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Wine and Spirit Education Trust

76 /100

Clarity score

Good

Charity accounts, evidence & financial rating

76/100 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 Wine and Spirit Education Trust a good charity?

Wine and Spirit Education Trust scores 76/100 (4 stars, Good) on CharityCompare's Clarity Score, calculated from its UK regulator filings. Its latest accounts year is 2025 (£23m total income, 94% 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

£23m

Accounts 2025-07-31

Spending

£21m

Accounts 2025-07-31

Charitable activities

94%

3-yr avg · share of spending

Accounts filing

On time

Charity Commission

On this pageJump to a section
London · UK-wide · SE1 3XF Reg 313766 Registered charity Official website Charity Commission register

What does Wine and Spirit Education Trust do?

Promotion provision and development of high quality education and training in wines and spirits, in the United Kingdom and elsewhere, for those who are engaged in the wine and spirit trade or who intend to be so engaged or connected and members of the general public.

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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How much does Wine and Spirit Education Trust raise and spend?

Accounts period 2024-08-01 to 2025-07-31 · Source: Charity Commission filings

Wine and Spirit Education Trust revenue and expenses for 2025
Category Amount % of spend
Total income £23m —
Total expenditure £21m —
Charitable activities £20m 95%
Fundraising £1.1m 5%
Reported governance £66k 0%

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 Wine and Spirit Education Trust’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
−1.3%
£23m → £23m
Spending change
−7.9%
£23m → £21m
Charitable activities share
+0.8 pp
94% → 95% · percentage points

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

95%On charitable activities

Where does the money go?

Latest accounts (2025) · £21m spent

  • Charitable activities95%
  • Fundraising5%

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 Wine and Spirit Education Trust pay its staff, and where does its money come from?

Answers Wine and Spirit Education Trust gave in its annual return to the Charity Commission for the year ending 31 July 2025, plus its register entry. These are the charity's own disclosures, not part of the Clarity Score.

How much are Wine and Spirit Education Trust's highest-paid staff paid?

Wine and Spirit Education Trust's annual return for the year ending 31 July 2025 reports 32 employees paid more than £60,000, including 6 employees paid more than £100,000. The highest reported pay band is £200,001–£250,000 (2 employees).

Wine and Spirit Education Trust employees paid over £60,000, by salary band
Salary bandEmployees
£200,001–£250,000 2
£130,001–£140,000 1
£120,001–£130,000 1
£100,001–£110,000 2
£90,001–£100,000 3
£80,001–£90,000 5
£70,001–£80,000 6
£60,001–£70,000 12

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 Wine and Spirit Education Trust's money come from?

Wine and Spirit Education Trust reported £23m total income for the year ending 31 July 2025. The largest sources were charitable activities £22m (95%), donations and legacies £623k (3%), trading and fundraising events £451k (2%).

  • Charitable activities (fees and contracts) £22m · 95%
  • Donations and legacies £623k · 3%
  • Trading and fundraising events £451k · 2%
  • Other income £118k · 1%
  • Investments £34k · 0%

Cash at year end: £2.1m · unrestricted funds: £8.8m · restricted funds: £25k. Restricted funds can only be spent on purposes set by the donor.

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

The register does not record Wine and Spirit Education Trust as registered with HMRC for Gift Aid. Ask the charity before assuming a donation can be Gift Aided.

Wine and Spirit Education Trust's annual return for the year ending 31 July 2025 reports that no trustee received remuneration or other benefits from the charity.

Registration details

Registered as a charity
Company number
00964179 (Companies House)
Also known as
W S E T; Wset
Previous names on the register
Wine and Spirit Education Trust LTD
Where it says it operates
Throughout England and Wales · Argentina · Australia · Austria · Belgium · Brazil · Bulgaria · Canada

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 Wine and Spirit Education Trust's finances changed over five years?

Income rose 40% from £16m in 2021 to £23m in 2025; spending was £21m in 2025.

