WORKERS' EDUCATIONAL ASSOCIATION

• ◆

  3 officer resignations in last 12 months

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

1. WORKERS' EDUCATIONAL ASSOCIATION 2006-01-19 → present
2. WEA NOMINEES LIMITED 1993-04-05 → 2006-01-19

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 WEA's ability to continue as a going concern. The trustees have considered several factors when forming their conclusion as to whether the use of the going concern basis is appropriate when preparing these financial statements. This has included a review of budgets and cash flow forecasts through to July 2027 and consideration of the key risks, including devolution and forecast changes in the split between restricted and unrestricted income. WEA has prepared a number of financial scenarios and the trustees consider that the WEA is well positioned to manage its business risks successfully. After consideration and enquiry, the Trustees have a reasonable expectation that the WEA has adequate resources to continue in operational existence for the foreseeable future. Accordingly, the Trustees continue to adopt the going concern basis in preparing these financial statements.”

Group structure

1. WORKERS' EDUCATIONAL ASSOCIATION · parent
   1. WEA Trading Ltd.

Significant events

• “WEA implemented a root and branch restructure of the Association's management and colleagues ("Reshaping the Way We Work"), following consultation with colleagues and agreement of the Board of Trustees.”
• “WEA began a programme of greater integration of WEA Scotland into the UK-wide team.”
• “WEA modified the approach to local governance, winding down Regional Committees in favour of a broader range of smaller, local advisory panels ("LAPs") aligned with MCA funding areas.”
• “WEA completed the final year of its "Creating Opportunities" strategy while drafting and agreeing on collaboration with the Board of Trustees the new "Meeting the Future" strategy to take WEA from 2025/26 to 2027/28.”
• “A "mini Reshape - Re-alignment" was undertaken at the start of the 2025/26 financial year to correct some areas where delivery and support were lagging.”
• “Phase two of the digital transformation and infrastructure project agreed by the Board of Trustees in 2022 was substantially completed by the end of 2023/24, and a further £500K was spent in 2024/25 to finish the project and launch new finance and HR systems.”
• “WEA maintained CyberEssentials+ accreditation in 2024/25 and has committed to achieving ISO 27001 accreditation for the first time in 2025/26.”
• “The total income reduced to £27.4m in 2024/25 from £32.7m in 2023/24, with operational surplus exceeding budget expectations.”
• “Performance on MCA contracts was disappointing, resulting in significant amounts of contractual income not being achieved.”
• “Income received from the DfE for education delivery reduced to £10.5m in 2024/25 from £11.9m in 2023/24 due to the devolution of the North East Combined Authority (NECA).”
• “Total spend on charitable activities decreased to £25.5m (2023/24: £27.4m) largely due to the restructure at the end of 2023/24 that reduced overheads by over £2m.”
• “The WEA's net movement in funds for 2024/25 is £0.7m (2023/24: £3.6m) after transfers and pension adjustments.”

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

Filings

12

last 12 months

Capital events

0

last 24 months

Officers appointed

3

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

  -18.7%

  £30,891,000 → £25,127,000

• Cash

  -91.4%

  £6,656,000 → £571,000

• Net assets

  +3.7%

  £18,461,000 → £19,139,000

• Employees

  -28.3%

  736 → 528

• Profit before tax

  -81.4%

  £3,959,000 → £738,000

• Wages

  -19.9%

  £13,914,000 → £11,141,000

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