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2025-12-31-accounts

Trustees’ Annual Report and Financial Statements 2025

Registered Charity Number: 1159154

The Leverhulme Trust Registered Charity Number 1159154

Table of Contents

Chair’s foreword .................................................................................................................................................... 2 Director’s report .................................................................................................................................................... 4 Trustees’ Annual Report – 2025 ........................................................................................................................... 6 Legal and administrative details .............................................................................................................................. 6 History ..................................................................................................................................................................... 7 Objectives and activities .......................................................................................................................................... 7 Public benefit ........................................................................................................................................................... 8 Centenary Awards - £100m ..................................................................................................................................... 8 Achievements and performance .............................................................................................................................. 8 Peer reviewers / use of volunteers ........................................................................................................................ 14 Grant system ......................................................................................................................................................... 14 Diversity and inclusion ........................................................................................................................................... 14 Financial review ..................................................................................................................................................... 17 Investment policy and performance ....................................................................................................................... 17 Risk management .................................................................................................................................................. 18 Reserves policy ..................................................................................................................................................... 19 Plans for future periods ......................................................................................................................................... 19 Structure, governance and management .............................................................................................................. 19 Statement of Trustees’ Responsibilities ................................................................................................................. 22 Independent Auditors’ Report to the Trustees of The Leverhulme Trust ....................................................... 23 Statement of Financial Activities for the year ended 31 December 2025 ....................................................... 26 Balance Sheet as at 31 December 2025 ............................................................................................................. 27 Cash Flow Statement for the year ended 31 December 2025 .......................................................................... 28 Notes to the Financial Statements ..................................................................................................................... 29

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The Leverhulme Trust Registered Charity Number 1159154

Chair’s foreword

2025 was a landmark year for the Leverhulme Trust: the centenary of Lord Leverhulme’s remarkable legacy. One hundred years ago, he endowed the Trust with a vision: quite simply, to support ‘research and education’. Different Trustee Boards over the years have translated this brief instruction into the mission we have today, to support curiosity-driven research, and to help researchers take intellectual risks and expand human understanding.

The Trust has supported thousands of people over the years, enabling discoveries that have shaped disciplines, influenced society and enriched cultural life. Across the full hundred years of the Trust’s history, it is impossible not to be struck by the extraordinary range of individuals whose work we have been privileged to support. The list is as eclectic as it is distinguished: J.R.R. Tolkien, whose scholarship and storytelling reshaped modern literature; Richard Attenborough, whose creative vision influenced generations; Mary Beard, whose insights have transformed public understanding of the ancient world; Roger Penrose, whose scientific brilliance has expanded our grasp of the universe; Robert Macfarlane, whose writing has redefined our relationship with landscape; Kostya Novoselov, whose groundbreaking research opened entirely new scientific possibilities. These are only a handful of the thousands of scholars, researchers and artists who have benefitted from the Trust’s support and whose work has enriched our collective understanding.

With such an illustrious past record, it felt appropriate to mark our first hundred years with a suitably bold contribution to the future. In 2025, we announced a commitment of an additional £100 million to research over the next few years, as a sign of our confidence in the excellence of UK research and our belief that, with the right backing, it will thrive in the coming decades. We intend to invest this sum in a range of our grant schemes, remaining firmly committed to our long-standing mission to support curiosity-driven research and trying to do more to help create the conditions in which research can flourish.

First up in 2026 will be our Leverhulme Centenary Doctoral Scholarships. We will invest a total of £50 million in this programme, supporting more PhD researchers than ever before. This is a timely moment to expand opportunities for early career scholars when doctoral pathways are under increasing pressure. As is the case across most sectors, those who are just starting their careers bring new ideas, energy and perspective – all of which are particularly vital given the rapid changes in the world around us. By supporting these scholars, we hope to play our part in securing the future of the worldclass UK research system.

In 2027, a further portion of the centenary investment will fund a round of Leverhulme Centenary Research Centres. Each centre represents a £10 million commitment across a decade, enabling longterm, ambitious programmes of work that cannot be achieved through short-term grants. In 2025, I was delighted that we were able to add three more to our collection, this time led by researchers from the Arts, Humanities and Social Sciences. These new Leverhulme Research Centres address pressing issues of our time, from examining the algorithmic forms of life that increasingly shape our society, to exploring humanity’s next frontier in space, to confronting the complex and enduring legacies of slavery in war. Each Centre is tackling a profound set of questions that demand interdisciplinary engagement and imaginative thinking. All thirteen of our centres exemplify the Trust’s belief in the benefits of giving scholars the freedom and time they need to pursue big questions.

We will also be investing more in our Research Leadership Awards, with additional grants to be awarded in 2028. These support rising star researchers as they establish themselves as independent leaders, focusing on those we know will ask bold questions, shape new fields and mentor the next generation.

Finally, we have established the Centenary Partnerships Fund, a £10 million commitment that recognises that we cannot transform the research talent pipeline alone. This fund is designed to support partnerships that widen participation, provide pathways into research, and ensure that the opportunities we create reach the full breadth of talent across the UK. This work is central to sustaining research excellence.

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The Leverhulme Trust Registered Charity Number 1159154

I hope it is clear that I am both optimistic about the Trust’s future and immensely proud of what we have already achieved. I am deeply grateful to the academics, reviewers, staff and Trustees whose dedication makes such outstanding work possible. Thank you, as always, for everything you do.

I would also like to offer particular appreciation to Chris Saul, Rudy Markham and Steve Williams, who stepped down as Trustees in 2025 after a combined total of 40 years of remarkable service. So much of what the Trust has accomplished over this period reflects their influence; their contribution has truly been immeasurable. We were also delighted to welcome three new Trustees – Sue Garrard, Richard Slater and Paul McNicholl – who each bring a wealth of experience from different sectors.

Finally, on a personal note, it has been a genuine privilege to lead the Trust during this centenary year, building on the foundations laid by my predecessors – especially our former Chair, Niall FitzGerald. I am sure I speak for all our Trustees when I say that it is profoundly rewarding to be custodians of such a lasting and meaningful legacy.

Alan Jope CBE Chair of the Leverhulme Trust Board

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The Leverhulme Trust Registered Charity Number 1159154

Director’s report

This year marks a milestone in the Trust’s history: over the last century, we have supported researchers in pursuing their questions wherever they may lead. The story of the Trust is, at its heart, the story of remarkable researchers achieving exceptional things.

Yet none of this happens by itself. For a hundred years, the work of the Trust has depended on many people who often sit quietly behind the scenes. Our centenary feels like the right moment to acknowledge and thank them.

Our extraordinary grants and finance teams process around 4,000 applications, award over 600 grants and secure 14,000 peer reviews each year. They support researchers across our twelve schemes and respond to thousands of enquiries from applicants. All of this is achieved by just twenty colleagues. In 2025, they did all this while implementing a new finance system and, when we learned later in the year that our grants management system was being withdrawn from the market, they immediately started the process of arranging a replacement. Their efforts were, and continue to be, truly heroic.

Our communications colleagues also play a vital role in telling the Trust’s story, encouraging a wider public conversation about the value of research, and opening up research pathways to a broader range of talented people. In 2025, they launched our media collection, showcasing a stunning array of research including our Leverhulme Collection, curated by our collaborators EXPeditions. Other key partnerships include supporting the We Society podcast to engage with research addressing today’s biggest challenges and the British Academy Early Career podcast, which provides advice to those at the beginning of their research careers. The team strengthened our presence on LinkedIn and Bluesky, helping us spread the word about our grants and grant-making. A series of fascinating public events, including our annual lecture delivered by Professor Sarah-Jayne Blakemore on the teenage mind, helped us connect the wider community to the research we fund.

At the heart of our work are our peer reviewers and panel members: their commitment, care and expertise form the backbone of the Trust. Their enthusiasm and willingness to undertake this community-building work is genuinely inspiring. We are very mindful of the demands on academics in terms of peer review and are currently reviewing our processes to reduce these burdens as much as we can.

Guiding everything is our Trust Board, who give their time so generously. Serving as a Leverhulme Trustee is no small undertaking – it requires reading hundreds of pages of detailed proposals and engaging with ideas from every corner of the academic world. We benefit enormously from their varied skills, from legal insight to strategic judgement. Working closely with the Trustees, I build on the legacy of many brilliant predecessors whose decisions helped make the Trust such a valued part of the UK research landscape.

Throughout our history, the Trust has remained committed to blue skies discovery research but, of course, we also respond to the needs of the moment. Twenty years ago, Professor Sir Richard Brook OBE, as Director, and Michael Angus, as Chair, introduced a theme on Natural Capital and Ecological Wealth in response to growing environmental concerns and the need to prompt research in that area. Ten years ago, under the wise leadership of Chair Niall FitzGerald KBE and Director Gordon Marshall, the Trust recognised the need for longer grants to give large teams the time they needed to address important questions that open new fields of inquiry. They created our hugely successful Leverhulme Research Centre scheme, and our centres have since produced a remarkable body of work.

Under the leadership of our current Chair, Alan Jope CBE, I am proud that we have expanded the Trust’s reach still further and responded to some of the current pressures faced by the sector. We have been able to support more high-quality work across the disciplines, recognising that some subject areas are under particular financial stress. We are funding more centres that will no doubt also have lasting legacies. We are investing in new talent through our expanded doctoral programmes and in mid-career researchers through our Research Leadership Awards. And, no less important, we are improving our schemes and systems to ensure that our grants remain accessible and support talented people across the board.

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The Leverhulme Trust Registered Charity Number 1159154

I hope this report offers a glimpse into the work and the people who make the Trust thrive. I want to express my sincere thanks to our staff, peer reviewers and trustees. The Trust is what it is today because of you.

Professor Anna Vignoles CBE FBA Director

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The Leverhulme Trust Registered Charity Number 1159154

Trustees’ Annual Report – 2025

Legal and administrative details

Established under the Will of the First Viscount Leverhulme.

Trustees Alan Jope CBE (chair) Doug Baillie Susan Garrard – from 1 September 2025 Professor Keith Gull CBE FRS Rudy Markham CMG - until 5 March 2025 Mhairi McEwan Paul McNicholl – from 1 November 2025 Graeme Pitkethly Quintin Price Connie Braams – from 1 June 2026 Christopher Saul – until 31 December 2025 Richard Slater – from 1 September 2025 Keith Weed CBE Dame Sharon White – until 25 June 2025 Steve Williams - until 5 March 2025 Director Professor Anna Vignoles CBE FBA Bankers Barclays Bank PLC, 1 Churchill Place, London, E14 5HP Legal Advisors Maurice Turnor Gardner LLP Third Floor, Tea Auction House, Hay’s Galleria, Counter Street, London SE1 2HD Independent PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP auditors Chartered Accountants and Statutory Auditors 1 Embankment Place, London, WC2N 6RH Custodian Northern Trust 50 Bank Street, Canary Wharf, London, E14 5NT Investment Partners Capital LLP Advisor 4 Orchard Place, London, SW1H 0BF Office Address 1 Pemberton Row, London, EC4A 3BG Tel. 020 7042 9888 Website www.leverhulme.ac.uk Registered 1159154 Charity Number

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The Leverhulme Trust Registered Charity Number 1159154

Trustees’ Annual Report – 2025

The Trustees present their Annual Report and the audited Financial Statements for the year ended 31 December 2025.

