2025-07-31-accounts

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London Higher Trustees Annual Report and Financial Statements For the year ended 31 July 2025

London Higher

Trustees Annual Report and Financial Statements

For the year ended 31 July 2025

Charity number: 1114873 Company Number: 5731255

Docusign Envelope ID: 0C0DB64D-5763-406F-949E-E34500C4FAF8

London Higher Trustees Annual Report and Financial Statements For the year ended 31 July 2025

CONTENTS	Page
Reference and administratve details	3 – 4
Trustees’ Report	5 – 15
Independent auditor’s’ report	16 – 20
Statement of fnancial actvites	21
Balance Sheet	22
Statement of Cash fows	23
Notes to the fnancial statements	24-41

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London Higher Trustees Annual Report and Financial Statements For the year ended 31 July 2025

Reference and Administrative details

London Higher

Charity number: 1114873 Company Number: 5731255

Woburn House 20-24 Tavistock Square London WC1H 9HQ

Board of Trustees

Elected Trustees

Professor Amanda Broderick, Vice Chancellor, University of East London (Elected Chair to 31 July 2025) Professor Shitij Kapur, Vice Chancellor, King’s College London (Elected Chair from 1 August 2025) Professor Peter Bonfield, Vice Chancellor, University of Westminster (Elected Vice Chair) Andy Cook, Vice Chancellor, Ravensbourne University London (Trustee to 26 June 2025) Professor Frances Corner OBE, Warden, Goldsmiths, University of London Professor Dave Phoenix OBE, Vice Chancellor, London South Bank University (to 26 June 2025) Professor Jean-Noël Ezingeard, Vice Chancellor, University of Roehampton Professor Andrew Jones, Vice Chancellor, Brunel University London Professor Randall Whittaker, Principal and CEO, Rose Bruford College (from 1 August 2025) Professor Julie Hall, Vice Chancellor, London Metropolitan University (from 1 August 2025)

Co-opted Trustees

Professor Anthony Bowne, Principal, Trinity Laban Conservatoire of Music and Dance Professor Wendy Thomson CBE, Vice Chancellor, University of London (to 29 May 2025)

Observers

Mark Hilton, Policy Delivery Director, BusinessLDN Professor David Latchman, Acting Vice Chancellor, University of London (from 29 May 2025)

London Higher Senior Management Team

Liz Hutchinson Chief Executive Officer (appointed May 2025) Diana Beech Chief Executive Officer (resigned March 2025) Gemma Adlington Head of Operations Richard Boffey Head of AccessHE Mark Corbett Head of Policy Jolanta Edwards Director of Strategy Anna-Paulina Norbury Head of Communications (appointed January 2025) Anna Zvagule Head of Communications (resigned January 2025)

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London Higher Trustees Annual Report and Financial Statements For the year ended 31 July 2025

Auditors: PEM Audit Limited Registered Auditors Salisbury House Station Road Cambridge CB1 2LA Bankers: Royal Bank of Scotland Group (Education Sector) Commercial Banking 3[rd] Floor, Cavell House 21 Charing Cross Road London WC2H 0NN Company Secretary Gemma Adlington

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London Higher Trustees Annual Report and Financial Statements For the year ended 31 July 2025

Objectives and Activities

Our vision: At London Higher, we seek to represent the full diversity of higher education in London. We support our members by advocating for and on behalf of London’s universities and higher education colleges. It is our aim to become a well-respected ‘go to’ representative body for higher education in London to ensure the success of all our members.

Our mission: We help our members to address the opportunities and challenges that arise from our shared location in London. We assist and support our members to achieve their goals, whilst being a collective voice for their interests, locally and nationally. We influence and work with a wide range of stakeholders and networks as a trusted, non-partisan and professional partner.

At London Higher, we support our members by advocating for and on behalf of London’s higher education sector, acting as:

• a convenor, hosting collaborative networks to identify new initiatives to solve common challenges;

• a communicator, being a collective voice for our members and promoting London as a world-class study and research destination;

• a campaigner, responding to policy concerns and raising awareness of policy implications across our diverse membership.

Annual reports and plans: Strategy and an Operational plan detailing how we aim to achieve them that year. These documents are voted on at our AGM and uploaded to our website.

Our principles : Through the work on our strategy for 2023-26 we have identified four key principles that will determine our priorities over this period. These are based on the London HE sector being:

• A local asset

  • Maintain and enhance the social mobility successes of London’s HEIs.

  • Promote and facilitate the civic contributions of London’s HEIs.

• A global magnet

  • Strengthen and promote ‘brand London’ to increase the region’s global appeal to potential students, staff, researchers and investors.

  • Build an attractive, diverse, inclusive and welcoming community in which to live, study, research and work.

• An engine for innovation and enterprise

  • Champion London’s R&D successes, support innovation and promote the sector’s partnership potential with business, local authorities and the third sector.

  • Promote and facilitate positive outcomes for both London’s graduates and London plc., including via employability and knowledge exchange.

• A source of skills and jobs

   - Strengthen understanding of the potential of the London HE sector to promote growth and opportunities, particularly through partnership with schools, colleges and employers.
  
   - Promote London’s specialist knowledge and skills, including in the health and creative sectors.
  

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London Higher Trustees Annual Report and Financial Statements For the year ended 31 July 2025

the Charities Commission guidance on public benefit. We engage with almost 70 higher education institutions. We benefit them in various ways as will be shown below, but in all cases our test is whether an action of ours will result in universities providing a richer experience for their staff and/or students in London. A ‘secondary public’ comprises a wider group of stakeholders with whom HE students and staff interact throughout their lives, from employers, parents and children to policy makers and sectoral stakeholders in both higher education and place, all of whom gain benefit from an effective and full higher education experience.

Achievements and Performance

For over 20 years London Higher has been working with universities and higher education colleges in London. Our mission is to support universities in meeting the challenges and opportunities of providing diverse higher education in London. We do this by:

1. identifying challenges and opportunities through our wide network offering and other channels; 2. assessing the impact, extent or volume of such challenges or opportunities on our members and the wider public, through our surveys and analysis of HE data;

2. designing appropriate measures to address the challenges or opportunities though our projects, collaborations, advocacy work; and

3. sharing this (and other) information with our members and the wider policy environment to promote our work, including though our events. This cycle of engagement-action-promotion is how we ensure that our outputs meet our goals, and our goals are appropriate and have impact.

Our impact

We measure our success using a variety of metrics, including number of members and individuals from within our membership that are interacting with our programmes; external mentions in the news, social media, and by third parties; and the number and reach of our campaigns.

• 400+ member representatives joined 29 policy network meetings

• 91,000 people were reached by our Study London campaign

• 500 Key Stage 2 pupils in schools were reached by HE for the first time

• 120 careers were developed via London Higher’s Global Majority Mentoring Programme

• A one-grade improvement was predicted at GCSE level for free school meals-eligible pupils in London schools

• We advocated for London Higher members via our work with 10 ministerial departments

• We had 107 mentions in the media.

Our programmes and activities

The London Higher team prioritises activity that will help to position London’s higher education institutions as:

• A local asset

• A global magnet

• An engine for innovation and enterprise

• A source of skills and jobs.

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London Higher Trustees Annual Report and Financial Statements For the year ended 31 July 2025

A local asset

• London Higher secured recognition for higher education in the London Growth Plan through strategic engagement and consultation workshops with Greater London Authority (GLA) officials, establishing the sector as a key contributor to London's economic strategy.

• London Higher coordinated the delivery of intensive outreach programmes targeting schools and communities in London that had never previously received higher education-led support, expanding access and opportunity across the capital.

• The organisation built strong working relationships across London government through regular participation of GLA officials in International, Policy, Research and Enterprise Networks, creating ongoing dialogue channels.

A global magnet

• London Higher successfully influenced immigration policy through a year-long lobbying campaign including joint letters and civil servant engagement, with reports suggesting final outcomes were significantly more favourable than initially proposed thresholds and restrictions.

• The organisation elevated its profile through UK Soft Power Group membership, contributing to strategic recommendations that informed government strategy development across the Department for Education (DfE), Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office, Department for Business and Trade and Cabinet

• 80% of core members contributing content to the website, demonstrating strong sector engagement and digital reach.

• The campaign achieved significant industry and sector recognition through features in major media outlets, multiple presentations at a major international education conference, and inclusion in an International Higher Education Commission report as an exemplar of regional destination marketing.

• Study London secured a Study UK partnership that will fund co-branded content, demonstrating the campaign's growing credibility and potential for scaled impact.

An engine for innovation and enterprise

• London Higher advocated for the capital's role as an engine of growth for the entire UK and produced the Capital Gains map which demonstrates how its universities generate benefits that extend far beyond the capital.

• London Higher established a new Enterprise Network jointly chaired by University of East London and King's College London, which officially launched with the Deputy Mayor for Business and Growth in attendance.

