INSTITUTE OF DEVELOPMENT STUDIES(THE)

• ◆

  3 officer resignations in last 12 months

  Multiple officers have left the board recently — see the People section for who.

Values shown as filed in the company's annual accounts. — indicates the figure wasn't present under that line item in that period. About these numbers

Margins divide P&L lines by turnover. Gearing is liabilities over total assets. Current ratio is current assets over creditors falling due within one year. Interest cover is operating profit over absolute finance costs. Sector-distribution context coming next.

Accounting basis

FRS 102

Reporting scope

Standalone (parent only)

Auditor

Crowe U.K. LLP

Audit opinion

Unqualified (clean)

Going concern

Affirmed

“The Trustees have assessed the Institute's ability to continue as a going concern. The Trustees considered several factors when forming their conclusion as to whether the use of the going concern basis is appropriate when preparing these financial statements. These factors have included the key risks and uncertainties in the context of the Institute's operations, the current pipeline, a review of the budget and forecasts including scenarios based on differing levels of funding and student numbers. The two key monetary risks to IDS are UK Government aid research funding cuts and failure to maintain our reserves causing liquidity and solvency risks. The Institute's student numbers were affected during the pandemic and are still under pressure as the UK University sector sees drops in international students. A substantial marketing campaign has continued to maximise student recruitment. IDS had a difficult year financially in 2024/25 with continued uncertainly around funding, student numbers and increased costs. The Institute decreased its general reserve by £3.3m with total free reserves of £4.7m at the year end. We expect there to be ongoing impacts due to the funding pressure and pressure on student numbers. The Board will be reviewing the use of these reserves. We would look to invest in future capacity building and diversifying funding whilst reducing costs, whilst working towards a break-even position and starting to rebuild our reserves. Having regard to the above, the Trustees believe it is appropriate to adopt the going concern basis of accounting in preparing the financial statements.”

Significant events

• “October 2024 – IDS student with a disability was impacted by a graphic presentation during their course. IDS stressed the need for content warnings. The Chair of the Board and Safeguarding trustee decided that this incident should not be reported to the Charity Commission.”
• “October 2024 - IDS Student reported sexual harassment. This was followed up by the student themselves with IDS support. IDS has introduced sexual harassment training for all staff, has added sexual harassment to the Induction for students, and all students are required to undertake the University of Sussex Consent Matters course. The Chair of the Board and Safeguarding trustee decided that this incident should not be reported to the Charity Commission.”
• “September 2024 - IDS student reported sexual harassment of them and other students, by an IDS student. This was reported to the University of Sussex through Report and Support, and support was provided. The Chair of the Board and Safeguarding trustee decided that this incident should not be reported to the Charity Commission.”

Auditor, going-concern and subsidiary information is drawn from the narrative of the latest annual accounts. About these numbers

Filings

8

last 12 months

Capital events

0

last 24 months

Officers appointed

2

last 12 months

Officers resigned

3

last 12 months

Direct counts from the register. No score, no rating — see the Filing timeline for the underlying events.

• Turnover

  -10.5%

  £25,808,000 → £23,086,000

• Cash

  -34.6%

  £8,345,000 → £5,460,000

• Net assets

  -27%

  £13,405,000 → £9,784,000

• Employees

  -0.4%

  251 → 250

• Wages

  +5.9%

  £11,141,000 → £11,793,000

Each % is (latest − prior) ÷ |prior| for the line item as filed. The comparison is only shown when the latest and prior accounts cover broadly equal-length periods — short or long stubs (typical around incorporation or a year-end change) are suppressed rather than misrepresented. Lines a company doesn't report are omitted. About these numbers