History

The Leverhulme Trust is a Registered Charity, Number 1159154, and was constituted as a Charitable Incorporated Organisation (CIO) in the United Kingdom in November 2014. It derives from the Will of the First Viscount Leverhulme (the “Founder”), who died in 1925. He left a proportion of his shares in Lever Brothers Limited upon trust and specified that the beneficiaries of the resulting income should include certain trade charities and the provision of scholarships for such purposes of research and education, being valid charitable purposes, as the Trustees might decide. The shareholding subsequently became one with Unilever PLC.

In November 1983, the High Court approved a declaration of Charitable Trust from the Will which gave each of its two charitable objects an independent existence including its own Unilever PLC shareholding. The eligible trade charities became the concern of the Leverhulme Trade Charities Trust. The Leverhulme Trust, (“the Trust”), from that date, was solely concerned with research and education.

At the conclusion of 2014, the Trustees transferred all the assets, liabilities and undertakings of the previous established Trust to this newly formed CIO, Number 1159154. The objects of the CIO are substantially the same, and the Trust Board members of the previous Trust were the founding Trustees of the CIO.

Objectives and activities

The objective of the Trust is the provision of scholarships and other similar support for education and research in order to fulfil the Founder’s objectives.

The Trustees have set in place a range of activities to meet this objective. The constitution of the Trust places no restriction on the disciplines that are to provide the scholarships for research or education; however, in recognition of the substantial sums provided by other funders of research and scholarship in medicine and related clinical activities, the Trust does not fund in this area. The Trust operates in responsive mode, with the choice of research topic determined by individual applicants.

The Trustees confirm that they have referred to the Charity Commission’s guidance on public benefit when reviewing the Trust’s aims and objectives and in planning future activities and setting the grantmaking policy for the year. The Trust Board meets annually to review its grant-making activities, and to make modifications to the portfolio, where appropriate.

The Trustees have set in place a strategy for achieving the aims and the objectives of the Trust, which consists of making grants across a broad range of schemes, by identifying a broad and inclusive range of individuals who can demonstrate high-quality scholarship, originality, and excellence in their chosen research proposal.

The grant-making policies of the Trust are set out on the Trust’s website. This provides detailed information on how to apply for a grant and explains how awards are administered.

In assessing grant applications for funding, the Trustees use the following criteria to prioritise work of outstanding scholarship:

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The Leverhulme Trust Registered Charity Number 1159154

Trustees’ Annual Report – 2025 (continued)

Objectives and activities (continued)

A second set of criteria reflect the particular values of the Trust and express the Trust Board’s aspiration that the Trust’s funding maintains a distinctive role within the current research funding landscape. Applications are particularly welcomed when they:

All applications to the Trust are subject to the established and robust peer review mechanisms of the academy and higher education sector to identify innovative, original research which meets the Trust’s criteria, as stated above. All decisions are taken in light of the peer review comments received.

Details of the main schemes can be seen in the section ‘Achievements and Performance’ below.

Public benefit

The benefits provided by fulfilling the Founder’s wishes of funding scholarships for education and research are primarily associated with the skills developed by the research, teaching and student communities, as a consequence of the Trust’s awards. This outcome is believed to be well in keeping with the Founder’s intent, namely of public benefit.

Centenary Awards - £100m

In July 2025, the Trust announced a £100m commitment to mark its 100[th] anniversary. This initiative is designed to strengthen the UK’s world-leading research base, support exceptional academic talent, and foster innovative interdisciplinary inquiry. This £100m is in addition to the usual amount awarded of around £120m per annum. The Centenary Awards will provide substantial new support in four key areas: the establishment of large-scale interdisciplinary research centres, expanded doctoral training programmes, enhanced support for mid-career researchers through the Research Leadership Awards scheme, and a new stream of Equity, Diversity and Inclusion (EDI) partnerships.

Achievements and performance

The Trust makes grants across a range of regular schemes, providing support for individuals at a range of career stages, for groups and teams of researchers, and for international collaborations. The majority of these schemes operate annually, while others run triennially or as announced as noted below:

Arts Scholarships – Triennial Schemes

Open to specialist arts training organisations to develop innovative teaching and to provide bursaries for individuals of exceptional talent to develop their skills in the fine and performing arts. Awards range from £40,000 to £695,000.

The Arts Studentship scheme changed in 2024 and now consists of two distinct schemes. These are the Art Scholarship Under 18s and the Art Scholarship Under/Postgraduate. Due to the triennial nature of these schemes, no awards were made under either scheme in 2025. In 2024, the Trust awarded £7.3m under the Art Scholarship Under 18s scheme and £7.7m under the Art Scholarship Under/Postgraduate scheme.

Doctoral Scholarships – Triennial Scheme

This Scheme aims to support doctoral studies in UK universities at a time of growing undergraduate debt and when other sources of funding for doctoral scholarship are under pressure. It is a triennial scheme that last ran in 2023 when £24.4m was awarded. There were no awards in 2025 (2024: £nil).

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The Leverhulme Trust Registered Charity Number 1159154

Trustees’ Annual Report – 2025 (continued)

Achievements and performance (continued)

This scheme will benefit from the additional money from the Centenary Awards when awarded in 2026. The Trust will double its spend on PhD training to £50m, supporting at least 200 PhD students. This includes funding for the new pathway from Master’s to PhD for underrepresented groups. The doctoral training centres will also have scope to attract world-class international students. The awards will enable UK universities to fund up to 24 doctoral scholarships in an interdisciplinary priority research area for that institution and to fund up to 6 master’s degrees for underrepresented groups. Dedicated funding will be provided to support research and training expenses and cohort-building activities.

Early Career Fellowships

Providing a bridge into an academic career for researchers with a proven research record who have not yet held an established academic post. In 2025, the scheme funded 50% of the salary costs of a 3- year academic appointment, with the host institution providing the balance, plus some research costs. The Trust granted £15.5m under this scheme in 2025 (2024: £14.1m).

In July 2025, the Trust announced that it would make further investment in the Early Career Fellowship scheme. From 2026 the scheme will see a reduction in the contribution required by the universities. The Trust will fully fund the first year of fellowships, with matched funding in years two and three. Total funding for this scheme is anticipated to be over £18m in 2026.

Emeritus Fellowships

Providing funding for 3-24 months for senior researchers who have retired from an academic post to enable them to complete a research project and publish the results. Awards are for up to £24,000. The Trust granted £0.5m under this scheme in 2025 (2024: £0.4m).

International Fellowships

Enabling established researchers in UK higher education institutions to spend 3-12 months in overseas research centres, to develop new knowledge, skills and ideas. Up to £50,000 is made available per grant. The Trust awarded £0.7m under this scheme in 2025 (2024: £0.4m).

The Trust announced in 2025 that International Fellowships would be merged with Research Fellowships. International Fellowships will be discontinued as a standalone scheme. The Research Fellowship scheme, however, will continue to support projects with an international research focus.

International Professorships – as announced

To attract world-class research leaders from across the globe to the UK, strengthening the nation's research capacity by filling strategically vital academic positions. Since its inception in 2020, the program has conducted four competitive funding rounds:

The round announced in 2023 and awarded in 2024 was the last round of this scheme.

In accordance with the Trust’s accounting policies, the International Professorship awards are not recognised as expenditure on charitable activities within the year of the initial award. Recognition is deferred until the completion of all necessary legal and administrative formalities and the formal confirmation of the professorial appointment. As of 31 December 2025, these awards remain subject to these conditions.

The below table demonstrates the payments made under this scheme since inception:

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The Leverhulme Trust Registered Charity Number 1159154

Trustees’ Annual Report – 2025 (continued)

Achievements and performance (continued)

Accounted for in Accounted for in Accounted for in
Year of
award		 Number
of awards		 2021 2022 2023 2024 2025
2020 4 £8.7m (2
grants)		 £9.0m (2
grants)		 - -
2021 5 - £7.1m (2
grants)		 £9.2m (2
grants)		 £5.0m (1
grant)
2022 3 - - £10.6m (3
grants)		 -
2024 7 (of which
1 later
withdrew)		 - - - £15.4m (4
grants)		 £7.0m (2
grants)
Value
accrued
in year		 £8.7m £16.1m £19.8m £20.4m £7.0m

Major Research Fellowships

Supporting well-established academics in the humanities and social sciences to focus for 2 or 3 years on a specific piece of significant, original research. The scheme is particularly aimed at those whose day-to-day duties have prevented them from completing a programme of research. Annual replacement costs plus research expenses are in the region of £50,000. The Trust granted £4.7m under this scheme in 2025 (2024: £4.7m).

Philip Leverhulme Prizes

To recognise researchers at an early stage of their career, whose work has already had a significant international impact, and whose future research career is exceptionally promising. £100,000 is provided over two or three years for any research purpose. The Trust granted £3.0m under Philip Leverhulme prizes in 2025 (2024: £3.0m).

Research Centres

To support fundamental cross-disciplinary research across the sciences, humanities and social sciences. This scheme is designed to encourage original research which would establish or reshape a significant field of study and transform understanding of an important topic in contemporary societies. Research centre awards are granted for up to £10,000,000 per institution, to be paid over 10 years. The most recent round of this scheme was focussed on centres that will be led by Arts, Humanities and Social Sciences. Three grants, at £10m each, were awarded in 2025 to be paid over 10 years (2024: £nil), and details of each are given below:

Leverhulme Centre for Algorithmic Life

Durham University, Director: Professor Louise Amoore

This centre aims to change the way we understand and study the interaction between people, machine learning and artificial intelligence algorithms. They focus on two main research questions: What new ways of thinking, seeing and acting arise with modern algorithmic technologies? How do our ideas about what it means to be human change and adapt when we work with these algorithms? The centre’s hub will be based at Durham University, with four collaborating institutions in York, Edinburgh, Amsterdam and North Carolina.

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The Leverhulme Trust Registered Charity Number 1159154

Trustees’ Annual Report – 2025 (continued)

Achievements and performance (continued)

Leverhulme Centre for Humanity and Space

University of Leicester, Director: Professor Andrew Futter

Arts, humanities, and social sciences research is crucial to understanding how we understand, engage with and experience space. This centre will explore four key questions that will form the research strands of the centre: What frameworks are needed to ensure peace, security, and good governance in space? Can space engagement be sustainable and fair and contribute to positive economic, societal and cultural development? What will life and work in space look like, and what will a greater reliance upon space mean for life and work on Earth? How can we represent, communicate, and record the human experience of space and maximise participation in this new frontier? The centre will be based at Space Park Leicester, where global leaders in space research currently operate alongside a range of external partners, which include UK Space Agency and the Leicester-based National Space Centre.

Leverhulme Centre for Research on Slavery in War

King’s College London and University of Nottingham, Director: Dr Maeve Ryan

Nearly 90% of recent armed conflicts have involved some form of slavery. In a world facing proliferating conflicts, this centre will be the first overarching and integrative attempt to understand the slavery–war nexus as it has evolved historically and up to the present, and how slavery in war can be forecasted and tackled – shaping in the process a new interdisciplinary field of study and a step-change towards the global goal of eliminating forced labour, modern slavery, and human trafficking. This centre will operate as a dual-site institution led by King’s College London’s Department of War Studies, with the University of Nottingham’s Rights Lab, the global leader in modern slavery research.