• The organisation submitted evidence to the Science, Innovation and Technology Select Committee inquiry into innovation, growth and the regions, positioning London's higher education sector as key to the national innovation agenda.

• London Higher instigated and scheduled employability events focusing on high-growth sectors and addressing the challenges and opportunities faced by the global talent pipeline.

A source of skills and jobs

• London Higher secured a voice for members in shaping the Inclusive Talent Strategy, one of the key pillars of the Growth Plan, and is co-designing the data methodology, ensuring London's higher education sector contribution to inclusive economic growth is properly measured and valued.

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London Higher Trustees Annual Report and Financial Statements For the year ended 31 July 2025

• London Higher expanded the Study Nursing London campaign beyond nursing to include midwifery and operating department practice, creating a comprehensive healthcare recruitment toolkit that aligns with NHS recruitment goals and addresses sector-wide staffing challenges.

• The organisation distributed £35,000 through the London Healthcare Education Group funding initiative across collaborative projects addressing clinical reasoning skills, social impact work for nursing students, and support for internationally educated nurses teaching students.

• London Higher delivered significant impact as the British Film Institute's higher education partner for Metro London Skills Cluster through three bootcamps (including on-set industry experience), workshops, panel discussions and masterclasses specifically targeting soft skills gaps identified by the British Film Institute.

• The organisation provided professional development for academic staff through CPD sessions on intimacy coordination and sustainability in film production, plus facilitated strategic visits to successful industry partnerships like Shinfield Studios to share best practices.

Plans for 2025-6

The higher education world is undergoing change, particularly following the election of the new government in 2024. It has asked higher education to think in the context of access; economic growth; civic engagement; highquality teaching; and sustained efficiency.

With the arrival of a new CEO, we have an opportunity to look at our work and approach afresh and are currently developing a new strategy, created in collaboration with members and wider stakeholders. This will be launched in early 2026.

In the year ahead we will work at national and local level to see a thriving higher education sector which is recognised by all as an integral part of the growth agenda. We want to see student choice maintained, a welcoming environment for international students and investment in our London HE, including supporting R&D and new initiatives.

This means:

• We will continue to be influential and be the voice championing higher education in the capital. This is particularly needed as central government rolls out plans around access and participation, economic growth, civic engagement, teaching and learning and financial sustainability. We will ensure we continue to have regular engagement with government departments and the Office for Students and Skills England and sharpen our narrative to ensure the complexities of London are better understood.

• We will work closely with the GLA to create opportunities for higher education institutions including with the business community, and to ensure the GLA is actively championing the sector. London Higher can represent members as part of the growth agenda and we will work with the GLA to maximise opportunities and ensure understanding. The GLA's London Growth Plan actively recognises the value of higher education in the capital. We will engage with them on their Inclusive Talent Strategy, and similarly ensure higher education plays a role in a refreshed LSIP.

• Through our networks, we will become the go to knowledge partner to support business growth, working closely with London and Partners.

• We recognise that health has grown as an area of interest and that policy is being developed at pace. This area is experiencing change, but many of the issues it faces are familiar, with a need to recruit and retain in the sector. We represent the sector at key meetings and engage with the Department of Health and Social Care on issues. Our institutions offer medical, nursing and allied healthcare courses and are the

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London Higher Trustees Annual Report and Financial Statements For the year ended 31 July 2025

educators of the future. We will work to ensure their voices are heard, campaign to demonstrate the value of healthcare careers to students and support projects which increase collaboration across the capital. We will work to support greater engagement with the digital agenda in this space, as technology moves forwards at pace, and AI becomes a government priority.

• Widening participation remains a priority, and there is an increasing appreciation of the importance of working across boroughs and institutions to bring about change. Our AccessHE group will be looking to ensure a genuine young person narrative is incorporated into thinking and is developing a Student Voice Panel.

• We will be building out our campaign activity and strategic communications to showcase our members and London as the premier student city. This will include building on the Study London campaign and identifying other ways to promote our institutions and their local, national and international contributions. We will be taking steps to increase our own financial sustainability. We will take steps to look at additional income generation routes and our cost base. As part of this we will commit to:

• An awards ceremony, to take place in the summer of 2026

• At least two conferences or events which support our members and are linked to divisional priorities

• Exploring grants where these align with our work and values.

Our key principles have been used to determine our priorities over the coming year:

A local asset

London Higher will continue to champion the civic contributions of our diverse member institutions. Through our Civic Network, we will coordinate efforts, share best practice, and expand our Civic Map to highlight the sector’s collective impact across London. As an active member of the London Anchor Institutions Network, we will support our members in strengthening partnerships that help Londoners into good jobs, empower young people to succeed, and contribute to the capital’s net-zero ambitions. These priorities align with the London Growth Plan’s focus on skills, innovation, and inclusive economic growth, reinforcing the role of higher education in shaping a thriving city.

In light of Bridget Phillipson’s emphasis on universities' civic responsibilities, we will work closely with the DfE to ensure our members are supported in delivering meaningful civic engagement. By fostering collaboration with policymakers, local authorities, and employers, we will help London’s universities continue to drive social and economic progress for the communities they serve.

A global magnet

Through strategic media engagement and thought leadership, we are positioning London as a global magnet for international education, and positioning London Higher as the expert voice in this space. We will deliver a conference on international student employability. The event will spotlight the vital role of international students in London’s frontier innovation ecosystem, reinforcing the city’s position as a global hub for talent and cutting edge research. London offers unparalleled opportunities for international students to be at the forefront of frontier industries, contributing to advancements in artificial intelligence, life sciences, and digital technologies. This event aims to highlight those opportunities and celebrate London’s role in nurturing talent that shapes the future and drives growth.

An engine for innovation and enterprise

London Higher’s strategic direction as an engine for innovation and enterprise will focus on leveraging and communicating the capital’s research and enterprise capabilities as a means of driving economic growth. The London Growth Plan provides opportunities for the capital’s higher education to engage with the GLA more closely

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London Higher Trustees Annual Report and Financial Statements For the year ended 31 July 2025

on areas across enterprise, innovation and research. London Higher will work to harness the collective research capacity of its member institutions to support the GLA’s areas of research interest and engage closely with the London Research and Policy Partnership.

The Enterprise Network will be key, fostering deeper collaboration with London & Partners and BusinessLDN. It will also include working with national stakeholders such as the National Centre for Universities and Business (NCUB), the ScaleUp Institute, and Knowledge Exchange UK. Finally, London Higher will support higher education engagement with London’s sub-regional partnerships to ensure innovation and enterprise initiatives are responsive to local economic needs while reinforcing London’s position as a global hub for research-driven growth.

A source of skills and jobs

The year ahead will see us continue to engage at national and local levels via our London Medicine (LMED) and London Health Education Group (LHEG) networks. We are keen to ensure those involved in health policy and regulation understand the role higher education needs to play and the complexities in London.

London Higher is the higher education partner on the BFI’s Metro London Skills Cluster, supported by the National Lottery Fund and led by Film London. We have been actively taking forward a programme of work in screen and film to help identify skills gaps and develop clearer pathways to employment for anyone in their area. For the year ahead, we will be strongly focused on bringing together higher education and industry in screen and film to identify and bridge understanding, gaps and narratives. In addition, for the coming year, we also want to pilot a wider creatives network. The plan is to bring relevant creative members, creative industries and sector bodies together to engage in issues and opportunities.

Financial Review

Total income for 2024-5 was £1,231,903, a decrease of £120,042 (9%) compared to 2023-24 (£1,351,945)

• Membership Income increased by £10,792 or 1% (15% in 2023-4).

• London Higher Core Membership fees were received from 39 members (2023‐4: 37) for a total of £540,666 (2023‐4: £548,419).

• London Higher centres membership fees were received from 20 members (2023‐4: 18) for a total of £110,528 (2023‐4: £90,125)

• London Medicine and Healthcare membership fees were received from 30 members (2023‐4: 29) for a total of £112,297 (2023:4: £106,600).

• AccessHE membership fees were received from 20 members (2023‐4: 27) for a total of £122,689 (2023‐4: £130,244)

• Projects and event income decreased by £65,359 (83%) in 2024-5 (2023‐4: increase £35,945). The previous year saw the first London Higher Awards, which significantly boosted sponsorship income in this area. It was decided to run this event biannually.

• by 36% to £28,769 (2023‐4: £21,228)

• Grant income has been received from two sources: the OfS’s ‘Uni Connect’ grant for work undertaken by AccessHE, and a grant from Film London for the creative arts project.

• The Uni Connect grant is managed via London Southbank University. For the year to July 2025, the division received a grant of £198,893 (2023-4: £259,258) and was able to access the £21,262 underspend carried forward from the previous year.

