Environment · Reg 216652
Clarity score
Exceptional
Charity accounts, evidence & financial rating
93/100 Clarity Score · 5 stars · Charity Commission filings · How we score
Register checked 4 October 2026 · latest accounts 2025
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Quick answer
The British Trust for Ornithology scores 93/100 (5 stars, Exceptional) on CharityCompare's Clarity Score, calculated from its UK regulator filings. Its latest accounts year is 2025 (£8.7m total income, 79% 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
£8.7m
Accounts 2025-03-31
Spending
£9.0m
Accounts 2025-03-31
Charitable activities
79%
3-yr avg · share of spending
Accounts filing
On time
Charity Commission
Ornithological research
Activities reported by the charity on the official register · extract . This is separate from the accounts data used for its rating.
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Accounts period 2024-04-01 to 2025-03-31 · Source: Charity Commission filings
| Category | Amount | % of spend |
|---|---|---|
| Total income | £8.7m | — |
| Total expenditure | £9.0m | — |
| Charitable activities | £7.3m | 81% |
| Fundraising | £1.7m | 19% |
| Reported governance | £84k | 1% |
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.
Reported totals for 2025 compared with 2024. Changes can reflect the accounting period, restricted grants or restructuring as well as the charity’s work.
These are annual figures. The Clarity Score may use averages across several disclosed years. Source: official accounts.
Latest accounts (2025) · £9.0m spent
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
Answers The British Trust for Ornithology 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.
The British Trust for Ornithology's annual return for the year ending 31 March 2025 reports 6 employees paid more than £60,000. The highest reported pay band is £70,001–£80,000 (1 employee).
| Salary band | Employees |
|---|---|
| £70,001–£80,000 | 1 |
| £60,001–£70,000 | 5 |
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.
The British Trust for Ornithology reported £8.7m total income for the year ending 31 March 2025. The largest sources were charitable activities £4.6m (53%), donations and legacies £2.8m (32%), trading and fundraising events £1.2m (14%). Legacies (gifts in wills) contributed £799k.
Cash at year end: £5m · unrestricted funds: £5.3m · restricted funds: £1.2m. Restricted funds can only be spent on purposes set by the donor.
The register records The British Trust for Ornithology 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
The British Trust for Ornithology's annual return for the year ending 31 March 2025 reports that no trustee received remuneration or other benefits from the charity.
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”.
Income rose 41% from £6.2m in 2021 to £8.7m in 2025; spending was £9.0m in 2025.
| Year | Income | Spending | Charitable activities |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2025 | £8.7m | £9.0m | £7.3m |
| 2024 | £9.5m | £8.0m | £6.2m |
| 2023 | £7.1m | £7.0m | £5.6m |
| 2022 | £7.8m | £6.6m | £5.3m |
| 2021 | £6.2m | £6.1m | £4.5m |
Cause spend is plotted only when the filing discloses a split · Source: Charity Commission filings
Financial context
Compare The British Trust for Ornithology with 37 other environment charities in our detailed dataset: the same regulator, £5m–£10m income band and accounts ending in 2025. Each period covers 50–54 weeks. These are reference points, not targets or a ranking of impact.
Swipe across the table to see the peer median and coverage.
| Measure | This charity | Peer median | Peer coverage |
|---|---|---|---|
| Annual income | £8.7m | £7.1m | 37 of 37 |
| Annual spending | £9.0m | £6.5m | 37 of 37 |
| Charitable activities share | 80.5% | 83.9% | 36 of 37 |
The annual spending share can differ from the multi-year average shown elsewhere. Missing disclosures are excluded, never counted as zero. We show a median only with at least ten peer disclosures. Different year-end months, restricted funding and delivery models can still limit comparisons.
The share of each group scoring at or below The British Trust for Ornithology, 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.
Scores at or above 97% of 38 charities with the same primary cause, income band and latest accounts year · 93/100 vs 75 peer average.
Scores at or above 94% of 620 charities in its income band · 93/100 vs 77 peer average.
Scores at or above 91% of 458 charities in this cause · 93/100 vs 72 peer average.
The causes this charity is classified under, and other charities working nearby.
Top-rated peers by CharityCompare score
Evidence and interpretation
In 2025, reported income was £8,712,000 and expenditure was £9,028,000. Expenditure exceeded income by £316,000. This annual balance is not the charity’s available cash or unrestricted reserves.
Income fell 7.9% 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.
Find the right support
Reported beneficiaries: The General Public/mankind.
How it works: Sponsors Or Undertakes Research.
Use the official contact details to check eligibility, referrals, waiting lists and current service coverage. Broad register classifications and a contact address do not confirm that a particular service is available to you.
