid staff, in the remuneration note of the trustees' annual report and accounts.

Where does Alzheimer's Research UK's money come from? +

Alzheimer's Research UK reported £62m total income for the year ending 31 March 2025. The largest sources were donations and legacies £60m (97%), investments £1.4m (2%), trading and fundraising events £297k (0%). Legacies (gifts in wills) contributed £22m.

Can I claim Gift Aid on a donation to Alzheimer's Research UK? +

The register records Alzheimer's Research UK as registered with HMRC for Gift Aid, so a UK taxpayer can usually add 25p to every £1 they give by making a Gift Aid declaration.

Are Alzheimer's Research UK's trustees paid? +

Alzheimer's Research UK's annual return for the year ending 31 March 2025 reports that no trustee received remuneration or other benefits from the charity.

What was Alzheimer's Research UK previously called? +

The register lists this previous name for Alzheimer's Research UK: Alzheimer's Research Trust.

When was Alzheimer's Research UK registered as a charity? +

Alzheimer's Research UK was entered on the register on 19 August 1999. It is also a company registered at Companies House (company number 03681291).

How does CharityCompare score Alzheimer's Research UK? +

We calculate a Clarity Score of 0–100 from four pillars in Alzheimer's Research UK's regulator filings: Accountability & Transparency (40 points — filing history, trustees, policies), Financial Health (30 — reserves, income trend, debt), Financial Efficiency (20 — cause spend and fundraising cost, on a graduated scale) and Community Support (10 — volunteer-to-staff ratio). An open statutory inquiry scores 0. The score measures reporting on paper, not programme impact. CharityCompare is free for donors, takes no commission on donations, and scores cannot be bought.

How often is this page updated? +

This profile was last updated on 6 September 2026 from the latest UK regulator data available to CharityCompare, and Alzheimer's Research UK's most recent accounts cover 2025. Scores and figures refresh whenever we re-ingest the register, so the page reflects our latest data pull rather than a one-off review.