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London Higher Trustees Annual Report and Financial Statements For the year ended 31 July 2025

• Creative arts is a three-year project supported by income from Film London, which ended in March 2025. The project allows work within higher education institutions to boost the skillset of creative arts graduates.

Total expenditure for 2024-5 was £1,221,587. This was a decrease of £71,462 (5%) compared to 2023-4 (£1,293,049).

• Support costs increased by £8,116 (5%), the main area of increased spending being around strategy development (this related to work that was undertaken to better understand the organisation’s position regarding VAT registration)

Reserves Policy: Total funds at 31 July 2025 were £826,056 (2024: £815,740). Of the total funds £8,263 (2024: £18,605) were represented by restricted funds and £817,793 (2024: £797,135) by unrestricted funds. Free Reserves (i.e. unrestricted funds excluding fixed assets and amounts designated) stood at £811,611 at 31 July 2025 (2024: £790,636).

The London Higher reserves policy is to hold unrestricted funds to cover between three to six months expenditure, to cover staff costs, overheads and a scaled down level of administration and project expenditure. This applies to all divisions. This amounts to a total of £386,162- £655,934, and so the current level of Free Reserves of £811,611 exceeds this criteria. It is recognised that reserves held have increased over the course of the financial year due to staff vacancy savings and project work that is being rolled forward into the coming financial year.

of the next financial year in order to reduce the amount held in reserves and provide additional value to members. Given continuing financial instabilities within the sector, trustees are comfortable with retaining a higher level of reserves in the short-term, though a long-term plan will be constructed by the CEO in order to slowly reduce reserves to acceptable levels over the course of the next three to five years.

The Net Book Value of Fixed assets was £6,182 (2024: £6,499) and London Higher has no other Designated Reserves as of 31 July 2025.

Risk management: London Higher maintains a risk register which ranks the key risks to which the organisation is exposed, their likely impact and our proposed responses to them. The risk register is a standing item on the Board agenda each meeting and is further discussed by SMT regularly. The Trustees are satisfied that systems have been developed and are in place to mitigate identified risks to an acceptable level.

The highest rated risks to the organisation are noted to be:

Risk	Management Control
Business model heavily reliant on subscripton income	 Regular assessment of member satsfacton  Exploraton of additonal revenue streams
Reliance on single source of grant fundingfor some areas of work	 Look for alternatve, longer-term, sources for funding where possible.

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London Higher Trustees Annual Report and Financial Statements For the year ended 31 July 2025

 Reduce overall reliance on project funds for payroll for those staf members not directly working on the project.  Careful contract management. Maintain good working relatonship with funders including fostering a culture of early disclosure concerning problems.  Prepare early for loss of project funding. Including communicatng to staf and preparing optons for redirectng resources.  Manage supplier contracts to achieve fexibility.  Keep a close eye on unrestricted reserves.  Prepare a conservatve budget.

Uncertainty in central government policies, limited bandwidth for HE

 Contnue to build relatonships with various government departments- DfE DSIT, HMT, OfS

Remuneration: Pay of all staff is reviewed annually and is normally increased to reflect cost of living adjustment. Cost of living increases within the charity and membership sector, and the financial situation of the organisation are considered when making this decision. Cost of living increases are proposed in the budget which the Board approves, therefore the increases are considered managerial decisions and are not reported to the Remuneration Committee. The Remuneration Committee sets the remuneration package for the CEO and, in doing so, takes account of sector benchmarks and the CEO’s annual performance review undertaken by the Chair of the Board. From time to time, we ask our HR consultants to perform a pay review to ensure that there are no biases in our pay in regard to age, gender and ethnicity and that the job families are remunerated in reference to the broader market for these roles.

Fundraising: London Higher has not carried out any fundraising from the general public during the year. There has been no outsourced fundraising via professional fundraisers or other third parties and as a result the organisation is not registered with the fundraising regulator and received no fundraising complaints in the year.

Structure, Governance and Management

Corporate status: London Higher is a company limited by guarantee with charitable status. It began as an unincorporated member association in 1999. It was incorporated on 6 March 2006 and registered as a charity in England and Wales on 26 June 2006. The charitable activities of the company were transferred from the University of London on 1 April 2009.

Governing document: The company was established under Memorandum and Articles of Association dated 6 March 2006 which establish the objects and powers of the charitable company. In addition, it operates under a Members’ Agreement with each member that sets out the nature of the relationship between the company and each member.

Trustees: In addition, London Higher Trustees invite observers from a limited number of key stakeholder organisations.

Trustee induction & training: Member Trustees are familiar with the practical elements of the company as higher education institutions (HEIs) have charitable status as providers of education. Each new Trustee is directed to

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London Higher Trustees Annual Report and Financial Statements For the year ended 31 July 2025

guidance by the Charities Commission and all relevant Governance documents relating to the company. New Trustees are given a briefing pack and relevant information on London Higher.

Sub committees: London Higher’s Board of Trustees has three sub committees:

• Finance Committee. This committee reviews the financial activity of the organisation by: monitoring London Higher’s performance against budget; advising, supporting and by being a resource for the Head of Operations and Finance Manager in overseeing the company’s finances; ensuring that the financial elements of the organisation are in accordance with its vision, mission, and strategic plan; advising the board on the financial condition of the organisation; and reviewing the company’s Financial Regulations.

• Membership Committee. This committee reviews London Higher membership by: reviewing applications against membership criteria and either recommending the application for approval by the Board or providing feedback to the applicant institution on why their application was unsuccessful; reviewing and monitoring London Higher’s members and membership criteria and recommending updates and changes to the Board of Trustees when required.

• Remuneration Committee. The function of this committee is to determine and agree with the London Higher Board the broad policy for the remuneration of the CEO; and to monitor and note the level and structure of remuneration for London Higher staff.

Structure of the Executive: The Executive is divided into three business divisions. These are listed below together with their primary functions. Each division is: a) a separate cost centre; b) overseen by an Advisory Group of members; and c) has its own Head of Division/member of Senior Management Team (SMT) with strategic oversight who reports directly to the Chief Executive. In addition, the Senior Management Team meet every week.

Business Divisions of London Higher:

• London Higher Core , making the case for HE through our suite of networks, special projects, written reports and briefings.

• London Medicine & Healthcare, bringing together London’s schools of medicine, healthcare and clinical academic institutions to meet, discuss and collaborate.

• AccessHE , a pan-London network enabling provision of support for young people from disadvantaged backgrounds to enter higher education; AccessHE includes the Uni Connect programme, a funded partnership programme offering advice and information on attending university.

Decision making protocols : The overall strategic direction of London Higher is set out in a business plan that is drawn up by the Executive, approved by the Board of Trustees and agreed by the company members. Each year an Operational Plan is drawn up with the same approvals. The annual operational plan sets out the specific initiatives for the year together with expected costs. Heads of Division are responsible for delivering these initiatives on a day-to-day basis. The SMT monitors progress, and each quarter Trustees are given a written progress report. In addition, any expenditure or income over £50,000, whether agreed in the operational plan or not, must be approved by the Board, and London Higher will seek support from the Finance Committee for any expenditure or income over £10,000.

Higher education institutions (HEIs): HEIs in London are our company members. Members are required to submit an application to be considered for membership. This application is reviewed against members criteria by the Membership Committee who advise the Board of Trustees on whether to accept or reject the application. In the

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London Higher Trustees Annual Report and Financial Statements For the year ended 31 July 2025

Members’ Agreement members devolve to the London Higher Board of Trustees the power to make decisions on their behalf in the collective interests of the group, or parts thereof. This authority is safeguarded by Advisory Groups for each of our operational divisions which comprise senior representatives from the membership group.

Centres membership: London Higher also recognises an additional partnership category (distinct from members) which includes higher education providers based outside London who have opened centres in London.

Related parties: The policy landscape for higher education is currently set by the Department for Education and the Department for Science, Innovation and Technology (with some input from the Department for Health and Department of Business, Energy & Industrial Strategy when relevant) and is implemented by the Office for Students (OfS), the independent regulator of HE in England. London Higher seeks to influence policy at local and national Government level and to develop and run HE collaborations that reflect national policy and that which are tailored to the London region and the unique nature of the London group of HEIs. Additionally, the Mayor of London and the Greater London Authority (GLA) have interests in higher education as it pertains to the capital. London Higher maintains links with each.

Auditors : Our auditor, Peters Elworthy & Moore transferred their audit registration and therefore that part of their business to a newly incorporated limited company, PEM Audit Limited, on 1 September 2025. Accordingly, Peters Elworthy and Moore formally ceased to be the Company’s auditor with the Directors duly appointing PEM Audit Limited to fill the vacancy arising.

