Woodland Trust vs National Trust
In short: The Woodland Trust conserves and creates native woods across all four UK nations and lets people visit its woods free. The National Trust looks after historic houses, gardens, countryside and coast in England, Wales and Northern Ireland.
Last reviewed by CharityCompare editorial.
Both care for land the public can visit, on different scales and terms. The Woodland Trust manages more than 33,700 hectares of woodland open to the public free of charge, across all four UK nations. The National Trust looks after about 250,000 hectares of land, 896 miles of coast and historic houses in three nations, with 2.61 million memberships. They have also worked together on temperate rainforest.
Woodland Trust vs National Trust: key differences
| What to compare | THE WOODLAND TRUST | THE NATIONAL TRUST FOR PLACES OF HISTORIC INTEREST OR NATURAL BEAUTY |
|---|---|---|
| Registered work and operating model | Conserving, restoring and creating native woods and trees across the UK, with free public access to its woods. | Looking after historic places, countryside and coast in England, Wales and Northern Ireland. |
| What to consider | It counts trees in different ways: 1,046,790 free trees distributed to schools and community groups, separate from 4.6 million trees delivered for its work. Its 2,548 hectares of new wooded habitat include woodland it enabled but did not directly fund. | Its report says unrestricted income is driven in large part by membership and visitors; membership brought in £309.4 million in 2024–25. Its estate includes houses, gardens and coastline as well as countryside. |
| Access and practical checks | Its woods are free to visit, and schools and community groups can get free tree packs. It operates as Woodland Trust Scotland and as Coed Cadw in Wales. | Its places are in England, Wales and Northern Ireland. Check opening times and membership terms on its official site before visiting. |
| Sourced result or evidence gap | 2,548 hectares: New wooded habitat created, plus 209,868 metres of hedgerows. Year to 31 May 2025. A charity-reported output that includes woodland it enabled on others’ land; it also brought 12,775 hectares of its estate into restoration. | 32,200 hectares: Priority wildlife habitat created or restored by 2024–25, against a 25,000-hectare target for 2025. A cumulative, charity-reported output; the Trust also welcomed 25.9 million visitors in the year. |
What the latest filings show
Figures from the accounts held in our dated dataset; the live register may contain newer filings. Ratios can span multiple years, as labelled. Clarity scores use our methodology. Cost to raise £1 of donations is not part of the score; legacies make it lumpy, and it is withheld where trading costs would distort it (how it works).
| Metric | THE WOODLAND TRUST | THE NATIONAL TRUST FOR PLACES OF HISTORIC INTEREST OR NATURAL BEAUTY |
|---|---|---|
| Latest accounts year in our snapshot | 2025 | 2025 |
| Financial snapshot refreshed | 2026-09-06 | 2026-09-06 |
| Ratio reporting window | 3-yr avg | 3-yr avg |
| Overall score | 95/100 (5★) | 97/100 (5★) |
| Accountability & Finance | 100/100 | 100/100 |
| Spend on charitable activities | 84% of expenditure | 91% of expenditure |
| Fundraising efficiency | £7.6 total income per £1 fundraising (2023–2025, disclosed years) | £10.2 total income per £1 fundraising (2023–2025, disclosed years) |
| Cost to raise £1 of donations | 17p per £1 (2025) · 18p over 2023–2025 | Not shown for 2025: trading income was 96% of donations |
| Latest income | £89m | £766m |
| Fundraising spend | 16% of expenditure | 9% of expenditure |
| Reserves | 7 months | 25 months |
| Accounts filing | On time | On time |
| Data confidence | high | high |
| Charity number | 294344 | 205846 |
THE WOODLAND TRUST on the register · THE NATIONAL TRUST FOR PLACES OF HISTORIC INTEREST OR NATURAL BEAUTY on the register
Considering Woodland Trust
- You want to fund new native woodland and the restoration of ancient woods.
- You value free access to woods across all four UK nations.
Considering National Trust
- You want to support historic houses and gardens as well as countryside and coast.
- You want to join a membership charity with places across England, Wales and Northern Ireland.
Woodland Trust vs National Trust: questions answered
Woodland Trust or National Trust: which should I support?
There is no universal winner. The Woodland Trust focuses on native woods and trees across the UK, with free access to its woods; the National Trust looks after historic places, countryside and coast in three nations. Choose the places and work you care about, then check the accounts period. A financial rating is not an impact assessment.
Do the Woodland Trust and National Trust work together?
The Woodland Trust’s 2024–25 report describes a partnership with Devon Wildlife Trust and the National Trust that has secured a large area of threatened temperate rainforest. They remain separate charities.
Are Woodland Trust woods free to visit?
The Woodland Trust says it manages more than 33,700 hectares of woodland that is accessible to the public free of charge, and its website says its 1,000-plus woods are free to visit at any time.
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.
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.