DOWNE HOUSE SCHOOL

• ◆

  4 officer resignations in last 12 months

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

1. DOWNE HOUSE SCHOOL 1992-07-07 → present
2. CHARIS (24) LIMITED 1991-09-12 → 1992-07-07

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

Consolidated group

Auditor

HaysMac LLP

Audit opinion

Unqualified (clean)

Going concern

Affirmed

“In auditing the financial statements, we have concluded that the trustees' use of the going concern basis of accounting in the preparation of the financial statements is appropriate.”

Group structure

1. DOWNE HOUSE SCHOOL · parent
   1. Downe House School Services Limited 100% · England and Wales · lettings of the School facilities and the provision of goods and services to the parents and pupils
   2. Downe House International (Oman) Limited 100% · England and Wales · pursue the opportunities for opening schools outside the UK

Significant events

• “The Public Examination results this year remained very positive. GCSE passes at 4-9 grade (A* to C) or equivalent grades = 99% (2024: 99%) with 81% being at 7-9 grade (2024: 75%) and 66% at 8-9 grade (2024: 55%). A level passes A* to B or equivalent grades = 83% (2024: 82%).”
• “This year the School was subject to a full inspection by the Independent Schools Inspectorate. Although it was a routine inspection, the School was very pleased to have many of its strengths recognised by the inspectors, including the strong academic standards, high levels of pastoral care, broad range of activities and its comprehensive global programme, and it was most importantly fully compliant in meeting all statutory obligations. The recommended area for development was careers provision for the 11- to 13-year-olds and plans to take this forward are already under way.”
• “Our Global programme feeds into the World Ready programme and this year has been further enhanced with the launch of the Exploring Europe programme for the Lower School. Legislative and fiscal changes have made it too challenging to continue to offer a residential term in France in Year 8 and this has been replaced by what the School believes to be an exciting curriculum to enable pupils to learn about the continent in which they are being educated, including four visits to Europe, the addition of an extra language - German, being taught and an Exploring Europe course delivered to everyone.”
• “Sports tours to Portugal for Tennis, the US for Lacrosse and Dubai for Netball have taken place or are planned.”
• “The imposition of VAT on school fees, the loss of Business Rate Relief and the increase in NI contributions have presented a challenging financial backdrop for Downe House alongside many in the independent sector. The School has taken a number of key strategic decisions in response to these changes including a sharp focus on cost containment, revenue generation and opening up the ways in which families can access a Downe House education.”
• “In recognition of both these factors, the School launched its new flexible boarding offering and day option from September 2025 with transport.”

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

4

last 12 months

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

• Turnover

  +3.1%

  £27,439,000 → £28,301,000

• Cash

  +173.1%

  £2,973,000 → £8,120,000

• Net assets

  +3.1%

  £26,850,000 → £27,695,000

• Employees

  -3.5%

  483 → 466

• Operating profit

  +1,878.4%

  -£37,000 → £658,000

• Profit before tax

  +560.2%

  £128,000 → £845,000

• Wages

  +0.2%

  £13,935,000 → £13,961,000

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