The Trust announced that some of the Centenary £100m will be used to award more Research Centres when this scheme is run again in 2027. These Centres will address the ‘big questions’ of our time and support around 40–50 academics per Centre. They will also promote collaboration with international and non-university partners, as well as include postdoctoral fellowships.

Research Fellowships

Supporting experienced researchers, particularly those whose day-to-day responsibilities have prevented them from completing a programme of research, and open to independent scholars as well as those holding posts in universities. Replacement costs/loss of earnings and research expenses available over 3-24 months. Maximum award £70,000. The Trust granted £8.8m under Research Fellowships in 2025 (2024: £6.6m).

Research Leadership Awards - Triennial Scheme

Supporting researchers with an established university career to build a research team to address a distinct research problem. Up to £1million over 5 years is available to fund research assistants and research students working under the leadership of the award holder, plus associated costs. The Trust granted £13.8m under Research Leadership in 2025 (2024: £nil).

This scheme will also benefit from £20m from the Centenary awards. This enabled an increase in awards in 2025, and the remainder will be awarded in the next round in 2028.

Research Project Grants

These project grants are designed to support novel and original projects led by academics at universities or institutions of higher education. In 2025, the Trust undertook a trial which opened this scheme up to recognised Independent Research Institutes. The grants are available for any research topic, with the choice of theme and research approach left to applicants. A very diverse range of projects is funded under this scheme, covering all academic disciplines, with the exception of medicine. The Trust’s Board also places a strong emphasis on interdisciplinary ideas, though single discipline projects are also supported. The aim of the grant is to provide the Principal Investigator with the means to assemble a research team and to cover the costs of the various activities required to undertake the research. Up to £500,000 over 5 years is available to cover salaries for research and associated costs.

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Trustees’ Annual Report – 2025 (continued)

Achievements and performance (continued)

This is the Trust’s core funding stream, with just under half of the Trust’s funding dedicated to these project awards. Awards in this scheme totalled £47.0m in 2025 (2024: £49.6m).

Study Abroad Studentships

Supporting a period of postgraduate study or research in any overseas country except the USA. Awards offer maintenance, travel and essential research/study costs for between 12 and 24 months. Annual award values average £48,000. The Trust granted £1.7m under Study Abroad Studentships in 2025 (2024: £1.6m).

The Trust announced in 2024 that the Study Abroad Studentships would close after the 2025 round following a review of strategy.

Visiting Professorships

To enable UK institutions to invite an eminent researcher from overseas to enhance the knowledge and skills of academics and students in the host institution. Awards cover maintenance, travel expenses and research costs and last for between 3 and 12 months. Given the variety of individual circumstances, the value of an award can range from under £10,000 to over £125,000, depending on duration. The Trust granted £1.9m under Visiting Professorships in 2025 (2024: £1.8m).

Academy Fellowships/Scholarships

This category includes various schemes. These include Senior Research Fellowships that the Trust funds but that are administered by the British Academy, the Royal Society and the Royal Academy of Engineering and the Small Research Grants scheme run by the British Academy. It also includes the APEX interdisciplinary research grants scheme which is run jointly by the three academies and available for up to three years The Trust is also funding scholarships administered by the Mandela Rhodes Foundation for African scholars to pursue doctoral scholarships in the UK. The total awarded in respect of these schemes was £2.8m in 2025 (2024: £2.7m).

A summary of the value of grants made during the year can be seen in the following table:

Types of schemes 2025 2025 2024 2024
£000 % £000 %
Research Project Grants 46,968 34.2% 49,587 41.2%
Research Centres 30,000 21.8% - 0.0%
**International Professorships ** 6,998 5.1% 20,384 17.0%
**Early Career Fellowships ** 15,504 11.3% 14,112 11.7%
Research Leadership 13,850 10.1% - 0.0%
Arts Scholarship - undergraduate andpostgraduate - 0.0% 7,716 6.4%
Arts Scholarship - under 18 - 0.0% 7,297 6.1%
**Research Fellowships ** 8,814 6.4% 6,576 5.5%
**Major Research Fellowships ** 4,734 3.3% 4,688 3.9%
Leverhulme Prizes 3,000 2.2% 3,000 2.5%
**Academy Fellowships/Scholarships ** 2,848 2.1% 2,652 2.2%
**Visiting Professorships ** 1,912 1.4% 1,818 1.5%
**Study Abroad Studentships ** 1,723 1.3% 1,571 1.3%
**International Fellowships ** 655 0.5% 447 0.4%
**Emeritus Fellowships ** 478 0.3% 406 0.3%
Grants Awarded in Year 137,484 100% 120,254 100%

The number of applications received for consideration for all schemes amounted to 3,932 in 2025 (2024: 3,858). The number of grants which were subsequently made amounted to 658 (2024: 661).

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Trustees’ Annual Report – 2025 (continued)

Achievements and performance (continued)

The Trust maintains a portfolio of diverse awards (see above) which are attractive to the research community. This is demonstrated by the numbers of applications, which remain consistently high across the schemes. For example, across Research Project Grants, Early Career Fellowships, and Research Fellowships, in 2025 we received 1,444, 617 and 649 applications, respectively (2024 – 1,018, 697 and 693 applications, respectively). The selection of successful applications always involves peer review, and most schemes have success rates between 15% and 30%. The Trust is able to disburse its available income without sacrificing quality.

The Trust considers that the current grant levels are in line with the aims and objectives set by the charity.

All grant recipients are required to report both annually (for multi-year awards) and on completion. Final grant reports are reviewed by the Director (some 80% of directly funded grants) or are assessed and reviewed by the appropriate committees or panels to which authority has been delegated. It is not appropriate to set numerical targets for grades (nor to normalise these) due to the range, diversity and nature of the activities being reported on. Research outcomes are described, in the context of the ambitions presented in the original bid, and the outputs listed; particular attention is therefore given to the broad findings and to publications or other forms of dissemination resulting from the award. Academic papers and publications arising from the Trust’s funding are subject to the usual relevant academic peer review process for such publications.

Acknowledgment of Leverhulme support in outputs (journal articles, monographs etc) is a formal requirement of the Trust. Publications arising from Leverhulme grants are also subject to external peer review through the Government’s mechanism (Research Excellence Framework, Research Assessment Exercise prior to this) to assess the research of British higher education institutions (see http://www.ref.ac.uk/). The Trust monitors the impact of its support on the careers of grant recipients via case studies in its Annual Review and in 2026 will be undertaking an external assessment of its Early Career Fellowship scheme. The 2025 Annual Review is available at https://www.leverhulme.ac.uk/annual-review.

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Trustees’ Annual Report – 2025 (continued)

Achievements and performance (continued)

The excellence of UK scholarship is recognised, for example, in the various league tables of the World’s top universities and the standard research metrics (such as citation statistics) which are available for each country. Despite the high volume of applications to the Trust, the Trust has consistently secured appropriate levels of peer review to allow it to meet its objectives, though this has become more challenging given the financial and workload pressures in the sector. The Trust is reviewing its processes to minimise the peer review burden on the sector. The value of the Trust’s activities is enhanced by the funds provided by the Government via the Research Charities Support Fund, which provides a contribution towards university overhead costs.

Peer reviewers / use of volunteers

All grant applications are reviewed by independent experts in the specific field or discipline. This type of peer review is fundamental to evaluating the quality of applications to the Trust. Peer review can take two forms: the provision of written commentary on a project or individual application (voluntary), and the provision of advice on shortlisting and selection as part of a delegated expert panel (paid).

Applicants are required to nominate two to three reviewers for the majority of the Trust’s schemes, which ensures their grants are reviewed by someone who is working in the precise area. In addition, the Trust relies on independent peer review consisting of academics selected for their broad knowledge of the subject area. As a result, and considering the number of applications received every year, the Trust relies on in excess of 6,500 independent peer reviews per annum. For example, for the Research Project Grants (RPG) scheme, 3-6 independent reviewers for each application are sought, in addition to the two nominated reviewers for each project.

No remuneration is given for the provision of nominated or independent written reviews. This is typical in the academic sector, where the provision of (free) reviews has to date been considered a regular part of an academic’s work. The monetary value of such voluntary work is not possible to reliably measure due to the varying numbers of volunteers working across different applications, and the varying amount of review time required per application. As such, no income or expenditure is recorded in the financial statements of the Trust with respect of these services. However, the Trust acknowledges the value of the donated academic services and uses an approach that seeks to minimise the work involved.

Grant system

Following notification from its IT provider, Symplectic, that its support for the current Grants Management System will conclude in December 2026, the Trust undertook a comprehensive selection process for a successor platform during the latter half of 2025. Implementation is now underway, with the aim of launching the new system in time for the autumn 2026 application cycle. To ensure a seamless transition, the Trust is migrating all active grant awards to the new platform. However, as applications in progress cannot be transferred, the 2026 timetables for certain award schemes have been adjusted to accommodate the switchover.

Diversity and inclusion

The Trust is conscious of inequalities in the research ecosystem and is aware that grantees also reflect these inequalities. The Trust convened an Inclusivity Sub-Committee to the Trust Board in 2024 to drive progress and deliver improvements. Monitoring the demographic characteristics of its applicants and awardees is an essential part of the Trust’s efforts on this issue.

The Trust has been collecting information on gender for some time. Here is the most recent data for the main grant schemes for both applicants and awards.

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The Leverhulme Trust Registered Charity Number 1159154

Trustees’ Annual Report – 2025 (continued)

Diversity and Inclusion (continued)

The Trust is still at an early stage of collecting data on ethnicity and being able to analyse it. As such, the data is not disaggregated by scheme. It will be some years before the Trust is able to report on individual Trust schemes, as some only run triennially and others are limited to one application per university.

The aggregate ethnicity data presented below are for applications and awards across nine of the Trust’s funded schemes. These are consistent with the data presented in 2024 and, while there has been an improvement in the numbers of awards to Black academics and those with Mixed ethnic backgrounds, the data still show underrepresentation of Asian and Black ethnic groups. It is worth noting that around 7% of applicants prefer not to disclose this information.

15

The Leverhulme Trust Registered Charity Number 1159154

Trustees’ Annual Report – 2025 (continued)

Diversity and inclusion (continued)

The results underline the need for the Trust to continue focusing on ways to encourage and support applicants from underrepresented groups and to continue to monitor its grant-making processes.

The Trust announced that £10m of the Centenary funds will be allocated to partnerships that support the Trust’s Equity, Diversity and Inclusion objectives and a call for proposals under this scheme was issued early in 2026. The call is restricted to a limited number of charity partners and invite proposals for pilots to broaden and diversify the talent pool in the UK academic research sector.

16

The Leverhulme Trust Registered Charity Number 1159154

Trustees’ Annual Report – 2025 (continued)

Financial review

The income of the Trust, comprising investment income, amounted to £124.5m in 2025 (2024: £103.7m). The Trust has not carried out any fundraising activities during the year therefore no fundraising disclosures are made.

Grants awarded in the year were £137.5m in line with expectations (2024: £120.3m). A summary by scheme can be seen above under the “Achievements and performance” section of this report and also in Note 3b to the financial statements.

The value of the Trust’s funds at the end of 2025 was £4,137m (2024: £4,006m).