£0 £10m £20m £30m £40m 2021 2022 2023 2024 2025 Income 2021: £16m Spending 2021: £16m Cause spend 2021: £16m Income 2022: £17m Spending 2022: £18m Cause spend 2022: £17m Income 2023: £22m Spending 2023: £23m Cause spend 2023: £21m Income 2024: £23m Spending 2024: £23m Cause spend 2024: £22m Income 2025: £23m Spending 2025: £21m Cause spend 2025: £20m
  • Income
  • Spending
  • Cause spend
Wine and Spirit Education Trust income and spending by accounts year
Year Income Spending Charitable activities
2025 £23m £21m £20m
2024 £23m £23m £22m
2023 £22m £23m £21m
2022 £17m £18m £17m
2021 £16m £16m £16m

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

Financial context

How do its finances compare with similar charities?

Compare Wine and Spirit Education Trust with 64 other education charities in our detailed dataset: the same regulator, £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.

Latest annual figures, accounts ending 2025-07-31. Peer medians exclude this charity; the median is the middle value.
MeasureThis charityPeer medianPeer coverage
Annual income £23m £24m 64 of 64
Annual spending £21m £25m 64 of 64
Charitable activities share 94.8% 97.0% 62 of 64

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.

How does Wine and Spirit Education Trust compare?

The share of each group scoring at or below Wine and Spirit Education Trust, 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.

Same cause, income band and accounts year (2025) 54thpercentile

Scores at or above 54% of 65 charities with the same primary cause, income band and latest accounts year · 76/100 vs 76 peer average.

Income band (£10m+) 45thpercentile

Scores at or above 45% of 930 charities in its income band · 76/100 vs 77 peer average.

Education charities 54thpercentile

Scores at or above 54% of 566 charities in this cause · 76/100 vs 72 peer average.

Where Wine and Spirit Education Trust sits

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

Similar education charities

Top-rated peers by CharityCompare score

Evidence and interpretation

What the evidence says about Wine and Spirit Education Trust

In 2025, reported income was £22,658,000 and expenditure was £21,350,000. Income exceeded expenditure by £1,308,000. This annual balance is not the charity’s available cash or unrestricted reserves.

More financial context

Income fell 1.3% 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

Who it supports and how to access its work

Reported beneficiaries: Other Defined Groups; The General Public/mankind.

How it works: Provides Services.

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 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: £0 (2025-07-31). 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 Wine and Spirit Education Trust'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 Wine and Spirit Education Trust
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% 8 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.

53/100

Financial Health metrics for Wine and Spirit Education Trust
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.

67% 2 months · 10/15 pts
Income stability / growth

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

60% 6/10 pts · 3-year average
Liabilities to assets

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

0% 72% · 0/5 pts

Financial Efficiency

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

100/100

Financial Efficiency metrics for Wine and Spirit Education Trust
Metric Score Value
Program expense ratio

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

100% 94% · 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% 6p per £1 income · 10/10 pts (3-year average, disclosed years)

Community Support

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

0/100

Community Support metrics for Wine and Spirit Education Trust
Metric Score Value
Volunteer-to-staff ratio

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

0% 0 volunteers / 183 staff · 0/10 pts

How we calculate beacon scores →

What trust indicators does Wine and Spirit Education Trust 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)

    8 trustees on the Charity Commission register

  • Workforce on register

    183 employees · 0 volunteers (0:1 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 313766

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

View on Charity Commission →

Trustees & officers

  • Jolyon Thornton since 2021
  • Lulie Halstead since 2021
  • Miles Beale since 2021
  • Sukhinder Singh since 2021
  • Georgie Bell since 2024
  • Regine Marisa Lee since 2024
  • Andrew Francis de Camborne Paynter since 2025
  • Tamara Jane Larder since 2025

How reliable is Wine and Spirit Education Trust'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: 313766. 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 Wine and Spirit Education Trust?

  1. 1. Match the name and charity number

    Check 313766 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 Wine and Spirit Education Trust →
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.

