Poverty relief · Reg 310952
The Royal Caledonian Education Trust
Charity rating & review
58/100 Clarity Score · 3 stars · Charity Commission filings · How we score
Clarity score
Poor
Quick answer
Is The Royal Caledonian Education Trust a good charity?
The Royal Caledonian Education Trust scores 58/100 (3 stars, Poor) on CharityCompare's Clarity Score, calculated from its Charity Commission filings. Its latest accounts year is 2025 (£291k total income, cause-spend split not disclosed). This reflects financial transparency and stewardship on paper — not the real-world impact of its programmes. See the full breakdown.
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Mission
The Royal Caledonian Education Trust is a registered charity (no. 310952) working in poverty relief in Edinburgh · EH8 8DL. Its latest Charity Commission filing does not disclose a charitable-activities spend split in recent filings, holding roughly 5 months of reserves, though its recent accounts were filed late. Reported income has been declining (≈13% a year). CharityCompare's Clarity Score rates the organisation only from public Charity Commission accounts — accountability, financial health, efficiency and community support — not the quality or impact of its programmes.
In short: THE ROYAL CALEDONIAN EDUCATION TRUST scores 58 out of 100 (3 stars). Cause-spend split not disclosed in recent filings. Review the pillar breakdown below.
Overview
The Royal Caledonian Education Trust has a Clarity Score of 58 out of 100 on CharityCompare (3 stars, Poor). Charity Commission registration number 310952. Status: Registered. Primary cause area: Poverty relief. Latest accounts year 2025: total income £291k, cause-spend split not disclosed in that filing. Accounts filing: late. Reserves: approximately 5 months of operating costs. 1 filing concern(s) noted on this profile. Scores are independent and based on official filings — not a donation recommendation.
Data from Charity Commission register, last updated .
Overall score
58/100
3★ · Poor
Cause spend
N/D
Not disclosed in filings
Accountability
68/100
Finance beacon
Income
£291k
Latest year 2025
Reserves
5 mo
Months of running costs
Accounts filing
Late
Check register
Fundraising efficiency not stated · Overhead not disclosed · Website on register · Confidence: medium
How THE ROYAL CALEDONIAN EDUCATION TRUST compares
Clarity Score percentile against similar UK charities — the share of peers THE ROYAL CALEDONIAN EDUCATION TRUST scores higher than.
Scores higher than 21% of 972 charities in its income band · 58/100 vs 70 peer average (marker).
Scores higher than 9% of 1,502 charities in this cause · 58/100 vs 78 peer average (marker).
Data & confidence
- Source
- Charity Commission (E&W)
- Accounts year
- 2025
- Filing date
- Profile reviewed
Medium confidence — some data missing or late
Scores reflect the latest annual accounts on the register. Impact, leadership, and culture beacons require information beyond public filings.
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 .
Beacon report
Detailed accountability and finance metrics from Charity Commission filings — structured for transparency in our four-beacon report.
Accountability & Transparency
Baseline trust from filing discipline, board oversight, and declared governance policies.
68/100
| Metric | Score | Value |
|---|---|---|
| Filing history (5 years) 100% on-time over five years = 15 pts · one late filing = 5 pts · two or more = 0 pts. | 33% | 5/15 pts |
| Trustee oversight Three or more trustees on the register = 15 pts, scaled down for fewer (governance red flag below three). | 100% | 9 trustees · 15/15 pts |
| Declared policies Safeguarding (4) · conflict of interest (3) · volunteer management (3) — from Charity Commission annual return. | 70% | 7/10 pts |
Financial Health
Stability and solvency — reserves, revenue trend, and debt from Charity Commission accounts.
67/100
| Metric | Score | Value |
|---|---|---|
| Reserves (months of cash) 3–24 months = full marks, tapering on both sides · 0 months or 4+ years (hoarding) = 0 pts. | 100% | 5 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. | 0% | 0/10 pts · 3-year average |
| Liabilities to assets 0% liabilities-to-assets = 5 pts, scaling down to 0 pts at 60%+ debt. | 100% | 2% · 5/5 pts |
Financial Efficiency
How efficiently funds reach the cause — program spend and fundraising cost ratios.
50/100
| Metric | Score | Value |
|---|---|---|
| Program expense ratio 90%+ on charitable activities = full marks, scaling down to 0 pts at 50% or below. | 0% | Not stated · 0/10 pts |
| Fundraising efficiency ≤10p to raise £1 = full marks, scaling down to 0 pts at 40p or above (fundraising cost ÷ income). | 100% | 0p per £1 income · 10/10 pts (3-year average) |
Community Support
Grassroots backing from Charity Commission workforce data — volunteers vs paid staff.
10/100
| Metric | Score | Value |
|---|---|---|
| Volunteer-to-staff ratio Volunteers at 2x staff or more = full marks · no volunteers = 0 pts, scaled between. | 10% | 1 volunteers / 9 staff · 1/10 pts |
Clarity Score
58/100 total · Poor · 3 of 5 stars
Four pillars (40 + 30 + 20 + 10 points) from Charity Commission filings — see methodology for full weightings.
Accountability & Transparency
Baseline trust from filing discipline, board oversight, and declared governance policies.