The Trustees consider that there are no material uncertainties about the Charity’s ability to continue as a going concern due to the liquid nature of the Trust’s investment portfolio.

Investment policy and performance

The Trust has an investment policy. This sets out that the purpose of the investment portfolio is to fund the Leverhulme Trust’s scholarships and other support for research and education, and within the agreed risk tolerance of the Trust, to aim to maintain the real value of the endowment over the very long term.

At 31 December 2025, the Trust’s total investments of £4,474m (2024: £4,332m) comprised:

The Trust targets a minimum total return over the longer-term net of fees, currently 7%, to protect the portfolio’s real value (with inflation measured by UK CPI) after funding an annual withdrawal of 3%.

Over the three years to 31 December 2025, the total return on the Trust’s investments was 7.9% (Unilever 6.4%, other investments 9.5%). Over the three years to 31 December 2024, the total return on the Trust’s investments was 6.6% (Unilever 8.7%, other investments 4.6%).

In 2025 the Trust’s investments (net of fees) returned 6.1% (2024:18.3%).

Changes in the portfolio in 2025

In December 2025, Unilever PLC completed the demerger of its Ice Cream business, after which all shareholders received one new share in the newly formed entity, The Magnum Ice Cream Company N.V. (TMICC), for every five shares held in Unilever PLC. Concurrent with this demerger, Unilever PLC underwent a share consolidation to maintain share price stability, replacing 9 shares previously held with 8 new shares.

Following the demerger, the shares held by the Trust in TMICC were sold in their entirety. The sale of the 9,386,236.40 shares held by the Trust realised proceeds of £103.2m which were reinvested into an Exchange Traded Fund, iShares EuroStoxx 50 ETF, to ensure continued market exposure and diversification. As of 31 December 2025, the Fund was valued at £102.5m.

2025 - £m 2024 - £m Total return Change in value
on balance sheet
£m
Unilever shareholding 2,027 2,134 3.4% (107)
iShares EuroStoxx 50 ETF 103 - (0.8%) 103
Partners Capital managed
portfolio		 2,344 2,198 8.9% 146
Total 4,474 4,332 6.1% 142

The Leverhulme Trust Registered Charity Number 1159154

Trustees’ Annual Report – 2025 (continued)

Investment policy and performance (continued)

The Trust incorporates responsible investment best practices into investment decision making. It believes that by engaging in a broad set of extra-financial considerations – including environmental, social and governance (ESG) issues – the long-term financial performance of the portfolio can be sustained with potential for improvement. The Trust’s approach is to operate a set of principles that reflect its values and to apply them with common sense and a measure of pragmatism, as well as to ensure that it remains cognisant of changes and trends in investment markets and in society at large. It seeks impact through its grant giving for academic scholarship. The investment of its funds to provide these scholarships means that investment decisions are predominately driven by economic return.

Risk management

During the year, the Trust Board’s Risk Committee continued to monitor both operational and strategic risks and ensured that the risk register was kept up to date. The Risk Committee will continue to review all risks and make recommendations to the Trust Board which reviews the key risks on an annual basis.

The Trustees consider that sustained underperformance in the Trust’s Unilever shareholding and/or the portfolio managed by Partners Capital would lead to a significant reduction in funds available in the medium term for distribution by the Trust. Steps taken to mitigate this risk include ongoing review of Unilever performance and, in relation to the portfolio managed by Partners Capital, the adoption of a risk-based Investment Policy Statement by the Trust with a focus on asset class diversification and total return and regular monitoring by the Trust’s Investment Committee.

Other principal risks to the implementation of the Trust’s strategy concern cyber security, the relationships with its applicant and peer review communities and in 2026 risks relating to the need to implement a new grant management system.

There is a risk that the Trust suffers a significant data breach or operational disruption due to a malicious cyber-attack. To mitigate this risk, the Trust has implemented a comprehensive suite of technical controls. These include Firewall, Secure Configuration, User Access Control, Malware Protection, and Patch Management. Additionally, the Trust has deployed software for mobile device management and application control, ensuring that all devices comply with security policies. Encryption has been implemented to protect data on all devices, providing an additional layer of security against unauthorised access. These measures have been assured by an external party, enabling the Trust to achieve Cyber Essentials Plus certification.

The success of the strategy of the Trust is also dependent on the Trust’s ability to attract sufficient numbers and quality of applicants, and to be able to rely on the goodwill of its peer reviewers. Steps to mitigate these risks include the regular review and refreshing of the Trust’s portfolio of grant schemes, undertaken at the annual Strategy Meeting. The Trust Board also engages in regular horizonscanning of the academic landscape, while continuing to engage and maintain relationships with the academic community through regular formal and informal meetings and activities, both with its committees and panels and with the broader academic community.

During 2025, the provider of the Trust’s grant system decided to retire the system by 31 December 2026. The Trust has chosen a third party to develop a new grant system that will need to be implemented during 2026. The Trust therefore faces risks around how this system is developed and implemented. The Trust has brought in skilled contractors to work on the project and will ensure Trust staff devote sufficient time to the design, implementation and testing of the new system. Extensive testing will be done before migrating to the new grant system and the timetable, though externally imposed to a great extent, has been planned to reduce risks to the Trust’s major schemes.

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The Leverhulme Trust Registered Charity Number 1159154

Trustees’ Annual Report – 2025 (continued)

Reserves policy

The Trust aims to at least maintain the real value of the level of reserves over the long term and to maintain sufficient liquidity to meet its commitments. The Trust’s target return for its investments of 7% over the longer-term with a planned 3% annual withdrawal has been set with a view to achieving this policy target. The free reserve balance (which excludes the Trust’s tangible and intangible assets) at 31 December 2025 was £4,136m (2024: £4,006m) in line with the target.

Plans for future periods

The Trustees have agreed that annual withdrawals will be made from the Trust’s investments at a rate of 3% of the five-year rolling average value each year. The five-year average value of the Trust’s investments on 31 December 2025 was £4,065m, thus the Trustees have agreed to spend, on average, £120m per annum over the next five years. Annual spend year on year will vary based on annual activities, and the Trustees will continue to monitor the demand for existing programmes and to develop new programmes and schemes.

The Trust Board has additionally decided to mark the Centenary of the Trust with an additional £100m investment in the Trust’s existing schemes, with the majority of the additional funding to be invested in doctoral scholarships, research centres and mid-career grants (Research Leadership). This investment will help ensure a strong pool of early and mid-career researchers in the sector, as well as enable decade-long investments in blue skies risky research at the frontier of academic fields. The Board has also committed to reducing the costs of its Early Career Fellowship (ECF) scheme for universities in 2026. It is currently a co-funded scheme and given the financial challenges in the sector, some reduction in the burden on institutions was felt needed. The additional investment in the ECF scheme has partly been enabled by ceasing one of the less popular schemes, the Study Abroad Studentships, and incorporating International Fellowships into Research Fellowships. In summary, it is anticipated that the additional investments and changes to the Trust schemes will sustain the strong quality and quantity of applications to the Trust, even in a time of difficulty for universities.

The Leverhulme Trust's main objectives for 2026 are:

Structure, governance and management

The Trustees who served during the year and up to the date of the approval of the Annual Report, are listed on page 6.

The Trustees, who receive no remuneration for their services, meet four times annually. Details of Trustee expenses and any related party transactions are disclosed in the notes to the financial statements (notes 3d and 9).

19

The Leverhulme Trust Registered Charity Number 1159154

Trustees’ Annual Report – 2025 (continued)

Structure, governance and management (continued)

The Trust’s induction for new trustees aims to cover understanding the Trust and its grant schemes, learning about the higher education sector and the research funding landscape and understanding the role of a charity trustee. Trustee induction includes discussions with existing trustees and Trust senior management, meetings with senior academics from the Trust’s peer review panels, visits to universities as well as the provision of key documents from the Trust and Charity Commission and some online training. Ongoing training for trustees includes visits to universities, further meetings with senior academics and updates from the Executive staff on the state of the higher education sector and briefings on changes in the charity sector and its regulation resulting from the Trust’s membership of sector bodies such as the Association of Charitable Foundations and the Charity Finance Group.

The Director of the Trust is Professor Anna Vignoles. The Trustees consider the Board of Trustees, together with the Director, Director of Finance, and Assistant Director (Deputy Director from 1 January 2026) of the Trust comprise the key management personnel of the charity in charge of directing and controlling the charity and running and operating the charity on a daily basis. As at 31 December 2025, the Trust had 19 other staff who are accountable to the Director. All staff members are involved in the delivery of the Trust’s grant-making activities.

The pay of the key management personnel and of the Trust’s staff is reviewed annually by the Trust Board’s Nominations and Remuneration Committee in light of changes to prices and average earnings. Remuneration levels are also periodically benchmarked against other similar organisations.

The remuneration of the key management personnel consists of fixed salary, variable pay and pension payments. The variable pay is determined on performance against agreed objectives. Remuneration levels are set in relation to that required to attract and retain the quality of executive needed to run a Foundation of its size and complexity effectively and efficiently.

The Trust Board has five committees and an advisory panel:

The Committee’s remit is to make recommendations to the Trustees regarding the investments of the Trust. The external member positions are remunerated.

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The Leverhulme Trust Registered Charity Number 1159154

Trustees’ Annual Report – 2025 (continued)

Structure, governance and management (continued)

The Trust is a member of the Association of Charitable Foundations (ACF). The ACF provides helpful information on good practice, changes in the law affecting charitable foundations, and acts as an authoritative lobby on behalf of its members with Government and regulators.

21

The Leverhulme Trust Registered Charity Number 1159154

Trustees’ Annual Report – 2025 (continued)

Statement of Trustees’ Responsibilities

The Trustees are responsible for preparing the Trustees’ Annual Report and the financial statements in accordance with applicable law and United Kingdom Accounting Standards (United Kingdom Generally Accepted Accounting Practice).

The law applicable to charities in England and Wales requires the Trustees to prepare financial statements for each financial year which give a true and fair view of the state of affairs of the charity and of the incoming resources and application of resources of the charity for that period.

In preparing these financial statements, the Trustees are required to:

The Trustees are responsible for keeping proper accounting records that disclose with reasonable accuracy at any time the financial position of the charity and enable them to ensure that the financial statements comply with the Charities Act 2011 and The Charities (Accounts and Reports) Regulations 2008. 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.

The Trustees are responsible for the maintenance and integrity of the charity and financial information included on the charity’s website, www.leverhulme.ac.uk. Legislation in the United Kingdom governing the preparation and dissemination of financial statements may differ from legislation in other jurisdictions.

In the case of each Trustee in office at the date the Trustees’ Annual Report is approved: so far as the Trustee is aware, (a) there is no relevant audit information of which the Trust’s auditors are unaware; and (b) they have taken all the steps that they ought to have taken as a Trustee in order to make themselves aware of any relevant audit information and to establish that the Trust’s auditors are aware of that information.

