---
title: "Royal College of Surgeons of England rating | CharityCompare"
description: "Is Royal College of Surgeons of England a legitimate UK charity? Clarity Score 79/100. Accounts 2025: income £44m · 88% on charitable activities. Reg 212808."
source: https://www.charitycompare.org.uk/charity/royal-college-of-surgeons-of-england
retrieved: 2026-08-18T01:38:27.555Z
license: "Charity data © Crown copyright, Open Government Licence v3.0"
---

Quick answer

## Is Royal College of Surgeons of England a good charity?

Royal College of Surgeons of England scores 79/100 (4 stars, Good) on CharityCompare's Clarity Score, calculated from its UK regulator filings. Its latest accounts year is 2025 (£44m total income, 88% of spending on charitable activities). This reflects financial transparency and stewardship on paper — not the real-world impact of its programmes. See the full breakdown.

London · UK-wide · WC2A 3PE |
Reg [212808](https://www.charitycompare.org.uk/charity/royal-college-of-surgeons-of-england) | Registered charity | [Official website](https://www.rcseng.ac.uk/) | [Charity Commission register](https://register-of-charities.charitycommission.gov.uk/en/charity-search/-/charity-details/212808)

Donate

## How can you give to ROYAL COLLEGE OF SURGEONS OF ENGLAND?

You leave CharityCompare to complete a donation on the official ROYAL COLLEGE OF SURGEONS OF ENGLAND form. We do not process payments or take commission. Opens their official online donation form.

[Donate](https://www.rcseng.ac.uk/?utm_source=charitycompare&utm_medium=referral&utm_campaign=donate&utm_content=212808)

## What does Royal College of Surgeons of England do?

Royal College of Surgeons of England is a registered charity (no. 212808) working in health across the United Kingdom. Its latest Charity Commission filing directs 88% of spending to charitable activities, holding roughly 7 months of reserves, though its recent accounts were filed late. Reported income has been growing (≈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.

Summarised from public filings — Royal College of Surgeons of England hasn't added its own description yet. [Work here? Add it free →](https://www.charitycompare.org.uk/claim?charity=royal-college-of-surgeons-of-england)

**In short:** ROYAL COLLEGE OF SURGEONS OF ENGLAND scores 79 out of 100 (4 stars). 88% average program spend (3-year average). Review the pillar breakdown below.

## What is Royal College of Surgeons of England?

Royal College of Surgeons of England has a Clarity Score of 79 out of 100 on CharityCompare (4 stars, Good). Charity Commission registration number 212808. Status: Registered. Primary cause area: Health. Latest accounts year 2025: total income £44m, with 88% of expenditure on charitable activities. Accounts filing: late. Reserves: approximately 7 months of operating costs. 2 filing concern(s) noted on this profile. Scores are independent and based on official filings — not a donation recommendation.

Data from [Charity Commission register](https://register-of-charities.charitycommission.gov.uk/), last updated 17 July 2026.

Overall score

79/100

4★ · Good

Cause spend

88%

3-yr avg · charitable activities

Accountability

53/100

Finance beacon

Income

£44m

Latest year 2025

Reserves

7 mo

Months of running costs

Accounts filing

Late

Check register

£38.9 raised per £1 fundraising (3-yr avg) ·
6% overhead · Website on register ·
Confidence: medium

## How does ROYAL COLLEGE OF SURGEONS OF ENGLAND compare?

Clarity Score percentile against similar UK charities — the share of peers ROYAL COLLEGE OF SURGEONS OF ENGLAND scores higher than.

Income band (£10m+)55thpercentile

**Scores higher than 55% of 943 charities in its income band** · 79/100 vs 77 peer average (marker).

Health charities55thpercentile

**Scores higher than 55% of 528 charities in this cause** · 79/100 vs 76 peer average (marker).

## How reliable is Royal College of Surgeons of England's data?

Source

Charity Commission (England & Wales)

Accounts year

2025

Filing date

24 June 2026

Profile reviewed

17 July 2026

Medium confidence — some data missing or late

Scores reflect the latest annual accounts on the register. Clarity Score measures how clearly the charity accounts for money in those filings — not programme impact.

Contains public sector information licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0. Sources:
[Charity Commission for England and Wales](https://register-of-charities.charitycommission.gov.uk/),
[Office of the Scottish Charity Regulator](https://www.oscr.org.uk/) and
[Charity Commission for Northern Ireland](https://www.charitycommissionni.org.uk/).
[Open Government Licence v3.0](https://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/doc/open-government-licence/version/3/).