68/100
Financial Health
Stability and solvency — reserves, revenue trend, and debt from Charity Commission accounts.
67/100
Financial Efficiency
How efficiently funds reach the cause — program spend and fundraising cost ratios.
50/100
Community Support
Grassroots backing from Charity Commission workforce data — volunteers vs paid staff.
10/100
Revenue & expenses
Latest filed year 2025 · Source: Charity Commission annual accounts
| Category | Amount | % of spend |
|---|---|---|
| Total income | £291k | — |
| Total expenditure | £734k | — |
| Charitable activities | Not disclosed | — |
Where the money goes
Latest accounts (2025) · £734k spent. Not disclosed in this filing — the Charity Commission return omits the charitable-activities split.
Trust indicators
Pulled from the Charity Commission register — filing behaviour, board size, and workforce where reported.
-
Accounts filed on time
Filing status: late
-
Trustee board size (3–12)
9 trustees on the Charity Commission register
-
Workforce on register
9 employees · 1 volunteers (0:1 volunteer-to-staff)
Fundraising Regulator
Status not yet checked
Separate from our financial scores — shows whether the charity follows the Code of Fundraising Practice.
Check Fundraising Regulator →Official register
Reg 310952
Full trustee list, accounts, and regulatory history on the Charity Commission.
View on Charity Commission →Trustees & officers
- Isla Campbell Lupton since 2019
- Max Ogilvy Young since 2021
- Fiona Barbour-Smith since 2023
- Sarah Dickie since 2023
- Jessica Bryce since 2024
- Fiona Jackson since 2024
- Harvey Tilley Chair · since 2024
- Rachel Rylance since 2025
- Finlay James Allmond since 2025
How we score charities +
The Clarity Score is a 100-point rating from UK Charity Commission data. 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.
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 map the 0–100 score onto a familiar 5★ scale (≈20 points per star): 90–100 → 5★, 70–89 → 4★, 50–69 → 3★, 30–49 → 2★, 1–29 → 1★.
Five-year trends
- Income
- Spending
- Cause spend
Values in £ thousands · Cause spend plotted only when the filing discloses a split · Source: Charity Commission accounts
Key facts
- Overall score
- 58/100 (3★)
- Income
- £291k
- Cause spend
- Not disclosed
- Reg number
- 310952
- Scope
- Local (edinburgh)
- Reserves
- 5 months
- Trustees
- 9
- Accounts year
- 2025
- Filing
- late
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Red flags
Frequently asked questions
Common questions about The Royal Caledonian Education Trust's rating, finances, and Charity Commission status.
Is The Royal Caledonian Education Trust a good charity? +
The Royal Caledonian Education Trust scores 58 out of 100 (3 stars — Poor) on CharityCompare's Clarity Score, our independent read of its Charity Commission filings. Its recent filings do not disclose a charitable-activities spend split and its accounts are late. 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 The Royal Caledonian Education Trust a legitimate charity? +
Yes — The Royal Caledonian Education Trust is registered with the Charity Commission for England and Wales under registration number 310952. You can verify the entry on the official register: https://register-of-charities.charitycommission.gov.uk/en/charity-search/-/charity-details/310952
What is The Royal Caledonian Education Trust's charity rating? +
The Royal Caledonian Education Trust scores 58 out of 100 on CharityCompare (3 stars — Poor). The Clarity Score V1 sums four pillars from Charity Commission filings: Accountability & Transparency (40 pts), Financial Health (30), Financial Efficiency (20), and Community Support (10).
How much of my donation reaches The Royal Caledonian Education Trust? +
The Royal Caledonian Education Trust does not disclose a charitable-activities spend split in its recent Charity Commission filings, so there is no official figure for how much of a donation reaches the cause. CharityCompare reports this as "not disclosed" rather than assuming a number.
What are The Royal Caledonian Education Trust's overheads? +
The Royal Caledonian Education Trust's recent Charity Commission filings do not disclose a fundraising or governance cost split, so no official overhead percentage is available. The filings CharityCompare uses do not publish CEO or senior-staff pay, so we cannot say what The Royal Caledonian Education Trust's chief executive is paid — where disclosure rules apply, senior pay appears in the trustees' annual report on the Charity Commission register.
How much income does The Royal Caledonian Education Trust receive? +
The Royal Caledonian Education Trust reported £291k total income in its 2025 accounts, based on Charity Commission filings. Five-year trend: declining.
Are The Royal Caledonian Education Trust's accounts up to date? +
Filing status: late (last filing 2026-06-24). CharityCompare flags late or missing accounts separately from the financial score.
Where is The Royal Caledonian Education Trust based? +
The Royal Caledonian Education Trust is listed at Edinburgh · EH8 8DL, focused on poverty relief.
How does CharityCompare score The Royal Caledonian Education Trust? +
We analyse Charity Commission annual accounts using three-year averages for program expense, fundraising efficiency, and overhead (disclosed years only); working capital from reserves vs average expenditure; liabilities-to-assets from the latest balance sheet when available. Impact, leadership, and culture beacons are not yet assessed from public data alone. See our methodology for weights and thresholds. 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 17 July 2026 from the latest Charity Commission data available to CharityCompare, and The Royal Caledonian Education Trust'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.