The Trustees’ Annual Report on pages 6 to 22 was approved by the Trustees and signed on their behalf by:

Alan Jope CBE (Trustee Chair)

31 July 2026

1 Pemberton Row London EC4A 3BG Registered charity number: 1159154

22

The Leverhulme Trust Registered Charity Number 1159154

Independent auditors’ report to the trustees of The Leverhulme Trust

Report on the audit of the financial statements

Opinion

In our opinion, The Leverhulme Trust’s financial statements (the “financial statements”):

We have audited the financial statements, included within the Trustees’ Annual Report and Financial Statements (the “Annual Report”), which comprise:

Basis for opinion

We conducted our audit in accordance with International Standards on Auditing (UK) (“ISAs (UK)”) and applicable law. Our responsibilities under ISAs (UK) are further described in the Auditors’ responsibilities for the audit of the financial statements section of our report. We believe that the audit evidence we have obtained is sufficient and appropriate to provide a basis for our opinion.

Independence

We remained independent of the charity in accordance with the ethical requirements that are relevant to our audit of the financial statements in the UK, which includes the FRC’s Ethical Standard and we have fulfilled our other ethical responsibilities in accordance with these requirements.

Conclusions relating to going concern

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 charity’s ability to continue as a going concern for a period of at least twelve months from the date on which the financial statements are authorised for issue.

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.

However, because not all future events or conditions can be predicted, this conclusion is not a guarantee as to the charity’s ability to continue as a going concern.

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

Reporting on other information

The other information comprises all of the information in the Annual Report other than the financial statements and our auditors’ report thereon. The trustees are responsible for the other information. Our opinion on the financial statements does not cover the other information and, accordingly, we do not express an audit opinion or, except to the extent explicitly stated in this report, any form of assurance thereon.

In connection with our audit of the financial statements, 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 audit, or otherwise appears to be materially misstated. If we identify an apparent material inconsistency or material misstatement, we are required to perform procedures to conclude whether there is a material misstatement of the financial statements or a material misstatement of the other information. 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 based on these responsibilities.

23

The Leverhulme Trust Registered Charity Number 1159154

With respect to the Trustees’ Annual Report, we also considered whether the disclosures required by the Charities Act 2011 have been included.

Based on our work undertaken in the course of the audit, the Charities Act 2011 requires us to also report certain opinions and matters as described below.

Trustees’ Annual Report

In our opinion, based on work undertaken in the course of the audit, the information given in the Trustees’ Annual Report for the year ended 31 December 2025 is consistent with the financial statements and has been prepared in accordance with applicable legal requirements.

In light of the knowledge and understanding of the charity and its environment obtained in the course of the audit, we did not identify any material misstatements in the Trustees’ Annual Report.

Responsibilities for the financial statements and the audit

Responsibilities of the trustees for the financial statements

As explained more fully in the Statement of Trustees’ Responsibilities, the trustees are responsible for the preparation of the financial statements in accordance with the applicable framework and for being satisfied that they give a true and fair view. The trustees are also responsible for such internal control as they 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 charity’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 charity or to cease operations, or have no realistic alternative but to do so.

Auditors’ responsibilities for the audit of the financial statements

We are eligible to act and have been appointed as auditors under section 144 of the Charities Act 2011 and report in accordance with the Act and relevant regulations made or having effect thereunder.

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 auditors’ 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.

Based on our understanding of the charity and the environment in which it operates, we identified that the principal risks of non-compliance with laws and regulations related to the Charities Act 2011 and relevant regulations made or having an effect thereunder, and we considered the extent to which non-compliance might have a material effect on the financial statements. We also considered the direct impact of these laws and regulations on the financial statements. We evaluated management’s incentives and opportunities for fraudulent manipulation of the financial statements (including the risk of override of controls), and determined that the principal risks were related to posting of inappropriate journal entries to conceal misappropriation of assets or manipulate financial results. Audit procedures performed by the engagement team included:

There are inherent limitations in the audit procedures described above. We are less likely to become aware of instances of non-compliance with laws and regulations that are not closely related to events and transactions reflected in the financial statements. Also, the risk of not detecting a material misstatement due to fraud is higher

24

tbantbe riskof llgt detectillg oneTesulting eT[or.￿fraud mayiDvofvedebTherateconce4lmentby.forexample, foryery or intentioual misrepresentaitODS. or through Ixgllusion. Afurther description of our respotjsibilities forthe audit ofthefjnancial statements islocated on the FRC'6 website at: www.froorg.uk/auditorsrespon8ibilities. This desertption fonns part of our auditors. report. Use of this report This retx)rt, indudingthe opinions. has beeD PTepaTedforand onty forthe ￿￿E]￿S trustett as abody in accordance with section 144 of theCharitiesAct 2011 and regulations madeulldersertitsn ￿ of thatAtt (Part 4ofThe Charities IAetOllDts and Reports) Rwlation8 2008) and for llo other pur￿)SO We do Dot. in giving these opinions, accept or assume responsibÉlity for any other purpose or to atsy other persoll to whom this repjrt is shown or into whose hAnds St may come Gavewbere expT¢&sty agreed by our prior eonsent in writing. Other required reporting Charltles Act 2011 exception reportins Underthe Charities Act 20ll we are required to reportto you if. its ouropilliott.. we have not received the iDfoTmatioD and explaDatiOn8we reqlli￿ foTour audit: or Bufficient accounting reo)rd8 bave not been kept bythe t￿lty. or the finAlleial statements are Dot in ogreemeDt with theac(x>untiDg Tecord8. We have DO exceptions to report ari8iDgfrom this resw>ttsibilrty. Pricowaterhou8eCooper8 LLP Chartertd Acts)untthttts StstutoryAuditors t#)ndon Date.. 25

The Leverhulme Trust Registered Charity Number 1159154

Statement of Financial Activities for the year ended 31 December 2025


Note
Income and endowments from:
- Investment income
2
Total income and endowments
Expenditure on:
Raising funds
- Investment management costs
Charitable activities
3b
Total expenditure
Net expenditure before net gains on investments
Net gains on investments
6c
Net income and net movement in funds
Reconciliation of funds:
Total funds brought forward
Total funds carried forward		 2025
£000
124,467
124,467
3,857
135,205
139,062
(14,595)
145,547
130,952
4,006,355
4,137,307		 2024
£000
103,690
103,690
3,454
114,455
117,909
(14,219)
582,053
567,834
3,438,521
4,006,355

The notes on pages 29 to 46 form part of these financial statements.

26

The Leverhulme Trust Registered Charity Number 1159154

Balance Sheet as at 31 December 2025

Balance Sheet as at 31 December 2025

Note
Fixed assets:
Tangible assets
4
Intangible assets
5
Investments
- Investment in shares in Unilever
PLC
6a
- Other investments
6b
Total fixed assets
Current assets:
Debtors
7
Cash at bank and in hand
Total current assets
Liabilities:
Creditors: amounts falling due within
one year
8
Net current liabilities
Total assets less current liabilities
Creditors: amounts falling due after one
year
8
Total net assets
The funds of the Charity
Unrestricted funds
Total Charity funds		 2025
£000
2,027,218
2,446,521
831
2,423
3,254
(202,036)		 702
634
4,473,739
4,475,075
(198,782)		 2024
£000
822
-
2,134,430
2,198,159
4,332,589
4,333,411
1,017
1,939
2,956
(200,429)
(197,473)
4,135,938
(129,583)
4,006,355
4,006,355
4,006,355
831
2,423		 1,017
1,939
3,254
(202,036)		 2,956
(200,429)
4,276,293
(138,986)		 4,135,938
(129,583)
4,137,307 4,006,355
4,137,307 4,006,355
4,137,307 4,006,355

The notes on pages 29 to 46 form part of these financial statements.

The financial statements on pages 26 to 46 were approved and authorised for issue by the Trustees and signed on their behalf by:

Alan Jope CBE Trustee Chair

31 July 2026

27

The Leverhulme Trust Registered Charity Number 1159154

Cash Flow Statement for the year ended 31 December 2025

2025 2024
£000 £000
Cash flows from operating activities:
Net cash used in operating activities (a) (123,866) (107,692)
Cash flows from investing activities:
Acquisition of tangible fixed assets - (22)
Acquisition of intangible fixed assets (634) -
Dividends and interest 124,591 103,874
Investment management costs – cash
element		 (26) (451)
Purchase of investments (657,343) (598,903)
Proceeds from sale of investments 621,274 674,942
Cash inflow/ (outflow) from foreign exchange
hedging		 23,553 (3,657)
Decrease / (Increase) in cash held by
investment managers		 12,935 (69,000)
Net cash provided by investing activities 124,350 106,783
Change in cash and cash equivalents in the year 484 (909)
Cash and cash equivalents brought forward 1,939 2,848
Cash and cash equivalents carried forward 2,423 1,939
a) Reconciliation of net expenditure to net cash flow used in operating activities
Net income and movement in funds for the reporting year
(as per the statement of financial activities)		 130,952 567,834
Adjustments for:
Dividends and interest (124,467) (103,690)
Net gains on investments (145,547) (582,053)
Investment management costs 3,762 3,238
Increase in creditors 11,252 6,775
Decrease in prepayments 62 88
Depreciation 120 116
Net cash used in operating activities (123,866) (107,692)
b) Analysis of changes in net cash/(debt)
Net cash at 1 January 1,939 2,848
Net cash inflow / (outflow) 484 (909)
Net cash at 31 December 2,423 1,939

The notes on pages 29 to 46 form part of these financial statements.

28

The Leverhulme Trust Registered Charity Number 1159154

Notes to the Financial Statements

1 Accounting policies

Basis of preparation of the financial statements

These financial statements of The Leverhulme Trust (the “Trust”) have been prepared in accordance with applicable accounting standards in the United Kingdom (FRS102), the Charities SORP (FRS 102) second edition October 2019 and the Charities Act 2011. The financial statements have been prepared under the historical cost convention, with the exception of investments which are included at fair value. The Trust’s functional currency and presentational currency is Pounds Sterling (GBP).

The Trustees consider that there are no material uncertainties about the Charity’s ability to continue as a going concern due to the liquid nature of the Trust’s investments.

The financial statements have been prepared to give a ‘true and fair’ view and have departed from The Charities (Accounts and Reports) Regulations 2008 only to the extent required to provide a ‘true and fair view’. This departure has involved following the Charities SORP (FRS 102) second edition October 2019.

The Trust constitutes a public benefit entity as defined by FRS102.

Significant judgements and estimates

In preparing the financial statements, accounting estimates and judgements are made. A significant area of judgement is that the liability from multi-year grant commitments is recognised in full at the point of the grant award as there is not deemed to be performance related conditions that prevent recognition of the expenditure.

All Leverhulme Research centres are subject to a 5-year review. The Trustees do not deem this to be a performance related condition that prevents recognition of the expenditure.

The only estimate that has a significant risk of causing a material adjustment to the carrying amount of assets and liabilities within the next financial year is related to the valuation of the Trust's investments and, in particular, those classified as Level 2 and Level 3 of the fair value hierarchy.

As at 31 December 2025, the Trust held investments valued at a total of £387.3m classified as Level 3 within the fair value hierarchy. As these assets do not have a cleared market price, their valuation requires significant judgment.

The Trustees, advised by Partners Capital LLP, determine fair value by applying valuation techniques that prioritise observable market data where available, but rely on unobservable inputs (such as discounted cash flows and earnings multiples) where it is not. The most significant estimates relate to the selection of peer group multiples and the assessment of the underlying asset performance since the last available audited accounts of the funds.

The Trust also estimates the allocation of support costs between expenditure on charitable activities and raising funds and estimates the allocation to each grant activity. This estimate is apportioned on the basis of staff time spent on activities in line with the methods prescribed by the Charities SORP. Details of this allocation are included within note 3.