## What is Royal College of Surgeons of England'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.

53/100
| 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. | 0% | 0/15 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. | 60% | 6/10 pts |

### Financial Health

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

93/100
| 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% | 7 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. | 60% | 29% · 3/5 pts |

### Financial Efficiency

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

100/100
| Metric | Score | Value |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Program expense ratio 90%+ on charitable activities = full marks, scaling down to 0 pts at 50% or below. | 100% | 88% · 10/10 pts (3-year average) |
| Fundraising efficiency ≤10p to raise £1 = full marks, scaling down to 0 pts at 40p or above (fundraising cost ÷ income). | 100% | 3p per £1 income · 10/10 pts (3-year average) |

### Community Support

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

100/100
| Metric | Score | Value |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Volunteer-to-staff ratio Volunteers at 2x staff or more = full marks · no volunteers = 0 pts, scaled between. | 100% | 1,292 volunteers / 291 staff · 10/10 pts |

[How we calculate beacon scores →](https://www.charitycompare.org.uk/methodology)

## What is Royal College of Surgeons of England's Clarity Score?

79/100 total · Good · 4 of 5 stars

Four pillars (40 + 30 + 20 + 10 points) from Charity Commission filings — see methodology for full weightings.

53/100

Accountability & Transparency

93/100

Financial Health

100/100

Financial Efficiency

100/100

Community Support

### Accountability & Transparency

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

53/100

Filing history (5 years)0/15 pts

Trustee oversight12 trustees · 15/15 pts

Declared policies6/10 pts

### Financial Health

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

93/100

Reserves (months of cash)7 months · 15/15 pts

Income stability / growth10/10 pts · 3-year average

Liabilities to assets29% · 3/5 pts

### Financial Efficiency

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

100/100

Program expense ratio88% · 10/10 pts (3-year average)

Fundraising efficiency3p per £1 income · 10/10 pts (3-year average)

### Community Support

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

100/100

Volunteer-to-staff ratio1,292 volunteers / 291 staff · 10/10 pts

## How much does Royal College of Surgeons of England raise and spend?

Latest filed year 2025 · Source: Charity Commission filings
| Category | Amount | % of spend |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Total income | £44m | — |
| Total expenditure | £44m | — |
| Charitable activities | £38m | 86% |
| Fundraising | £966k | 2% |
| Governance & admin | £1.5m | 3% |

86%On charitable activities

## Where does the money go?

Latest accounts (2025) · £44m spent

- Charitable activities86% · £38m
- Fundraising2% · £966k
- Governance3% · £1.5m
- Other spending8% · £3.5m

## What trust indicators does Royal College of Surgeons of England have?

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)

12 trustees on the Charity Commission register

- ✓ Workforce on register

291 employees · 1,292 volunteers (4:1 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 →](https://www.fundraisingregulator.org.uk/members/)

Official register

Reg 212808

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

[View on Charity Commission →](https://register-of-charities.charitycommission.gov.uk/en/charity-search/-/charity-details/212808)

### Trustees & officers

- TIMOTHY EDWARD MITCHELL since 2020
- ROBERT GREIG since 2020
- Professor Peter J Friend since 2021
- Professor Vivien C Lees since 2021
- Simon Davis since 2021
- Dr Charlotte Eckhardt since 2023
- Professor Andrew Carr since 2024
- Joanna Kirby since 2023
- Frank Smith since 2024
- Professor Farah Bhatti since 2023
- Ginny Bowbrick since 2025
- Vanessa Leung since 2025

100
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 →](https://www.charitycompare.org.uk/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.

## How have Royal College of Surgeons of England's finances changed over five years?

- Income
- Spending
- Cause spend

Values in £ thousands · Cause spend plotted only when the filing discloses a split · Source: Charity Commission accounts

## What are the key facts about Royal College of Surgeons of England?

Overall score

79/100 (4★)

Income

£44m

Cause spend

88% of expenditure

Reg number

212808

Scope

UK-wide

Reserves

7 months

Trustees

12

Accounts year

2025

Filing

late

## How does ROYAL COLLEGE OF SURGEONS OF ENGLAND compare, and where else can you look?

[Compare ROYAL COLLEGE OF SURGEONS OF ENGLAND with others](https://www.charitycompare.org.uk/compare-charities?ids=royal-college-of-surgeons-of-england) [More health charities](https://www.charitycompare.org.uk/browse/health) [How we score charities](https://www.charitycompare.org.uk/methodology)

### Where ROYAL COLLEGE OF SURGEONS OF ENGLAND sits

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

- [health charities](https://www.charitycompare.org.uk/browse/health)
- [education charities](https://www.charitycompare.org.uk/browse/education)
- [Charities in London](https://www.charitycompare.org.uk/cities/london)
- [health charities in London](https://www.charitycompare.org.uk/browse/health/london)

### Similar health charities

Top-rated peers by CharityCompare score

- [THE MOST VENERABLE ORDER OF THE HOSPITAL OF ST JOHN OF JERUSALEM (THE ORDER OF ST JOHN)](https://www.charitycompare.org.uk/charity/the-most-venerable-order-of-the-hospital-of-st-john-of-jerusalem-the-order-of-st-john) 100/100 · £2.4m
- [THE FARMING COMMUNITY NETWORK](https://www.charitycompare.org.uk/charity/the-farming-community-network) 100/100 · £1.8m
- [KIDS MATTER](https://www.charitycompare.org.uk/charity/kids-matter) 100/100 · £795k
- [WOMANKIND](https://www.charitycompare.org.uk/charity/womankind) 100/100 · £731k