How can you share Wine and Spirit Education Trust's rating?

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Frequently asked questions

Common questions about Wine and Spirit Education Trust's rating, finances, and Charity Commission status.

Is Wine and Spirit Education Trust a good charity? +

Wine and Spirit Education Trust scores 76 out of 100 (4 stars — Good) on CharityCompare's Clarity Score, our independent read of its UK regulator filings. Around 94% 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 Wine and Spirit Education Trust a legitimate charity? +

The register data used for this profile lists Wine and Spirit Education Trust as a registered charity (charity number 313766). Verify it on the official register: https://register-of-charities.charitycommission.gov.uk/charity-details/?regId=313766&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 Wine and Spirit Education Trust's charity number? +

Wine and Spirit Education Trust's charity number is 313766. 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 Wine and Spirit Education Trust's charity rating? +

Wine and Spirit Education Trust scores 76 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 Wine and Spirit Education Trust have reviews and complaints? +

CharityCompare does not host public user reviews for Wine and Spirit Education Trust. 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.

How much of my donation reaches Wine and Spirit Education Trust? +

Across the recent disclosed accounts used for this score, 94% of Wine and Spirit Education Trust'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 Wine and Spirit Education Trust's overheads? +

Across the recent disclosed accounts used for this score, fundraising costs were about 6% of total expenditure and fundraising plus separately reported governance figures amount to about 6% of expenditure (2023–2025, disclosed years); these categories can overlap, so this is not a distinct total of all administration costs at Wine and Spirit Education Trust. Wine and Spirit Education Trust's annual return for the year ending 31 July 2025 reports 32 employees paid more than £60,000, including 6 employees paid more than £100,000. The highest reported pay band is £200,001–£250,000 (2 employees). Individual salaries, including the chief executive's, are disclosed in the trustees' annual report rather than on the register.

How much income does Wine and Spirit Education Trust receive? +

Wine and Spirit Education Trust reported £23m total income in its 2025 accounts, based on UK regulator filings. Five-year trend: growing.

Are Wine and Spirit Education Trust's accounts up to date? +

Filing status: up to date (last filing 2025-12-24). CharityCompare flags late or missing accounts separately from the financial score.

Where is Wine and Spirit Education Trust based? +

Wine and Spirit Education Trust's registered contact address is in London (SE1 3XF). It tells the regulator it operates in England and Wales, Argentina, Australia, Austria, Belgium, Brazil, with a focus on education.

How much is Wine and Spirit Education Trust's chief executive paid? +

The Charity Commission register does not name individual salaries. Wine and Spirit Education Trust's annual return for the year ending 31 July 2025 reports 32 employees paid more than £60,000, including 6 employees paid more than £100,000. The highest reported pay band is £200,001–£250,000 (2 employees). 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 Wine and Spirit Education Trust's money come from? +

Wine and Spirit Education Trust reported £23m total income for the year ending 31 July 2025. The largest sources were charitable activities £22m (95%), donations and legacies £623k (3%), trading and fundraising events £451k (2%).

Can I claim Gift Aid on a donation to Wine and Spirit Education Trust? +

The register does not record Wine and Spirit Education Trust as registered with HMRC for Gift Aid. Ask the charity before assuming a donation can be Gift Aided.

Are Wine and Spirit Education Trust's trustees paid? +

Wine and Spirit Education Trust's annual return for the year ending 31 July 2025 reports that no trustee received remuneration or other benefits from the charity.

What was Wine and Spirit Education Trust previously called? +

The register lists this previous name for Wine and Spirit Education Trust: Wine and Spirit Education Trust LTD.

When was Wine and Spirit Education Trust registered as a charity? +

Wine and Spirit Education Trust was entered on the register on 27 November 1969. It is also a company registered at Companies House (company number 00964179).

How does CharityCompare score Wine and Spirit Education Trust? +

We calculate a Clarity Score of 0–100 from four pillars in Wine and Spirit Education Trust'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 Wine and Spirit 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.