A summary of the principal accounting policies, which have been applied consistently, is set out below.

Fund structure

The funds of the charity are unrestricted and are fully expendable at the discretion of the Trustees.

Incoming resources

Incoming resources are recognised when the Trust has entitlement to the resources, it is probable that the resources will be received and the monetary value of the incoming resources can be measured with sufficient reliability.

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The Leverhulme Trust Registered Charity Number 1159154

Notes to the Financial Statements (continued)

1 Accounting policies (continued)

Investment income represents dividends and interest on fixed investments and deposits, with any associated tax credits or recoverable taxation, which are included on an accruals basis. Dividends are recognised when declared.

Where investment income from pooled investment vehicles is re-invested it is accounted for in the unit price and recognised within net gains / (losses) on investments in the period. Class action settlement payments received in respect of historical holdings are recognised as realised gains in the period of receipt, as they represent a restoration of capital value rather than a recurring yield.

Expenditure

All expenditure is accounted for on an accruals basis and is classified under the relevant activity within the Statement of Financial Activities.

Resources expended

Liabilities are recognised as resources expended when there is a legal or constructive obligation committing the Trust to the expenditure. At the end of a grant, a liability is recognised until after a final report is received from the grant recipient and is accepted by the Trust. At which point any balance can be written off and credited to grant funding activity within charitable expenditure disclosed in note 3b (adjustments on prior year grant awards.)

Raising funds

The cost of raising funds consists of investment management fees and investment governance costs. The apportionment of support costs to investment governance costs is shown in note 3.

Investment management fees are reported gross of fees directly attributable to the primary manager, Partners Capital. In addition to the direct transaction costs, indirect costs are incurred, for example fees within underlying third-party collective pooled investment schemes through the bid-offer spread and other charges made within those vehicles. Such fees and costs are reported within investment gains/losses. Negotiated rebates received from third-party managers are recognised as a credit against management costs to reflect the actual net expenditure incurred by the Trust.

During 2025, a total of £252,000 of such rebates were netted off against investment management fees (2024: £505,000).

Charitable activities

The cost of charitable activities consists of grants awarded, governance costs and an apportionment of support costs as shown in note 3.

Financial liabilities

Grants, both single and multi-year, are recognised in the financial statements as liabilities after they have been approved by the Trustees, the recipients have been notified and there are no further terms and conditions to be fulfilled which are within the control of the Trust. In these circumstances there is a valid expectation by the recipients that they will receive the grant. Grants greater than one year are not amortised due to the impact not being material. Grants payable within one year are the estimated maximum amounts due.

Grants amounts that have been approved by the Trustees for specific purposes in future years, but have not been allocated to, or agreed by, specific recipients at year-end are disclosed as commitments.

Tangible fixed assets

Tangible fixed assets acquired with a cost of more than £25,000 are capitalised. Otherwise, they are expensed in the year of acquisition.

Depreciation is applied to fixed assets on a straight-line basis over their expected useful life, less estimated residual value, at the following annual rates:

30

The Leverhulme Trust Registered Charity Number 1159154

Notes to the Financial Statements (continued)

1 Accounting policies (continued)

Leasehold improvements Over remaining length of the lease Furniture, fittings and equipment 10% Audiovisual equipment and computers 33 ⅓%

Depreciation is provided to recognise the useful economic life of the assets. Tangible fixed assets are stated at historic purchase cost less accumulated depreciation.

Intangible assets

Intangible fixed assets acquired with a cost of more than £25,000 are capitalised. Otherwise, they are expensed in the year of acquisition.

Intangible fixed assets are stated at cost less accumulated amortisation and accumulated impairment losses.

Amortisation is calculated, using the straight-line method, to allocate the depreciable amount of the assets to their residual values over their estimated useful lives, as follows:

• Software development - 3 to 5 years

Software development costs that are directly attributable to the design and testing of identifiable and unique software products controlled by the Trust are recognised as intangible assets when the relevant criteria are met. Costs associated with maintaining computer software are recognised as an expense as incurred.

Where factors, such as technological advancement or changes in market price, indicate that residual value or useful life have changed, the residual value, useful life or amortisation rate are amended prospectively to reflect the new circumstances. The assets are reviewed for impairment if the above factors indicate that the carrying amount may be impaired.

Investments

The Trust has elected to apply the provisions of Section 11 and Section 12 of FRS102 in full. All investments are stated at fair value in the balance sheet of the Trust.

The fair value of listed security investments is bid value. The fair value of unlisted investments uses appropriate fair value principles and techniques determined by the Trustees on the advice of the Investment Advisor, Partners Capital LLP. For these investments fair value is estimated using widely recognised valuation techniques appropriate to the underlying asset, including discounted cash flow analysis and comparable market or transaction multiples. Significant unobservable inputs and assumptions used in these valuation methodologies include discount rates used, default and recovery rates and estimates for multiples of earnings or revenue. For more detail on the fair value measurement of different asset categories is given under Note 6(d) of these financial statements.

Purchases and sales of investments are accounted for on a trade date basis.

Gains and losses arising from changes in the unrealised fair value and on the sale of investments are included in Net gains/(losses) on investments within the Statement of Financial Activities and shown within the unrestricted funds of the Trust on the Balance Sheet.

Forward contracts

Forward contracts are recognised at fair value, being marked to market value at the closing foreign exchange rates at the year end.

Cash and bank balances

Cash and bank balances represent money on deposit and on current accounts with banks with a maturity of less than three months. Cash held by investment managers is included within investments.

31

The Leverhulme Trust Registered Charity Number 1159154

Notes to the Financial Statements (continued)

1 Accounting policies (continued)

Pension scheme

All staff are employed jointly by Unilever U.K. Central Resources Limited and the Trust. Many of the Trust staff participate in the Unilever U.K. Central Resources Limited defined benefit pension scheme, the Unilever UK Pension Fund. More recent staff participate in the Unilever defined contribution scheme. Although the main pension scheme is a defined benefit scheme, as this is a multi-employer scheme, information is not available to ascertain the Trust’s share of the underlying assets and liabilities of the scheme in order to make the appropriate disclosures as required by Section 28 of FRS 102. It is therefore accounted for as if this were a defined contribution scheme. Contributions are recognised as an expense when they are due. Amounts not paid are shown in accruals in the balance sheet.

Share based payments

The Trust staff are jointly employed by Unilever U.K. Central Resources Limited and the Trust. Up to 2024, the Trust provided senior staff with a long-term employee benefit, covered under Unilever’s share-based payments schemes. These are ‘conditional shares’ issued in Unilever PLC. The conditionality relates to the financial performance of Unilever over a 3-year period; and the conditional shares vest at the end of that period, either in whole or in part, depending on the conditions being met. One condition is that the employee is still in employment with Trust and Unilever at the end of the 3-year period. Given the uncertainty over the conditionality and the scale of the value of the benefit, the Trust accounts for this benefit in the year in which the shares vest and the amount, as recharged by Unilever to the Trust, is included in staff costs.

Taxation

The Trust carries on activities which are exempt from corporation tax and income tax. Irrecoverable Value Added Tax is included with the expenditure to which it relates.

Operating lease

Operating lease annual rentals are charged to the Statement of Financial Activities on a straight-line basis over the term of the lease.

Dilapidations provision

As part of the Trust’s property lease arrangement, there is an obligation to repair damages which incur during the life of the lease, such as wear and tear, and a reinstatement specification. The lease period ends in 2032. A provision is recognised when the Trust has a present legal or constructive obligation as a result of past events, it is probable that an outflow of resources will be required to settle the obligation, and the amount of the obligation can be estimated reliably. As such a provision is not expected to be material and give the uncertainty in estimating such an amount, the cost will be charged to the statement of financial activities when it is incurred.

2 Investment income

Dividends from Unilever PLC
Gilt Fund
Inflation Linked Gilt Fund
Global Equities
Private Debt
Property
Cash
Bank interest
Total investment income		 2025
£000
72,771
798
1,828
15,675
32,024
686
657
124,439
28
124,467		 2024
£000
68,895
564
1,674
7,311
21,410
2,838
941
103,633
57
103,690

32

The Leverhulme Trust Registered Charity Number 1159154

Notes to the Financial Statements (continued)

Dividend income from Unilever plc is in respect of ordinary equity shares.

3 Expenditure

3a (i) Allocation of governance and support costs

The breakdown of support costs and how these were allocated between investment, governance and other support costs is shown in the table below:

Cost Type
Staff costs
Accommodation
Other		 2025
2025
2025
2025
2024
2024
2024
2024
Total
allocated
Inv.
Costs
Gov.
Costs
Support
Costs
Total
allocated
Inv.
Costs
Gov.
Costs
Support
Costs
£000
£000
£000
£000
£000
£000
£000
£000
2,252
56
75
2,121
1,912
132
75
1,705
599
15
20
564
364
25
14
325
936
24
31
881
971
67
38
866
3,787
95
126
3,566
3,247
224
127
2,896

Support costs (net of £78,048 (2024: £75,190) recharge to the Leverhulme Trade Charities Trust – see Note 9) are apportioned based on staff time spent on activities. The allocation to Investment Costs is included within Investment management costs on the SOFA.

3a (ii) Governance costs

Audit & Legal
Trustee expenses
Venue hire
Support costs (based on apportioned
staff time per note 3a (i))
Total Governance Costs		 2025
£000
177
7
-
126
310		 2024
£000
123
4
1
127
255

3a (iii) Total Governance and Support Costs

Support Costs (note 3a (i))
Governance Costs (note 3a (ii))		 2025
£000
3,566
310
3,876		 2024
£000
2,896
255
3,151

33

The Leverhulme Trust Registered Charity Number 1159154

Notes to the Financial Statements (continued)

3b Analysis of charitable expenditure

Grant funding during the year plus apportioned support costs are as follows:

Activity
Research Awards Advisory
Committee
Research Projects Grant
Research Centres
Research Leadership
International Professorships
Arts scholarship (UG/PG and
< 18)
Major Research Fellowships
Academy Fellowships/
Scholarships
Prizes
Visiting Professors
Grants awarded
Adjustment on prior year
grant awards
Total Costs		 Grant
funded
activity
Support
and gov.
costs
Total
Grant
funded
activity
Support
and gov.
costs
Total
2025
2025
2025
2024
2024
2024
£000
£000
£000
£000
£000
£000
27,174
809
27,983
23,112
582
23,694
46,968
1,298
48,266
49,587
1,238
50,825
30,000
252
30,252
-
-
-
13,850
398
14,248
-
-
-
6,998
192
7,190
20,384
109
20,493
-
-
-
15,013
338
15,351
4,734
423
5,157
4,688
409
5,097
2,848
53
2,901
2,652
26
2,678
3,000
206
3,206
3,000
205
3,205
1,912
245
2,157
1,818
244
2,062
137,484
3,876
141,360
120,254
3,151
123,405
(6,155)
-
(6,155)
(8,950)
-
(8,950)
131,329
3,876
135,205
111,304
3,151
114,455

Research Awards Advisory Committee include the following grants: Early Career Fellowships, Research Fellowships, the Study Abroad Scheme, Emeritus Fellowships and International Fellowships.

The adjustments on prior year grant awards represents supplements to grants previously awarded, the write back of amounts on closed grants or grants that have been awarded and will not be taken up.