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London Higher Trustees Annual Report and Financial Statements For the year ended 31 July 2025

Statement of Trustees Responsibilities

The Trustees (who are also Directors of London Higher for the purposes of company law) are responsible for preparing the Trustees’ Report and the financial statements in accordance with applicable law and United Kingdom Accounting Standards (United Kingdom Generally Accepted Accounting Practice.)

view of the state of the affairs of the charitable company and of the incoming resources and application of resources, including the income and expenditure, of the charitable company for that year. In preparing these financial statements, the Trustees are required to:

• select suitable accounting policies and then apply them consistently;

• observe the methods and principles in the Charities SORP;

• make judgements and estimates that are reasonable and prudent;

• state whether applicable UK Accounting Standards have been followed, subject to any material departures disclosed and explained in the financial statements;

• charitable company will continue in business.

The Trustees are responsible for keeping proper accounting records that disclose with reasonable accuracy at any time the financial position of the charitable company and enable them to ensure that the financial statements comply with the Companies Act 2006. They are also responsible for safeguarding the assets of the charity and hence for taking reasonable steps for the prevention and detection of fraud and other irregularities.

In so far as the Trustees are aware:

• there is no relevant audit information of which the charity’s auditor is unaware;

• the Trustees have taken all steps that they ought to have taken to make themselves aware of any relevant audit information and to establish that the auditor is aware of that information; and

• funds administered by London Higher have been applied only for the purposes for which they were received.

The Trustees have prepared this report in accordance with the Special Provisions of Part 15 of the Companies Act 2006. In preparing this report, the Trustees have taken advantage of the small companies’ exemptions provided by Section 415A, the Companies Act 2006.

Approved by the London Higher Board of Trustees on 17 November 2025 and signed on its behalf by:

……………………………………………… Professor Shitij Kapur, Chair, London Higher

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LONDON HIGHER (A Company Limited by Guarantee)

INDEPENDENT AUDITOR'S REPORT TO THE MEMBERS OF LONDON HIGHER

OPINION

We have audited the financial statements of London Higher (the 'charitable company') for the year ended 31 July 2025 which comprise the Statement of Financial Activities, the Balance Sheet, the Statement of Cash Flows and the related notes, including a summary of significant accounting policies. The financial reporting framework that has been applied in their preparation is applicable law and United Kingdom Accounting Standards, including Financial Reporting Standard 102 'The Financial Reporting Standard applicable in the UK and Republic of Ireland' (United Kingdom Generally Accepted Accounting Practice).

In our opinion the financial statements:

• give a true and fair view of the state of the charitable company's affairs as at 31 July 2025 and of its incoming resources and application of resources, including its income and expenditure for the year then ended;

• have been properly prepared in accordance with United Kingdom Generally Accepted Accounting Practice; and

• have been prepared in accordance with the requirements of the Companies Act 2006.

BASIS FOR OPINION

We conducted our audit in accordance with International Standards on Auditing (UK) (ISAs (UK)) and applicable law. Our responsibilities under those standards are further described in the Auditor's responsibilities for the audit of the financial statements section of our report. We are independent of the charitable company in accordance with the ethical requirements that are relevant to our audit of the financial statements in the United Kingdom, including the Financial Reporting Council's Ethical Standard, and we have fulfilled our other ethical responsibilities in accordance with these requirements. We believe that the audit evidence we have obtained is sufficient and appropriate to provide a basis for our opinion.

CONCLUSIONS RELATING TO GOING CONCERN

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.

Based on the work we have performed, we have not identified any material uncertainties relating to events or conditions that, individually or collectively, may cast significant doubt on the charitable company's ability to continue as a going concern for a period of at least twelve months from when the financial statements are authorised for issue.

Our responsibilities and the responsibilities of the Trustees with respect to going concern are described in the relevant sections of this report.

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Docusign Envelope ID: 0C0DB64D-5763-406F-949E-E34500C4FAF8

LONDON HIGHER (A Company Limited by Guarantee)

INDEPENDENT AUDITOR'S REPORT TO THE MEMBERS OF LONDON HIGHER (CONTINUED)

OTHER INFORMATION

The other information comprises the information included in the Annual Report other than the financial statements and our Auditor's Report thereon. The Trustees are responsible for the other information contained within the Annual Report. Our opinion on the financial statements does not cover the other information and, except to the extent otherwise explicitly stated in our report, we do not express any form of assurance conclusion thereon. Our responsibility is to read the other information and, in doing so, consider whether the other information is materially inconsistent with the financial statements or our knowledge obtained in the course of the audit, or otherwise appears to be materially misstated. If we identify such material inconsistencies or apparent material misstatements, we are required to determine whether this gives rise to a material misstatement in the financial statements themselves. If, based on the work we have performed, we conclude that there is a material misstatement of this other information, we are required to report that fact.

We have nothing to report in this regard.

OPINION ON OTHER MATTERS PRESCRIBED BY THE COMPANIES ACT 2006

In our opinion, based on the work undertaken in the course of the audit:

• the information given in the Trustees' Report for the financial year for which the financial statements are prepared is consistent with the financial statements.

• the Trustees' Report has been prepared in accordance with applicable legal requirements.

MATTERS ON WHICH WE ARE REQUIRED TO REPORT BY EXCEPTION

In the light of our knowledge and understanding of the charitable company and its environment obtained in the course of the audit, we have not identified material misstatements in the Trustees' Report.

We have nothing to report in respect of the following matters in relation to which Companies Act 2006 requires us to report to you if, in our opinion:

• adequate accounting records have not been kept, or returns adequate for our audit have not been received from branches not visited by us; or

• the financial statements are not in agreement with the accounting records and returns; or

• certain disclosures of Trustees' remuneration specified by law are not made; or

• we have not received all the information and explanations we require for our audit; or

• the Trustees were not entitled to prepare the financial statements in accordance with the small companies regime and take advantage of the small companies' exemptions in preparing the Trustees' Report and from the requirement to prepare a Strategic Report.

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Docusign Envelope ID: 0C0DB64D-5763-406F-949E-E34500C4FAF8

LONDON HIGHER

(A Company Limited by Guarantee)

INDEPENDENT AUDITOR'S REPORT TO THE MEMBERS OF LONDON HIGHER (CONTINUED)

RESPONSIBILITIES OF TRUSTEES

As explained more fully in the Trustees' Responsibilities Statement, the Trustees (who are also the directors of the charitable company for the purposes of company law) are responsible for the preparation of the financial statements and for being satisfied that they give a true and fair view, and for such internal control as the Trustees determine is necessary to enable the preparation of financial statements that are free from material misstatement, whether due to fraud or error.

In preparing the financial statements, the Trustees are responsible for assessing the charitable company's ability to continue as a going concern, disclosing, as applicable, matters related to going concern and using the going concern basis of accounting unless the Trustees either intend to liquidate the charitable company or to cease operations, or have no realistic alternative but to do so.

AUDITOR'S RESPONSIBILITIES FOR THE AUDIT OF THE FINANCIAL STATEMENTS

Our objectives are to obtain reasonable assurance about whether the financial statements as a whole are free from material misstatement, whether due to fraud or error, and to issue an Auditor's Report that includes our opinion. Reasonable assurance is a high level of assurance, but is not a guarantee that an audit conducted in accordance with ISAs (UK) will always detect a material misstatement when it exists. Misstatements can arise from fraud or error and are considered material if, individually or in the aggregate, they could reasonably be expected to influence the economic decisions of users taken on the basis of these financial statements.

Irregularities, including fraud, are instances of non-compliance with laws and regulations. We design procedures in line with our responsibilities, outlined above, to detect material misstatements in respect of irregularities, including fraud. The extent to which our procedures are capable of detecting irregularities, including fraud is detailed below:

Our approach to identifying and assessing the risks of material misstatement in respect of irregularities, including fraud and non-compliance with laws and regulations, was as follows:

• the engagement partner ensured that the engagement team collectively had the appropriate competence, capabilities and skills to identify or recognise non-compliance with applicable laws and regulations;

• we identified the laws and regulations applicable to the charitable company through discussions with trustees and other management, and from our commercial knowledge and experience of the sector;

• we focused on specific laws and regulations which we considered may have a direct material effect on the financial statements or the operations of the charitable company, including the Companies Act 2006 and Charities Act 2011;

• in addition, we considered provisions of other laws and regulations which do not have a direct effect on the financial statements but compliance with which might be fundamental to the company's ability to operate or to avoid material penalties;

• we obtained an understanding of the legal and regulatory framework applicable to the entity and how the entity is complying with that framework;

• we obtained an understanding of the entity’s policies and procedures on compliance with laws and regulations, including documentation of any instances of non-compliance.

• we made enquiries of management as to where they considered there was susceptibility to fraud, their knowledge of actual, suspected and alleged fraud;

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Docusign Envelope ID: 0C0DB64D-5763-406F-949E-E34500C4FAF8

LONDON HIGHER (A Company Limited by Guarantee)

INDEPENDENT AUDITOR'S REPORT TO THE MEMBERS OF LONDON HIGHER (CONTINUED)

• laws and regulations identified were communicated within the audit team regularly and the team remained alert to instances of non-compliance throughout the audit.

