Our charitable status
The University of Southampton is an exempt charity under the Charities Act 2011. We are a chartered corporation, established by Royal Charter in 1952. Our correspondence address is: University of Southampton, University Road, Southampton, SO17 1BJ.
The Office for Students is the principal regulator of higher education institutions in England that are exempt charities. An exempt charity cannot register with the Charity Commission for England and Wales, the statutory regulator and registrar of charities in England and Wales and therefore does not have a registered charity number. We are still able to obtain certain tax reliefs, such as claiming Gift Aid, and are recognised by HM Revenue and Customs.
The OfS and Commission signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) setting out how they will work together, in their respective regulatory operations and in formulating the regulatory policy framework within which they both work in respect of exempt charities. This MoU is available here. Appendix A shows the University of Southampton as an exempt charity.
Constitutional documents
Our constitution is set out in the University's Charter and Ordinances. The latest version of both documents is available here: The Charter and Ordinances | University of Southampton.
Trustees
The members of the University’s Council are also the charitable trustees of the University. Download a list of the trustees for 2024-25 (PDF) which contains information about their trusteeship of any other charities.
Financial statements
The University’s annual financial statements are available from the Finance website.