Support and governance costs are apportioned based on staff time spent on activities. (Note 3a).

3c Staff costs

Wages and salaries
Social security costs
Pension costs
Contractors
Other		 2025
£000
1,663
231
215
21
122
2,252		 2024
£000
1,450
178
184
26
74
1,912

Wages and salaries includes the recharge from Unilever PLC for share-based payments of £200k (2024: £149k).

34

The Leverhulme Trust Registered Charity Number 1159154

Notes to the Financial Statements (continued)

3c Staff costs (continued)

The monthly average number of full-time equivalent staff during the year was 18.5 (2024:17.5). All staff are involved in grant making and are employed jointly by Unilever U.K. Central Resources Limited and the Trust with their cost recharged to the Trust. At 31 December 2025, an amount of £21,071 (2024: £35,321) relating to pension contributions remained outstanding. The number of staff who received salaries and other emoluments (excluding pension contributions) over £60,000 was:

2025
Number
2024
Number
£60,001-£70,000 1 -
£80,001-£90,000 - 1
£90,001-£100,000 1 -
£110,001-£120,000 - 1
£130,001-£140,000 - 1
£150,001-£160,000 - 1
£160,001-£170,000 1 -
£190,001-£200,000 1 -
£330,001-£340,000 - 1
£420,001-£430,000 1 -

Unilever U.K. Central Resources Limited operates a defined benefit pension scheme and a defined contribution pension scheme to which £92,899 (2024: £94,500) was contributed by the Trust in relation to higher paid employees.

The defined benefit pension scheme reported an estimated funding level on a technical provisions basis at 31 March 2024 of 113%.

The Trust consider the Board of Trustees, the Director, Director of Finance and Assistant Director (Deputy Director from 1 January 2026) of the Trust comprise the key management personnel of the charity. The total employment benefits including employer pension contributions of the key management personnel was £992,454 (2024: £912,106). The Director is the highest paid member of staff.

From 2021 to 2024, senior staff, including key management personnel, participated in a conditional share scheme run by Unilever PLC, as the staff were jointly employed by Unilever U.K. Central Resources Limited and the Trust. Conditional shares were awarded and these vest 3 years later if Unilever’s financial performance achieves certain thresholds and if the staff member is still employed. Given the uncertainty over the conditionality and in estimating the value of the benefit, the Trust accounts for the benefit when the shares vest. From 1 January 2025, no Trust staff has been given any further conditional shares, but salaries were increased to reflect that this benefit was withdrawn. This means that the financial statements for 2025 and, in future years, 2026 and 2027, reflect a higher cost of senior staff costs as they include the costs of shares awarded in previous years, but vesting in 2025 and, in future years, 2026 and 2027, and the higher salaries awarded to compensate for the withdrawal of this benefit. This also affects the numbers given in the bandings above.

3d Trustee costs

Trustees did not receive any remuneration during the year (2024: nil). Twelve Trustees (2024: Four Trustees) received travelling and subsistence expenses of £6,529 (2024: £4,255).

35

The Leverhulme Trust Registered Charity Number 1159154

Notes to the Financial Statements (continued)

3e Net incoming/(outgoing) resources after charging

3e Net incoming/(outgoing) resources after charging 3e Net incoming/(outgoing) resources after charging
2025
2024
£000
£000
Auditors’ remuneration (excluding non-
recoverable VAT)
96
92
Depreciation
120
116
Operating lease rentals
244
244
4 Tangible assets
Cost
At 1 January
Additions
At 31 December
Depreciation
At 1 January
Charge for year
At 31 December
Net book value
At 31 December 2025
At 31 December 2024		 Leasehold
Improvements
Audiovisual
equipment
and
computers
Total
Total
2025
2025
2025
2024
£000
£000
£000
£000
898
40
938
916
-
-
-
22
898
40
938
938
103
13
116
-
106
14
120
116
209
27
236
116
689
13
702
822
795
27
822
916

36

The Leverhulme Trust Registered Charity Number 1159154

Notes to the Financial Statements (continued)

5 Intangible assets

Intangible assets
Cost
At 1 January
Additions
At 31 December
Amortisation
At 1 January
Charge for year
At 31 December
Net book value
At 31 December 2025
At 31 December 2024		 Software
Development
(WIP)
Total
2025
2025
£000
£000
-
-
634
634
634
634
-
-
-
-
-
-
634
634
-
-

6 Investments

6a Investment in shares in Unilever PLC

As at 1 January
Net Investment (losses) / gains
As at 31 December		 2025
2024
£000
£000
2,134,430
1,783,385
(107,212)
351,045
2,027,218
2,134,430

The fair value of investments held in Unilever PLC shares reflects the market year end share prices. These shares are Level 1 in the fair value hierarchy (as defined in note 6d).

As a result of Unilever PLC’s demerger of its ice-cream business in 2025, the Trust was awarded one share in the newly formed company, The Magnum Ice Cream Company N.V. (TMICC), for every five shares held in Unilever PLC. All net investment gains and losses on holdings in Unilever shares are measured at fair value through the Statement of Financial Activities.

There were no purchases or disposals of Unilever PLC shares in the year (2024: none).

37

The Leverhulme Trust Registered Charity Number 1159154

Notes to the Financial Statements (continued)

Investment in TMICC shares

Following the demerger, the TMICC shares were sold by the Trust in their entirety.

As at 1 January
Additions
Disposals
Net Investment (losses)
As at 31 December		 2025
2024
£000
£000
-
-
105,351
-
(103,234)
-
(2,117)
-
-
-

The additions in the table above comprise the fair value of the TMICC shares awarded to the Trust under the demerger transaction as at that date.

6b Other Investments

Other investments represent two different pools of investments:

a) The proceeds of 100% of TMICC shares sold by the Trust were principally reinvested into an Exchange Traded Fund, iShares EuroStoxx 50 ETF. These shares are managed outside of the Discretionary Management Agreement with Partners Capital LLP).

b) amounts advised and managed by Partners Capital LLP under a Discretionary Management Agreement signed in 2019 and primarily comprising pooled investment vehicles. Investments at fair value - iShares EuroStoxx 50 ETF

As at 1 January
Additions
Net Investment (losses)
As at 31 December
Investments at fair value - Partners Capital
Gilt Fund
Inflation Linked Gilt Fund
Credit
Global Equities
Hedged Equities
Absolute Return
Property
Private Debt
Private Equity
Cash
Forward Foreign Exchange Contracts
Investments		 2025
2024
£000
£000
-
-
103,241
-
(710)
-
102,531
-
2025
2024
£000
£000
86,239
33,739
27,383
28,925
65,611
54,565
941,665
972,487
200,001
159,239
204,487
113,847
62,440
70,540
385,905
401,674
290,885
270,834
65,735
95,527
13,639
(3,218)
2,343,990
2,198,159

38

The Leverhulme Trust Registered Charity Number 1159154

Notes to the Financial Statements (continued)

Movement in total Other Investments
As at 1 January
Purchases
Disposals
Net Investment gains
(Decrease) / Increase in cash held in investments
As at 31 December		 2025
2024
£000
£000
2,198,159
1,973,074
657,343
598,903
(518,040)
(674,942)
121,994
232,124
(12,935)
69,000
2,446,521
2,198,159

The 2025 cash figure includes cash adjustments for pending purchases of £11.2m (2024 - £20.1m) and pending sales of £15.9m (2024 - £52.2m).

The forward foreign exchange contracts balance of £13.6m (2024: negative £3.2m) is the net of pending foreign exchange purchases of £967.6m (2024: £177.0m) and pending foreign exchange sales of £954.0m (2024: £180.2m).

There are no equity holdings in one company greater than 5% of the total of investments in Other Investments. The Trust has entered into commitments to invest in private equity funds. At the balance sheet date outstanding commitments totalled £151.9m (2024: £88.3m).

6c Net gains / (losses) on investments

Net (losses) / gains on Unilever shares
TMICC shares acquired for nil consideration
Net (losses) on TMICC shares
Net gains on Other Investments
Cash gain / (loss) from FX hedging
Cash (loss) from short term liquid
investments
Cash gain from class action payments
Fund-level management charges (deducted
at source)
Net gains in Statement of Financial Activities		 2025
2024
£000
£000
(107,212)
351,045
105,351
-
(2,117)
-
121,994
232,124
118,016
583,169
23,623
(2,608)
(245)
(1,076)
175
27
3,978
2,541
145,547
582,053

Indirect management fees, included within investment net gains/losses, are estimated to be in the region of £46.8m (2024: £41.3m).

6d Recognised fair value measurements

The following table categorises the fair values of the Trust’s investment assets based on the inputs to the fair value. Categorisation within the hierarchy has been determined based on the lowest level input that is significant to the fair value measurement of the relevant asset as follows:

• Level 1 – valued using quoted prices in active markets for identical assets.

• Level 2 – valued by reference to valuation techniques using observable inputs other than quoted prices included within Level 1.

39

The Leverhulme Trust Registered Charity Number 1159154

Notes to the Financial Statements (continued)

• Level 3 – valued by underlying investment managers using widely recognised valuation techniques appropriate to the underlying asset, including discounted cash flow analysis (often employed in the valuation of investments with forecastable cash flows, such as Private Debt) and comparable market or transaction multiples (often used for the valuation of businesses held within Private Equity funds).

2025
Investments
Gilt Fund
Inflation linked Gilt Fund
Credit
Global Equities
Hedged Equities
Absolute Return
Property
Private Debt
Private Equity
Cash
Forward Foreign Exchange Contracts
Total
2024
Investments
Gilt Fund
Inflation linked Gilt Fund
Credit
Global Equities
Hedged Equities
Absolute Return
Property
Private Debt
Private Equity
Cash
Forward Foreign Exchange Contracts
Total		 Level 1
Level 2
Level 3
Total
2025
£000
£000
£000
£000
22,202
64,037
-
86,239
27,383
-
-
27,383
-
65,611
-
65,611
286,751
757,445
-
1,044,196
-
200,001
-
200,001
-
204,487
-
204,487
-
-
62,440
62,440
-
351,954
33,951
385,905
-
-
290,885
290,885
65,735
-
-
65,735
-
13,639
-
13,639
402,071
1,657,174
387,276
2,446,521
Level 1
Level 2
Level 3
Total
2024
£000
£000
£000
£000
33,739
-
-
33,739
28,925
-
-
28,925
-
54,565
-
54,565
176,730
795,757
-
972,487
-
159,239
-
159,239
-
113,847
-
113,847
-
-
70,540
70,540
-
365,061
36,613
401,674
-
-
270,834
270,834
95,527
-
-
95,527
-
(3,218)
-
(3,218)
334,921
1,485,251
377,987
2,198,159

6e Financial Risk Management

Credit Risk: The carrying amounts stated above represents the Trust’s maximum exposure to credit risk therefore further disclosure is not required.

Market Risk: The Trust is exposed to movements in the share price of Unilever PLC. For every 1% reduction in the 31 December 2025 share price of Unilever PLC, the value of the Trust’s shareholding would reduce by £20.3m (2024: £21.3m).

In the remaining portion of its investment portfolio, the Trust’s exposure to movements in equity prices arising is mitigated by diversification. The Trust invests in multiple asset classes with a variety of underlying investment managers.