As a result of the above risk assessment procedures we identified the greatest risk of material misstatement on the financial statements arising from irregularities and fraud to be within the potential for management to override controls together with the risk of fraudulent revenue recognition to be most prevalent in the completeness of revenue. In response to these identified risks, we designed procedures which included, but were not limited to:

• performed analytical procedures to identify any unusual or unexpected relationships;

• performed audit work over the risk of management override of controls, including testing of journal entries and other adjustments for appropriateness, evaluating the business rationale of significant transactions outside the normal course of business;

• assessed whether judgements and assumptions made in determining the accounting estimates set out in note 3 were indicative of potential bias;

• performed substantive testing for a sample of transactions from membership records and grant agreements to ensure that all income was appropriately recognised in the correct period and any restrictions appropriately recognised.

In response to the risk of irregularities and non-compliance with laws and regulations, we designed procedures which included, but were not limited to:

• we agreed the financial statement disclosures to underlying supporting documentation; and

• we assessed the extent of compliance with the laws and regulations identified above through making enquiries of management and inspecting legal correspondence; and

• we read the minutes of meetings of those charged with governance.

There are inherent limitations in our audit procedures described above. The more removed that laws and regulations are from financial transactions, the less likely it is that we would become aware of non compliance. Auditing standards also limit the audit procedures required to identify non compliance with laws and regulations to enquiry of the directors and other management and the inspection of regulatory and legal correspondence, if any.

Material misstatements that arise due to fraud can be harder to detect than those that arise from error as they may involve deliberate concealment or collusion.

A further description of our responsibilities for the audit of the financial statements is located on the Financial Reporting Council's website at: www.frc.org.uk/auditorsresponsibilities. This description forms part of our Auditor's Report.

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Docusign Envelope ID: 0C0DB64D-5763-406F-949E-E34500C4FAF8

LONDON HIGHER

(A Company Limited by Guarantee)

INDEPENDENT AUDITOR'S REPORT TO THE MEMBERS OF LONDON HIGHER (CONTINUED)

USE OF OUR REPORT

This report is made solely to the charitable company's members, as a body, in accordance with Chapter 3 of Part 16 of the Companies Act 2006. Our audit work has been undertaken so that we might state to the charitable company's members those matters we are required to state to them in an Auditor's Report and for no other purpose. To the fullest extent permitted by law, we do not accept or assume responsibility to anyone other than the charitable company and its members, as a body, for our audit work, for this report, or for the opinions we have formed.

Nikki Loan (Senior Statutory Auditor)

for and on behalf of

PEM Audit Limited

Registered Auditors Salisbury House Station Road Cambridge CB1 2LA

Date: 25 November 2025

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Docusign Envelope ID: 0C0DB64D-5763-406F-949E-E34500C4FAF8

LONDON HIGHER

(A Company Limited by Guarantee)

STATEMENT OF FINANCIAL ACTIVITIES (INCORPORATING INCOME AND EXPENDITURE ACCOUNT) FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 JULY 2025

Note INCOME FROM: Donations and legacies 4 Charitable activities 5 Investments 6 TOTAL INCOME EXPENDITURE ON: Charitable activities 7 TOTAL EXPENDITURE NET (EXPENDITURE)/INCOME Transfers between funds 17 NET MOVEMENT IN FUNDS RECONCILIATION OF FUNDS: Total funds brought forward Net movement in funds TOTAL FUNDS CARRIED FORWARD	Restricted funds 2025 £ 15,058 278,598 - 293,656 305,743 305,743 (12,087) 1,745 (10,342) 18,605 (10,342) 8,263	Unrestricted funds 2025 £ 6,608 902,870 28,769 938,247 915,844 915,844 22,403 (1,745) 20,658 797,135 20,658 817,793	Total funds 2025 £ 21,666 1,181,468 28,769 1,231,903 1,221,587 1,221,587 10,316 - 10,316 815,740 10,316 826,056	Total funds 2024 £ 2,728 1,327,989 21,228
				1,351,945
				1,293,049
				1,293,049
				58,896 -
				58,896
				756,844 58,896
				815,740

The Statement of Financial Activities includes all gains and losses recognised in the year.

The notes on pages 24 to 41 form part of these financial statements.

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Docusign Envelope ID: 0C0DB64D-5763-406F-949E-E34500C4FAF8

LONDON HIGHER (A Company Limited by Guarantee) REGISTERED NUMBER: 5731255

BALANCE SHEET AS AT 31 JULY 2025

			2025		2024
	Note		£		£
FIXED ASSETS
Tangible assets	13		6,182		6,499
CURRENT ASSETS
Debtors	14	52,679		32,942
Investments	15	550,712		536,378
Cash at bank and in hand	20	250,112		296,244
		853,503		865,564
CURRENT LIABILITIES
Creditors: amounts falling due within one
year	16	(33,629)		(56,323)
NET CURRENT ASSETS			819,874		809,241
TOTAL NET ASSETS			826,056		815,740
CHARITY FUNDS
Restricted funds	17		8,263		18,605
Unrestricted funds	17		817,793		797,135
TOTAL FUNDS			826,056		815,740

The Trustees acknowledge their responsibilities for complying with the requirements of the Act with respect to accounting records and preparation of financial statements.

The financial statements have been prepared in accordance with the provisions applicable to entities subject to the small companies regime.

The financial statements were approved and authorised for issue by the Trustees and signed on their behalf by:

Professor Shitij Kapur (Chair of Trustees)

Date: 17 November 2025

The notes on pages 24 to 41 form part of these financial statements.

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Docusign Envelope ID: 0C0DB64D-5763-406F-949E-E34500C4FAF8

LONDON HIGHER

(A Company Limited by Guarantee)

STATEMENT OF CASH FLOWS FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 JULY 2025

Note CASH FLOWS FROM OPERATING ACTIVITIES Net cash used in operating activities 19 CASH FLOWS FROM INVESTING ACTIVITIES Dividends, interests and rents from investments Purchase of tangible fixed assets Net movement in current investments NET CASH PROVIDED BY/(USED IN) INVESTING ACTIVITIES CHANGE IN CASH AND CASH EQUIVALENTS IN THE YEAR Cash and cash equivalents at the beginning of the year CASH AND CASH EQUIVALENTS AT THE END OF THE YEAR 20	2025 £ (57,338) 28,636 (3,096) (14,334) 11,206 (46,132) 296,244 250,112	2024 £ 57,210 15,239 (5,882) (326,349) (316,992) (259,782) 556,026 296,244

The notes on pages 24 to 6 form part of these financial statements

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Docusign Envelope ID: 0C0DB64D-5763-406F-949E-E34500C4FAF8

LONDON HIGHER

(A Company Limited by Guarantee)

NOTES TO THE FINANCIAL STATEMENTS FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 JULY 2025

1. GENERAL INFORMATION

The Charity is a company limited by guarantee, incorporated in England and Wales (company number: 5731255) and a charity registered in England and Wales (charity number: 1105500). Its registered office is disclosed on page 1.

2. ACCOUNTING POLICIES

2.1 BASIS OF PREPARATION OF FINANCIAL STATEMENTS

The financial statements have been prepared in accordance with the Charities SORP (FRS 102) - Accounting and Reporting by Charities: Statement of Recommended Practice applicable to charities preparing their accounts in accordance with the Financial Reporting Standard applicable in the UK and Republic of Ireland (FRS 102) (effective 1 January 2019), the Financial Reporting Standard applicable in the UK and Republic of Ireland (FRS 102) and the Companies Act 2006.

London Higher meets the definition of a public benefit entity under FRS 102. Assets and liabilities are initially recognised at historical cost or transaction value unless otherwise stated in the relevant accounting policy.

The functional currency of the Charity is considered to be GBP because that is the currency of the primary economic environment in which it operates.

2.2 GOING CONCERN

Recognising the continuing pressure on universities' budgets, London Higher has investigating additional income streams in this financial year, including seeking increased levels of sponsorship and additional grants for project funding. This work is in its early stages and should see results in the 2025/26 financial year. The additional funding streams will ease reliance on membership income, and the extra workstreams that come with these (for example, increased amounts of events, research and campaigns, as well as new additional projects) will raise our profile further within the sector, adding benefit for members and giving further reason to retaining memberships. In addition, a relatively conservative approach has been taken in the 2025/26 budget, with some member losses recognised.

A strategic review, currently in progress, and due to launch in early 2026 will give further clarity to the member offer and work that will be undertaken, allowing for an even tighter control of costs, and meaning London Higher can continue to operate as a going concern.

Considering all these factors, and having completed a cash flow analysis for the next 18 months which considers different scenarios, the Trustees consider there are no material uncertainties about the charity’s ability to continue as a going concern. The ability to manage the charity assets, the reserves levels and future plans give Trustees confidence the charity remains a going concern for at least twelve months from the date of signing.