## How can you share Royal College of Surgeons of England's rating?

Share: [X](https://twitter.com/intent/tweet?text=Royal%20College%20of%20Surgeons%20of%20England%20%E2%80%94%2079%2F100%20Clarity%20Score%20on%20CharityCompare&url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.charitycompare.org.uk%2Fcharity%2Froyal-college-of-surgeons-of-england)[LinkedIn](https://www.linkedin.com/sharing/share-offsite/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.charitycompare.org.uk%2Fcharity%2Froyal-college-of-surgeons-of-england)[Facebook](https://www.facebook.com/sharer/sharer.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.charitycompare.org.uk%2Fcharity%2Froyal-college-of-surgeons-of-england)[Bluesky](https://bsky.app/intent/compose?text=Royal%20College%20of%20Surgeons%20of%20England%20%E2%80%94%2079%2F100%20Clarity%20Score%20on%20CharityCompare%20https%3A%2F%2Fwww.charitycompare.org.uk%2Fcharity%2Froyal-college-of-surgeons-of-england) Copy link

Print / save as PDFOpens a printer-friendly view of this profile for Royal College of Surgeons of England.

For this charity

## How do you add Royal College of Surgeons of England's rating to your site?

Free to use — a lightweight HTML badge or an embeddable score widget, each linking back to this independent profile and our [methodology](https://www.charitycompare.org.uk/methodology).

BadgeScore widget

[♥ CharityCompare Clarity Score 79/100 ★★★★★](https://www.charitycompare.org.uk/charity/royal-college-of-surgeons-of-england)

Lightweight HTML badge (no iframe) — paste anywhere<a href="https://www.charitycompare.org.uk/charity/royal-college-of-surgeons-of-england" target="_blank" rel="noopener" style="display:inline-flex;align-items:center;gap:9px;font-family:system-ui,-apple-system,sans-serif;text-decoration:none;border:1px solid #e7e2d6;border-radius:10px;padding:8px 12px;background:#fff;color:#0f0f0f;">
<span style="display:inline-flex;width:24px;height:24px;align-items:center;justify-content:center;border-radius:6px;background:#C74C05;color:#fff;font-weight:700;font-size:14px;">♥</span>
<span style="display:flex;flex-direction:column;line-height:1.25;">
<span style="font-size:11px;color:#5a5a5a;">CharityCompare Clarity Score</span>
<span style="font-weight:700;font-size:14px;">79/100 <span style="color:#C74C05;">★★★★</span><span style="color:#cfc8ba;">★</span></span>
</span>
</a>Copy code

## What red flags does Royal College of Surgeons of England have?

## Frequently asked questions

Common questions about Royal College of Surgeons of England's rating, finances, and Charity Commission status.

Is Royal College of Surgeons of England a good charity? + Royal College of Surgeons of England scores 79 out of 100 (4 stars — Good) on CharityCompare's Clarity Score, our independent read of its UK regulator filings. Around 88% of its spending goes to charitable activities 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 Royal College of Surgeons of England a legitimate charity? + Yes — Royal College of Surgeons of England is a legitimate registered charity (charity number 212808). Verify it on the official register: https://register-of-charities.charitycommission.gov.uk/en/charity-search/-/charity-details/212808. Registration proves status; Clarity Score then summarises filing transparency on paper, not programme impact.

What is Royal College of Surgeons of England's charity number? + Royal College of Surgeons of England's charity number is 212808. 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 Royal College of Surgeons of England's charity rating? + Royal College of Surgeons of England scores 79 out of 100 on CharityCompare (4 stars — Good). The Clarity Score V1 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 Royal College of Surgeons of England have reviews and complaints? + CharityCompare does not host public user reviews for Royal College of Surgeons of England. Instead you get a filing-based Clarity Score, cause spend, reserves and red flags such as late accounts (2 filing concern(s) noted on this profile). For formal complaints about a charity, contact the Charity Commission, OSCR, CCNI or the Fundraising Regulator as appropriate.

How much of my donation reaches Royal College of Surgeons of England? + According to its 2025 regulator filing, 88% of Royal College of Surgeons of England'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 Royal College of Surgeons of England's overheads? + According to its 2025 regulator filing, fundraising costs were about 3% of total expenditure and combined overheads (fundraising plus governance) were about 6% of total expenditure at Royal College of Surgeons of England. The filings CharityCompare uses do not publish CEO or senior-staff pay, so we cannot say what Royal College of Surgeons of England'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 Royal College of Surgeons of England receive? + Royal College of Surgeons of England reported £44m total income in its 2025 accounts, based on UK regulator filings. Five-year trend: growing.

Are Royal College of Surgeons of England'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 Royal College of Surgeons of England based? + Royal College of Surgeons of England is listed at London · UK-wide · WC2A 3PE and operates UK-wide, focused on health.

How does CharityCompare score Royal College of Surgeons of England? + We calculate a Clarity Score of 0–100 from four pillars in Royal College of Surgeons of England'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 17 July 2026 from the latest UK regulator data available to CharityCompare, and Royal College of Surgeons of England'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.