40

The Leverhulme Trust Registered Charity Number 1159154

Notes to the Financial Statements (continued)

The Trust monitors its equity risk using a risk framework based on beta to equity markets. Exposures to core market risks are converted into one single “equity equivalent” portfolio risk metric. The equity beta at 31 December 2025 was 0.67 (2024: 0.70). Therefore, for a 1% reduction in equity prices the value of the Trust’s other investments would be expected to fall by 0.67% and every 1% reduction in global equity prices would be expected to lead to a reduction of £16.4m at 31 December 2025 (2024: £15.4m) in Charity Funds.

The Trust's objectives, policies and processes for managing the risk arising from financial instruments are further explained in the Trustees' Annual Report.

Currency Risk: The Trust takes a long-term view of the currency risk inherent within a global investment portfolio. The largest non-sterling exposure is to the US Dollar and a 1% weakening of the Dollar against Sterling would be expected to lead to a direct reduction of £5.4m in Charity Funds at 31 December 2025 (2024: £12.7m) although an indirect impact of currency rate movements on the value of non-US Dollar denominated investments would also be expected.

At 31 December 2025, the Trust had the following open foreign currency forward contracts maturing in February, May and August 2026. The sterling equivalent of the nominal values are given at the relevant exchange rate on 31 December 2025:

The aggregate gain associated with these contracts was £13.6m for the year ended 31 December 2025 (2024: loss of £3.22m). The purpose of these derivative contracts is to hedge any unwanted currency exposure within the investment portfolio, to maintain the exposure at the agreed target of 60% GBP.

Valuation Risk: The valuations of Level 3 investments are given by the underlying fund managers, with managers’ pooled vehicles audited annually. Despite this, the valuations are estimates and therefore carry a reasonable level of judgment. If the fair value of these investments increased or decreased by 10% this would increase or decrease unquoted investment balances by £38.7m at 31 December 2025, respectively (2024 - £37.8m, respectively).

Reconciliation of Level 3 movements
As at 1 January
Purchases
Disposals
Net (losses) / gains
As at 31 December
7 Debtors
Amounts falling due within one year:
Accrued investment income
Prepaid administrative expenses
Total		 2025
£000
377,987
31,179
(18,268)
(3,622)
387,276
2025
£000
702
129
831		 2024
£000
319,226
51,730
(9,706)
16,737
377,987
2024
£000
826
191
1,017

41

The Leverhulme Trust Registered Charity Number 1159154

Notes to the Financial Statements (continued)

8 Creditors

Creditors
Grants payable
Accrued investment management fees
Accrued administrative expenses
Total
Amounts falling due within one year
Amounts falling due after more than one year (all grants payable)
Movement in Grant Payable Creditor
As at 1 January
Grants awarded in year
Adjustment to awards in previous years
Cash paid
As at 31 December		 2025
£000
340,292
273
457
341,022
202,036
138,986
2025
£000
329,196
137,484
(6,155)
(120,233)
340,292		 2024
£000
329,196
515
301
330,012
200,429
129,583
2024
£000
322,000
120,254
(8,950)
(104,108)
329,196

9 Related parties

Leverhulme Trade Charities Trust is a connected charity, being a charitable incorporated organisation registered in England and Wales (charity number 1159171). All of the trustees of The Leverhulme Trust are also the trustees of The Leverhulme Trade Charities Trust, and the two entities therefore have the same trustee body. The Trustees’ Annual Report explains the history of the relationship between the Trustees of this Trust and those of the Leverhulme Trade Charities Trust.

Leverhulme Trade Charities Trust does not have any employees but a charge of £78,048 (2024: £75,190) is made by The Leverhulme Trust, whose Assistant Director of Finance, is responsible for the day-to-day administration of the Leverhulme Trade Charities Trust. This charge included an appropriate proportion of overheads incurred by The Leverhulme Trust on behalf of the Leverhulme Trade Charities Trust.

In 2025, the Trust received dividend income of £72,771,491 from Unilever PLC (2024: £68,894,975).

The Trust's investments include £2,027,218,469 worth of ordinary shares held in Unilever PLC (2024: £2,134,430,157).

In addition to the Trust’s direct shareholding in Unilever PLC, the Trust also has an indirect shareholding held within the Trust’s pooled investment vehicles through Partners Capital. At 31 December 2025, this amounted to £3,649k (2024: £4,827k).

Note 6 describes the demerger of Unilever’s Ice Cream business in 2025 and the resultant transactions entered into with and by the Trust.

Staff are jointly employed by Unilever U.K. Central Resources Limited and the Trust with their cost recharged to the Trust. Unilever U.K. Central Resources Limited is a subsidiary of Unilever PLC.

42

The Leverhulme Trust Registered Charity Number 1159154

Notes to the Financial Statements (continued)

10 Commitments

At 31 December 2024, the Trust had annual commitments under an operating lease for its office which was renewed in 2022 for a term ending 24 July 2032. Currently it amounts to £241,434 plus Value Added Tax per annum with a rent-free period in 2022/23 and 2027/28. As at 31 December 2025:

The only grant commitment as at 31 December 2025 was £2.0m related to one Leverhulme International Professorship awarded in 2024 that had not yet satisfied the conditions to be recognised.

In addition, the Trustees had approved the spending levels for various grant schemes for 2026 amounting to £92.4m (at the end of 2024 in respect of 2025: £68.0m). Individual grants will be awarded under these schemes in 2026.

11 Capital Commitments

During the year, the Trust commenced the development of a new Grant Management System to replace the existing legacy infrastructure. As of 31 December 2025, the first phase of the project was completed, and the costs incurred were capitalised under Intangible Assets (see note 5). The Trust has entered into a new agreement with the service providers, effective 1 January 2026, for the next phase of the build, testing, and integration of the system. The estimated cost to complete the project is £2.1m, to be completed prior to the end of the accounting period to 31 December 2026. This would bring the total cost to £2.7m.

12 Events after the reporting period

In November 2025, the Trustees agreed to diversify the Trust’s investment portfolio by reducing its exposure to a single quoted equity holding, in Unilever PLC, to approximately 25% of the overall portfolio.

The resulting sale of 20m Unilever PLC ordinary shares was carried out over a period of approximately 4 weeks from 31 March 2026. The proceeds of £851.2m have principally been reinvested, temporarily, in an exchange traded fund (iShares MSCI ACWI UCITS ETF).

On 31 March 2026, Unilever PLC agreed to spin off its global foods business and merge it with McCormick & Company. As part of the transaction, Unilever PLC’s shareholders will receive a c. 55% equity holding in the newly combined company. The transaction is estimated to close by mid-2027, pending shareholder and regulatory approvals. The announcement significantly and negatively impacted the Unilever PLC share price, affecting the proceeds of the Trust’s sale of shares in Unilever PLC.

The Unilever share sale in 2026 resulted in a realised accounting loss of £120.7m, which will be accounted for in the financial statements for the year ending 31 December 2026.

The above actions took place after the Trust’s reporting date and do not provide evidence of conditions that existed at the balance sheet date. Accordingly, no adjustment has been made to the amounts recorded in the financial statements as at the year end.

43

The Leverhulme Trust Registered Charity Number 1159154

Notes to the Financial Statements (continued)

13 The Trust

The Trust is a registered charity (number 1159154) and is constituted as a Charitable Incorporated Organisation (CIO) in the United Kingdom.

The objects of the CIO are to promote any purpose being exclusively charitable according to the law of England and Wales through the provision of scholarships and other similar support for education and research.

The registered office of the Trust is 1 Pemberton Row, London, EC4A 3BG.

44

The Leverhulme Trust Registered Charity Number 1159154

Notes to the Financial Statements (continued)

14 Grants awarded by institution

4 Grants awarded by institution
2025
Institution
King's College London
Durham University
University of Leicester
University of Edinburgh
University of Sheffield
University of Nottingham
University of Cambridge
University of Oxford
University of Lincoln
University College London
University of Bristol
University of Manchester
Imperial College London
University of Exeter
University of Glasgow
University of Sussex
Queen Mary University of London
Royal Holloway, University of London
Newcastle University
Loughborough University
University of Warwick
Royal Academy of Engineering / Royal Society / British Academy
University of Reading
University of Southampton
University of Bath
University of Birmingham
University of Liverpool
University of Strathclyde
Manchester Metropolitan University
Queen's University Belfast
University of St Andrews
Coventry University
Swansea University
University of Dundee
University of Aberdeen
University of East Anglia
University of Stirling
University of Salford
Lancaster University
University of York
University of the Highlands and Islands
University of Kent
Bolton School
University of Essex
Nottingham Trent University
Cardiff University
Liverpool John Moores University
University of East London
Northumbria University
Institutions below £500,000
Individuals below £500,000		 Number of
awards
Amount £'000
17
11,972
14
11,766
4
10,054
33
6,483
26
6,323
33
5,923
49
5,908
46
5,792
4
5,384
23
4,244
24
3,526
23
3,073
8
2,627
12
2,606
19
2,398
11
2,285
16
2,142
10
2,134
14
2,132
7
1,973
13
1,942
4
1,941
10
1,862
11
1,833
10
1,474
14
1,470
8
1,398
5
1,295
4
1,194
10
1,183
8
1,126
2
1,100
3
1,093
2
1,066
5
1,058
8
1,052
4
982
1
959
5
839
9
796
1
694
5
676
1
596
5
571
3
560
4
547
3
541
2
541
7
530
560
129,664
64
6,096
34
1,724
658
137,484

45

The Leverhulme Trust Registered Charity Number 1159154

Notes to the Financial Statements (continued)

2024
Institution
University College London
University of Warwick
University of Cambridge
University of Huddersfield
University of Edinburgh
University of Oxford
University of Stirling
Durham University
University of Birmingham
University of Liverpool
King's College London
University of St Andrews
University of Manchester
Queen Mary University of London
University of Glasgow
Imperial College London
Royal Academy of Engineering / Royal Society/ British Academy
University of East Anglia
University of Southampton
University of Exeter
University of Nottingham
University of York
University of Sheffield
University of Leicester
University of Leeds
University of Sussex
University of Bristol
Cardiff University
Lancaster University
Nottingham Trent University
Swansea University
Trinity Laban Conservatoire of Music and Dance
Royal Academy of Music
Royal Northern College of Music
University of Lincoln
Guildhall School of Music and Drama
Central School of Ballet
Glasgow School of Art
University of Reading
University of Keele
Royal Central School of Speech and Drama
Queen's University Belfast
University of Kent
Birkbeck, University of London
Royal College of Music
Loughborough University
Open University
Institutions below £500,000
Individuals below £500,000		 Number of
awards
Amount £'000
28
9,888
21
8,081
43
5,249
2
4,969
30
4,396
39
4,239
1
3,981
29
3,846
23
3,554
10
3,283
21
3,056
14
2,757
23
2,677
18
2,561
17
2,512
9
2,414
4
2,316
9
2,262
11
2,199
12
2,126
15
2,024
14
2,002
13
1,976
7
1,644
8
1,366
9
1,363
11
1,330
9
1,162
3
877
5
871
5
847
2
682
2
670
2
649
5
624
2
614
2
604
2
597
5
589
2
564
2
562
5
561
5
559
3
554
2
538
6
507
1
500
511
101,202
116
17,457
34
1,595
661
120,254

46