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Docusign Envelope ID: 0C0DB64D-5763-406F-949E-E34500C4FAF8

LONDON HIGHER

(A Company Limited by Guarantee)

NOTES TO THE FINANCIAL STATEMENTS FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 JULY 2025

2. ACCOUNTING POLICIES (CONTINUED)

2.3 INCOME

All income is recognised once the Charitable Company has entitlement to the income, it is probable that the income will be received and the amount of income receivable can be measured reliably.

Grants are recognised in full in the Statement of Financial Activities in the year in which the Charity has entitlement to the income, the amount of income receivable can be measured reliably and there is probability of receipt. Where a grant agreement includes conditions, the income is only recognised when the condition is fulfilled.

Membership income is recognised over the period it relates.

Investment income relates to interest on bank balances and current asset investments, and is accounted for on an accrual basis.

Deferred income represents amounts receivable for future years where conditions are attached which must be fulfilled before unconditional entitlement, or grants which can only be spent in future years. The deferred income is released when entitlement to the income is confirmed.

2.4 EXPENDITURE

Expenditure is recognised once there is a legal or constructive obligation to make a payment to a third party, it is probable that settlement will be required, and the amount of the obligation can be measured reliably. Expenditure is classified under the following activity headings:

• London Higher

• London Medicine & Healthcare

• AccessHE

• Uni Connect

• Creative Arts

Membership and charitable activity costs that are attributable to more than one activity are apportioned across cost categories on the basis of an estimate of the proportion of time spent by staff on those activities.

Support costs are those functions that assist the work of the Charity but do not directly undertake charitable activities. Support costs include office running costs, finance function, personnel, payroll and governance costs which support the Charity’s activities.

Governance costs are costs incurred in connection with the strategic management of the Charity and in compliance with constitutional and statutory requirements. These costs have been allocated to charitable activities based of the proportion of time spent by staff on those activities.

Expenditure on charitable activities is incurred on directly undertaking the activities which further the Charitable Company's objectives, as well as any associated support costs.

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Docusign Envelope ID: 0C0DB64D-5763-406F-949E-E34500C4FAF8

LONDON HIGHER

(A Company Limited by Guarantee)

NOTES TO THE FINANCIAL STATEMENTS FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 JULY 2025

2. ACCOUNTING POLICIES (CONTINUED)

2.5 TANGIBLE FIXED ASSETS AND DEPRECIATION

Tangible fixed assets are stated at cost less depreciation. Depreciation is provided on all tangible fixed assets on a straight-line basis to write off the cost, less estimated residual value, over their expected useful lives as follows:

• Fixtures and fittings, Furniture & 3 years Computer equipment

The Charity’s capitalisation policy is for any items over £500.

2.6 CURRENT ASSET INVESTMENTS

Current asset investments are those which are held for resale or pending their sale and cash on deposit with a maturity date of less than one year and more than 3 months post year end held for short-term investment purposes rather than cashflow. Current asset investments are valued at fair value unless they qualify as basic financial assets.

2.7 OPERATING LEASES

Rentals paid under operating leases are charged to the Statement of Financial Activities on a straight-line basis over the lease term.

2.8 PENSIONS

The Charity participates in the Universities Superannuation Scheme (the scheme). Throughout the current and preceding periods, the scheme was a defined benefit only pension scheme until 31 March 2016 which was contracted out of the State Second Pension (S2P). The assets of the scheme are held in a separate trustee-administered fund. Because of the mutual nature of the scheme, the scheme’s assets are not hypothecated to individual institutions and a scheme-wide contribution rate is set. The institution is therefore exposed to actuarial risks associated with other institutions’ employees and is unable to identify its share of the underlying assets and liabilities of the scheme on a consistent and reasonable basis and therefore, as required by Section 28 of FRS 102 “Employee benefits”, accounts for the scheme as if it were a defined contribution scheme. As a result, the amount charged to the income and expenditure account represents the contributions payable to the scheme in respect of the accounting period.

2.9 FINANCIAL INSTRUMENTS

The Charitable Company only has financial assets and financial liabilities of a kind that qualify as basic financial instruments. Basic financial instruments are initially recognised at transaction value and subsequently measured at their settlement value with the exception of bank loans which are subsequently measured at amortised cost using the effective interest method.

2.10 EMPLOYEE BENEFITS

Short term benefits including holiday pay are recognised as an expense in the period in which the service is received.

Termination benefits are accounted for on an accrual basis and in line with FRS 102.

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Docusign Envelope ID: 0C0DB64D-5763-406F-949E-E34500C4FAF8

LONDON HIGHER

(A Company Limited by Guarantee)

NOTES TO THE FINANCIAL STATEMENTS FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 JULY 2025

2. ACCOUNTING POLICIES (CONTINUED)

2.11 DEBTORS

Trade, other debtors and accrued income are recognised at the settlement amount after any trade discount offered. Prepayments are valued at the amount prepaid net of any trade discounts due.

2.12 CASH AT BANK AND IN HAND

Cash at bank and in hand includes cash and short-term highly liquid investments with a short maturity of three months or less from the date of acquisition or opening of the deposit or similar account.

2.13 LIABILITIES AND PROVISIONS

Liabilities are recognised when there is an obligation at the Balance Sheet date as a result of a past event, it is probable that a transfer of economic benefit will be required in settlement, and the amount of the settlement can be estimated reliably.

Liabilities are recognised at the amount that the Charitable Company anticipates it will pay to settle the debt or the amount it has received as advanced payments for the goods or services it must provide.

2.14 FUND ACCOUNTING

General funds are unrestricted funds which are available for use at the discretion of the Trustees in furtherance of the general objectives of the Charitable Company and which have not been designated for other purposes.

Designated funds comprise unrestricted funds that have been set aside by the Trustees for particular purposes. The aim and use of each designated fund is set out in the notes to the financial statements.

Restricted funds are funds which are to be used in accordance with specific restrictions imposed by donors or which have been raised by the Charitable Company for particular purposes. The costs of raising and administering such funds are charged against the specific fund. The aim and use of each restricted fund is set out in the notes to the financial statements.

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Docusign Envelope ID: 0C0DB64D-5763-406F-949E-E34500C4FAF8

LONDON HIGHER (A Company Limited by Guarantee)

NOTES TO THE FINANCIAL STATEMENTS FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 JULY 2025

3. CRITICAL ACCOUNTING ESTIMATES AND AREAS OF JUDGEMENT

In the application of these accounting policies, the Trustees are required to make judgements, estimates and assumptions about the carrying value of assets and liabilities that are not readily apparent from other sources.

Estimates and judgements are continually evaluated and are based on historical experience and other factors, including expectations of future events that are believed to be reasonable under the circumstances. Although these estimates are based on management’s best knowledge of the amount, events or actions, actual results may ultimately differ from those estimates. Revisions to accounting estimates are recognised in the period in which the estimate is revised if the revision affects only that period, or in the period of the revision and future periods if the revision affects current and future periods. The Trustees consider the following items to be areas subject to estimation and judgement:

USS Pension

FRS 102 makes the distinction between a Group Plan and a multi-employer scheme. A Group Plan consists of a collection of entities under common control typically with a sponsoring employer. A multiemployer scheme is a scheme for entities not under common control and represents (typically) an industry-wide scheme such as that provided by USS. The accounting for a multi-employer scheme where the employer has entered into an agreement with the scheme that determines how the employer will fund a deficit, results in the recognition of a liability for the contributions payable that arise from the agreement (to the extent that they relate to the deficit) with the resulting expense is recognised in profit or loss. The directors are satisfied that the scheme provided by USS meets the definition of a multi employer scheme.

No deficit recovery plan was required from the 2023 valuation because the scheme was in surplus. Changes to contribution rates were implemented from 1 January 2024 and from that date the Charity was no longer required to make deficit recovery contributions.

4. INCOME FROM DONATIONS AND LEGACIES

Donations TOTAL 2024	Restricted funds 2025 Unrestricted funds 2025 £ £ 15,058 6,608 - 2,728	Total funds 2025 £ 21,666 2,728	Total funds 2024 £ 2,728

The donations above relate to an in kind benefit for various venue hires and staff time, £15,058 (2024: £Nil) relates to restricted activities and £6,608 unresticted activities (2024: £2,728). An equivalent cost has also been recognised.

