King's as a charity

The University is an ‘exempt’ charity under Schedule 3 of the Charities Act 2011, for the purposes of UK charity legislation. This means that we are not registered with the Charity Commission and have no charity registration number. Under the Charities Act 2006, King’s and other universities which are exempt charities are regulated by the Office for Students (OfS) as ‘principal regulator’ on behalf of the Commission.

This page provides information which is relevant to the University’s status as a charity, including information which we are required to publish by OfS.

Charitable purposes

The University’s objects as a charity are defined in its Charter and Statutes as “to advance education and promote research for the public benefit”. The current Charter and Statutes were granted in May 2023. The current and previous versions of the Charter and Statutes, and the University’s current Ordinances and Regulations, are available in the Policy Hub and via links from the Governance webpages.

Public benefit

Like other charities, the University is required to demonstrate that its charitable aims are, and are being carried out, for the public benefit. The University is required to include in its Financial Statements a statement of how it has delivered its charitable purposes for the public benefit. The most recent and earlier Financial Statements are available from the financial information page.

Charitable trustees

The College Council, as the University's governing body, are its trustees for the purposes of charity law. The current members of the College Council are identified on the Council’s webpages. A list is available of other charitable trusteeships held by members of the Council, where a Council member has declared that they are also a trustee of another charity.

Legal name and contact address

The University’s legal name is King’s College London. Our postal address and other contact details are available on the Contact Us page of the website.

Enquiries relating to the University’s status as a charity should be directed to the Governance team.