Explore source-checked support routesClassifications supplied to the register; extract 2026-10-04. Register contact and activity details · Website listed for this charity
Look beyond the score
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: £3,833 (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.
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.
Detailed accountability and finance metrics from UK regulator filings — structured for transparency in our four-beacon report.
Baseline trust from filing discipline, board oversight, and declared governance policies.
100/100
| 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% | 13 trustees · 15/15 pts |
| Declared policies Safeguarding (4) · conflict of interest (3) · volunteer management (3) — from Charity Commission annual return. | 100% | 10/10 pts |
Stability and solvency — reserves, revenue trend, and debt from Charity Commission accounts.
93/100
| 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% | 4 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% | 28% · 3/5 pts |
How efficiently funds reach the cause — program spend and fundraising cost ratios.
75/100
| Metric | Score | Value |
|---|---|---|
| Program expense ratio 90%+ on charitable activities = full marks, scaling down to 0 pts at 50% or below. | 70% | 79% · 7/10 pts (3-year average) |
| Fundraising efficiency ≤10p to raise £1 = full marks, scaling down to 0 pts at 40p or above (fundraising cost ÷ income). | 80% | 16p per £1 income · 8/10 pts (3-year average, disclosed years) |
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% | 44,000 volunteers / 163 staff · 10/10 pts |
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)
13 trustees on the Charity Commission register
Workforce on register
163 employees · 44,000 volunteers (270:1 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 216652
Full trustee list, accounts, and regulatory history on the Charity Commission.
View on Charity Commission →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: 216652. 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
Check 216652 on the official register. A real charity number alone does not prove that a fundraiser or appeal is authentic.
Verify the registration →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 →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 →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 The British Trust for Ornithology →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.
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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Common questions about The British Trust for Ornithology's rating, finances, and Charity Commission status.
The British Trust for Ornithology scores 93 out of 100 (5 stars — Exceptional) on CharityCompare's Clarity Score, our independent read of its UK regulator filings. Around 79% 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.
The register data used for this profile lists The British Trust for Ornithology as a registered charity (charity number 216652). Verify it on the official register: https://register-of-charities.charitycommission.gov.uk/charity-details/?regId=216652&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.
The British Trust for Ornithology's charity number is 216652. 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.
The British Trust for Ornithology scores 93 out of 100 on CharityCompare (5 stars — Exceptional). 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.
CharityCompare does not host public user reviews for The British Trust for Ornithology. Instead you get a filing-based Clarity Score, cause spend, reserves and red flags such as late accounts (none flagged on this profile). For formal complaints about a charity, contact the Charity Commission, OSCR, CCNI or the Fundraising Regulator as appropriate.
Across the recent disclosed accounts used for this score, 79% of The British Trust for Ornithology'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.
Across the recent disclosed accounts used for this score, fundraising costs were about 16% of total expenditure and fundraising plus separately reported governance figures amount to about 17% of expenditure (2023–2025, disclosed years); these categories can overlap, so this is not a distinct total of all administration costs at The British Trust for Ornithology. The British Trust for Ornithology's annual return for the year ending 31 March 2025 reports 6 employees paid more than £60,000. The highest reported pay band is £70,001–£80,000 (1 employee). Individual salaries, including the chief executive's, are disclosed in the trustees' annual report rather than on the register.
The British Trust for Ornithology reported £8.7m total income in its 2025 accounts, based on UK regulator filings. Five-year trend: growing.
Filing status: up to date (last filing 2025-12-22). CharityCompare flags late or missing accounts separately from the financial score.
The British Trust for Ornithology's registered contact address is in Ipswich (IP24 2PU). It tells the regulator it operates in England and Wales, Scotland, Northern Ireland, with a focus on environment.
The Charity Commission register does not name individual salaries. The British Trust for Ornithology's annual return for the year ending 31 March 2025 reports 6 employees paid more than £60,000. The highest reported pay band is £70,001–£80,000 (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.
The British Trust for Ornithology reported £8.7m total income for the year ending 31 March 2025. The largest sources were charitable activities £4.6m (53%), donations and legacies £2.8m (32%), trading and fundraising events £1.2m (14%). Legacies (gifts in wills) contributed £799k.
The register records The British Trust for Ornithology 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.
The British Trust for Ornithology's annual return for the year ending 31 March 2025 reports that no trustee received remuneration or other benefits from the charity.
The British Trust for Ornithology was entered on the register on 23 March 1964. It is also a company registered at Companies House (company number 00357284).
We calculate a Clarity Score of 0–100 from four pillars in The British Trust for Ornithology'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.
This profile was last updated on 6 September 2026 from the latest UK regulator data available to CharityCompare, and The British Trust for Ornithology'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.