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Docusign Envelope ID: 0C0DB64D-5763-406F-949E-E34500C4FAF8

LONDON HIGHER

(A Company Limited by Guarantee)

NOTES TO THE FINANCIAL STATEMENTS FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 JULY 2025

5. INCOME FROM CHARITABLE ACTIVITIES

Membership Contributions: London Higher Membership Contributions: London Medicine & Healthcare Membership Contributions: London Centres Membership Contributions: AccessHE Grants Project & event Income TOTAL 2024	Restricted funds 2025 Unrestricted funds 2025 £ £ - 540,666 - 112,297 - 110,528 - 122,689 - 260,698 17,900 16,690 278,598 902,870 363,778 964,211	Total funds 2025 £ 540,666 112,297 110,528 122,689 260,698 34,590 1,181,468 1,327,989	Total funds 2024 £ 548,419 106,600 90,125 130,244 353,038 99,563
			1,327,989

6. INVESTMENT INCOME

Unrestricted funds 2025 £ Bank interest 28,769 TOTAL 2024 21,228	Total funds 2025 £ 28,769 21,228	Total funds 2024 £ 21,228

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Docusign Envelope ID: 0C0DB64D-5763-406F-949E-E34500C4FAF8

LONDON HIGHER (A Company Limited by Guarantee)

NOTES TO THE FINANCIAL STATEMENTS FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 JULY 2025

7. ANALYSIS OF EXPENDITURE ON CHARITABLE ACTIVITIES

Summary by fund type

London Higher London Medicine & Healthcare AccessHE Uni Connect Mental Health Creative Arts TOTAL 2024	Restricted funds 2025 Unrestricted funds 2025 £ £ - 671,388 - 103,886 - 140,570 221,900 - - - 83,843 - 305,743 915,844 370,848 922,201	Total 2025 £ 671,388 103,886 140,570 221,900 - 83,843 1,221,587 1,293,049	Total 2024 £ 689,492 90,826 141,883 252,463 11,208 107,177
			1,293,049

8. ANALYSIS OF EXPENDITURE BY ACTIVITIES

London Higher London Medicine & Healthcare AccessHE Uni Connect Mental Health Creative Arts TOTAL 2024	Activities undertaken directly 2025 £ 550,609 93,886 129,570 206,900 - 76,343 1,057,308 1,136,886	Support costs 2025 £ 120,779 10,000 11,000 15,000 - 7,500 164,279 156,163	Total funds 2025 £ 671,388 103,886 140,570 221,900 - 83,843 1,221,587 1,293,049	Total funds 2024 £ 689,492 90,826 141,883 252,463 11,208 107,177
				1,293,049

Page 30

Docusign Envelope ID: 0C0DB64D-5763-406F-949E-E34500C4FAF8

LONDON HIGHER (A Company Limited by Guarantee)

NOTES TO THE FINANCIAL STATEMENTS FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 JULY 2025

8. ANALYSIS OF EXPENDITURE BY ACTIVITIES (CONTINUED)

ANALYSIS OF SUPPORT COSTS

Occupancy Cost Administration Cost Human Resource Cost Depreciation Governance (Note 9) Strategy Development Banking Charges 9. GOVERNANCE COSTS Audit fee (including VAT) Accountancy fee (including VAT) Trustees' meetings Companies House filing 10. AUDITOR'S REMUNERATION Fees payable to the Charity's auditor for the audit of the Charity's annual accounts (including VAT) Fees payable to the Charitable Company's auditor in respect of: Preparation of the financial statements	Total funds 2025 £ 53,184 35,145 35,478 3,413 22,687 12,932 1,440 164,279 2025 £ 18,846 3,300 528 13 22,687 2025 £ 18,846 3,300	Total funds 2024 £ 57,546 27,423 40,466 4,260 23,889 1,075 1,504
		156,163
		2024 £ 20,320 3,000 556 13
		23,889
		2024 £ 20,320 3,000

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Docusign Envelope ID: 0C0DB64D-5763-406F-949E-E34500C4FAF8

LONDON HIGHER

(A Company Limited by Guarantee)

NOTES TO THE FINANCIAL STATEMENTS FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 JULY 2025

11. STAFF COSTS

Wages and salaries Social security costs Contribution to defined contribution pension schemes	2025 £ 666,332 61,831 90,812 818,975	2024 £ 660,331 61,741 103,367
		825,439

The average number of persons employed by the Charitable Company during the year was as follows:

London Higher Creative Arts AccessHE London Medicine & Healthcare Uni Connect	2025 No. 9 1 2 1 4 17	2024 No. 11 1 2 - 3
		17

The number of employees whose employee benefits (excluding employer pension costs) exceeded £60,000 was:

	2025	2024
	No.	No.
In the band £60,001 - £70,000	1	1
In the band £100,001 - £110,000	-	1

Pension contributions payable by the Charity for higher paid employees in the year were £9,526 (2024: £18,816)

The key management personnel are defined as the CEO, COO, Head of AccessHE, Head of Policy, Head of Communications and Director of Strategy of which the total employee benefits in aggregate for the year were £451,394 (2024: £468,576).

12. TRUSTEES' REMUNERATION AND EXPENSES

During the year, no Trustees received any remuneration or other benefits (2024 - £NIL).

During the year ended 31 July 2025, no Trustee expenses have been incurred (2024 - £NIL).

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Docusign Envelope ID: 0C0DB64D-5763-406F-949E-E34500C4FAF8

LONDON HIGHER (A Company Limited by Guarantee)

NOTES TO THE FINANCIAL STATEMENTS FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 JULY 2025

13. TANGIBLE FIXED ASSETS

COST At 1 August 2024 Additions Disposals At 31 July 2025 DEPRECIATION At 1 August 2024 Charge for the year On disposals At 31 July 2025 NET BOOK VALUE At 31 July 2025 At 31 July 2024 14. DEBTORS DUE WITHIN ONE YEAR Trade debtors Prepayments and accrued income	2025 £ 22,288 30,391 52,679	Fixtures, fittings and equipment £ 21,392 3,096 (3,167) 21,321 14,893 3,413 (3,167) 15,139 6,182 6,499 2024 £ 11,170 21,772 32,942

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Docusign Envelope ID: 0C0DB64D-5763-406F-949E-E34500C4FAF8

LONDON HIGHER

(A Company Limited by Guarantee)

NOTES TO THE FINANCIAL STATEMENTS FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 JULY 2025

15. CURRENT ASSET INVESTMENTS

High interest bank accounts CREDITORS: AMOUNTS FALLING DUE WITHIN ONE YEAR Trade creditors Other creditors Accruals and deferred income Deferred income at 1 August 2024 Resources deferred during the year Amounts released from previous periods	2025 £ 550,712 2025 £ 6,845 1,514 25,270 33,629 2025 £ 6,609 3,094 (6,609) 3,094	2024 £ 536,378 2024 £ 18,535 2,559 35,229 56,323 2024 £ 6,910 6,609 (6,910) 6,609

16. CREDITORS: AMOUNTS FALLING DUE WITHIN ONE YEAR

Deferred income relates to grants and membership income invoiced/received in the year, but relating to the next financial year.

Page 34

Docusign Envelope ID: 0C0DB64D-5763-406F-949E-E34500C4FAF8

LONDON HIGHER (A Company Limited by Guarantee)

NOTES TO THE FINANCIAL STATEMENTS FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 JULY 2025

17. STATEMENT OF FUNDS STATEMENT OF FUNDS - CURRENT YEAR Balance at 1 August 2024 £ UNRESTRICTED FUNDS DESIGNATED FUNDS Fixed asset fund 6,499 GENERAL FUNDS General Fund 790,636 TOTAL UNRESTRICTED FUNDS 797,135 RESTRICTED FUNDS Uni Connect 21,262 Creative Arts (2,657) 18,605 TOTAL OF FUNDS 815,740	Income £ - 938,247 938,247 198,893 94,763 293,656 1,231,903	Expenditure £ - (915,844) (915,844) (221,900) (83,843) (305,743) (1,221,587)	Transfers in/out £ Balance at 31 July 2025 £ (317) 6,182 (1,428) 811,611 (1,745) 817,793 1,745 - - 8,263 1,745 8,263 - 826,056	Transfers in/out £ Balance at 31 July 2025 £ (317) 6,182 (1,428) 811,611 (1,745) 817,793 1,745 - - 8,263 1,745 8,263 - 826,056
				811,611
				817,793
				- 8,263
				8,263
				826,056

Page 35

Docusign Envelope ID: 0C0DB64D-5763-406F-949E-E34500C4FAF8

LONDON HIGHER (A Company Limited by Guarantee)

NOTES TO THE FINANCIAL STATEMENTS FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 JULY 2025

17. STATEMENT OF FUNDS (CONTINUED)

STATEMENT OF FUNDS - PRIOR YEAR

UNRESTRICTED FUNDS DESIGNATED FUNDS Fixed asset fund GENERAL FUNDS General Fund TOTAL UNRESTRICTED FUNDS RESTRICTED FUNDS Mental Health Uni Connect Creative Arts TOTAL OF FUNDS	Balance at 1 August 2023 £ 4,878 726,291 731,169 11,208 14,467 - 25,675 756,844	Income £ - 988,167 988,167 - 259,258 104,520 363,778 1,351,945	Expenditure £ - (922,201) (922,201) (11,208) (252,463) (107,177) (370,848) (1,293,049)	Transfers in/out £ 1,621 (1,621) - - - - - -	Balance at 31 July 2024 £ 6,499 790,636 797,135 - 21,262 (2,657) 18,605 815,740

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Docusign Envelope ID: 0C0DB64D-5763-406F-949E-E34500C4FAF8

LONDON HIGHER (A Company Limited by Guarantee)

NOTES TO THE FINANCIAL STATEMENTS FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 JULY 2025

17. STATEMENT OF FUNDS (CONTINUED)

Purpose of funds:

• Uni Connect , AccessHE is a key delivery partner in the OfS - outreach programme in London created to help realise the government’s goal of increasing participation in Higher Education from lower participating neighbourhoods. The initiative engages with schools / colleges in 13 wards across London, all of which exhibit low participation neighbourhood characteristics.

• Mental Health Mental Health was tasked with supporting an online Mental Health support hub for students and support staff. A review of the division and its resource took place in December 2023 as the restricted funds to support the project had been spent. It was agreed to bring the hub and any future expenses to support it into the London Higher division.

• LH Creative Arts is tasked with supporting the Metro London Skills Clusters. Led by Film London, it will deliver an integrated programme of activities across London and the ‘gateway’ counties of Buckinghamshire, Hertfordshire and Surrey.

The agreement includes some matched funding to be provided by the Charity or others. Matched funding provided by a third party in the current year has been included in the restricted income and expenditure of the fund.

• Fixed asset fund represents the net book value of fixed assets held by the Charity.

18. ANALYSIS OF NET ASSETS BETWEEN FUNDS

ANALYSIS OF NET ASSETS BETWEEN FUNDS - CURRENT YEAR

Tangible fixed assets Current assets Creditors due within one year TOTAL	Restricted funds 2025 Unrestricted funds 2025 £ £ - 6,182 9,331 844,172 (1,068) (32,561) 8,263 817,793	Total funds 2025 £ 6,182 853,503 (33,629) 826,056

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Docusign Envelope ID: 0C0DB64D-5763-406F-949E-E34500C4FAF8

LONDON HIGHER

(A Company Limited by Guarantee)

NOTES TO THE FINANCIAL STATEMENTS FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 JULY 2025

18. ANALYSIS OF NET ASSETS BETWEEN FUNDS (CONTINUED)

ANALYSIS OF NET ASSETS BETWEEN FUNDS - PRIOR YEAR

Restricted funds 2024 £ Tangible fixed assets - Current assets 31,057 Creditors due within one year (12,452) TOTAL 18,605 19. RECONCILIATION OF NET MOVEMENT IN FUNDS TO NET CASH FLOW ACTIVITIES Net income for the year (as per Statement of Financial Activities) ADJUSTMENTS FOR: Depreciation charges Dividends, interests and rents from investments (Increase)/decrease in debtors (Decrease)/increase in creditors NET CASH PROVIDED BY/(USED IN) OPERATING ACTIVITIES 20. ANALYSIS OF CASH AND CASH EQUIVALENTS Cash in hand

Unrestricted funds 2024 Total funds 2024 £ £ 6,499 6,499 834,507 865,564 (43,871) (56,323) 797,135 815,740 FROM OPERATING 2025 2024 £ £ 10,316 58,896 3,413 4,260 (28,769) (21,228) (19,604) 14,896 (22,694) 386 (57,338) 57,210 2025 2024 £ £ 250,112 296,244

Page 38

Docusign Envelope ID: 0C0DB64D-5763-406F-949E-E34500C4FAF8

LONDON HIGHER

(A Company Limited by Guarantee)

NOTES TO THE FINANCIAL STATEMENTS FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 JULY 2025

21. ANALYSIS OF CHANGES IN NET DEBT

Cash at bank and in hand Liquid investments	At 1 August 2024 £ 296,244 536,378 832,622	Cash flows £ (46,132) 14,334 (31,798)	At 31 July 2025 £ 250,112 550,712
			800,824

22. PENSION COMMITMENTS

The Charity participates in Universities Superannuation Scheme. The assets of the scheme are held in a separate trustee-administered fund. Because of the mutual nature of the scheme, the assets are not attributed to individual institutions and a scheme-wide contribution rate is set. The institution is therefore exposed to actuarial risks associated with other institutions’ employees and is unable to identify its share of the underlying assets and liabilities of the scheme on a consistent and reasonable basis. As required by Section 28 of FRS 102 “Employee benefits”, the Charity therefore accounts for the scheme as if it were a defined contribution scheme. As a result, the amount charged to the profit and loss account represents the contributions payable to the scheme. Since the institution has entered into an agreement (the Recovery Plan) that determines how each employer within the scheme will fund the overall deficit, the institution recognises a liability for the contributions payable that arise from the agreement (to the extent that they relate to the deficit) with related expenses being recognised through the profit and loss account.

A deficit recovery plan was put in place as part of the 2020 valuation, which required payment of 6.2% of salaries over the period 1 April 2022 until 31 March 2024, at which point the rate would increase to 6.3%. No deficit recovery plan was required under the 2023 valuation because the scheme was in surplus on a technical provisions basis. The institution was no longer required to make deficit recovery contributions from 1 January 2024 and accordingly released the outstanding provision to the profit and loss account.

The latest available complete actuarial valuation of the Retirement Income Builder is as at 31 March 2023 (the valuation date), which was carried out using the projected unit method.

Since the institution cannot identify its share of USS Retirement Income Builder (defined benefit) assets and liabilities, the following disclosures reflect those relevant for those assets and liabilities as a whole.

The 2023 valuation was the seventh valuation for the scheme under the scheme-specific funding regime introduced by the Pensions Act 2004, which requires schemes to have sufficient and appropriate assets to cover their technical provisions (the statutory funding objective). At the valuation date, the value of the assets of the scheme was £73.1 billion and the value of the scheme’s technical provisions was £65.7 billion indicating a surplus of £7.4 billion and a funding ratio of 111%

The key financial assumptions used in the 2023 valuation are described below.

Price inflation - consumer Prices Index (CPI) RPI/CPI gap	3.0% p.a (based on a long-term average expected level of CPI, broadly consistent with long-term market expectations) 1.0% p.a to 2023, reducing to 0.1%p.a from 2030

Page 39

Docusign Envelope ID: 0C0DB64D-5763-406F-949E-E34500C4FAF8

LONDON HIGHER

(A Company Limited by Guarantee)

NOTES TO THE FINANCIAL STATEMENTS FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 JULY 2025

22. PENSION COMMITMENTS (CONTINUED)

Pension increases (subject to a floor of 0%)	Benefits with no cap: CPI assumption plus 3bps Benefits subject to a “soft cap” of 5% (providing inflationary increases up to 5%, and half of any excess inflation over 5% up to a maximum of 10%): CPI assumption minus 3bps
Discount rate (forward rates)	Fixed interest gilt yield curve plus: Pre-retirement: 2.5% p.a. Post retirement: 0.9% p.a.

The main demographic assumptions used relate to the mortality assumptions. These assumptions are based on analysis of the scheme’s experience carried out as part of the 2023 actuarial valuation. The mortality assumptions used in these figures are as follows:

	2023 valuation
Mortality base table	101% of S2PMA “light” for males and 95% of S3PFA for females
Future improvements to mortality	CMI 2021 with a smoothing parameter of 7.5, an initial addition of 0.4% p.a., 10% w2020 and w2021 parameters, and a long-term improvement rate of 1.8% pa for males and 1.6% pa for females

The current life expectancies on retirement at age 65 are:

	2025	2024
Males currently aged 65 (years)	23.8	23.7
Females currently aged 65 (years)	25.5	25.6
Males currently aged 45 (years)	25.7	25.4
Females currently aged 45 (years)	27.2	27.2

Page 40

Docusign Envelope ID: 0C0DB64D-5763-406F-949E-E34500C4FAF8

LONDON HIGHER

(A Company Limited by Guarantee)

NOTES TO THE FINANCIAL STATEMENTS FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 JULY 2025

23. OPERATING LEASE COMMITMENTS

At 31 July 2025 the Charitable Company had commitments to make future minimum lease payments under non-cancellable operating leases as follows:

Buildings Not later than 1 year Later than 1 year and not later than 5 years	2025 £ 50,400 15,465 65,865	2024 £ 50,400 65,865
		116,265

The following lease payments have been recognised as an expense in the Statement of Financial Activities:

	2025	2024
	£	£
Operating lease rentals	50,400	50,400

24. RELATED PARTY TRANSACTIONS

The Charitable Company has not entered into any related party transaction during the year, nor are there any outstanding balances owing between related parties and the Charitable Company at 31 July 2025 (2024: none).

Page 41