Our charitable status

University of Birmingham Aston Webb building

The University of Birmingham is an ‘exempt charity’ under the Charities Act 1993. This status means that the University is not required to register directly with the Charity Commission, and in turn is not subject to its direct supervision. However, following the Charities Act 2006, from 1 April 2018 the Office for Students became ‘principal regulator’ of the vast majority of Higher Education Institutions in England, including the University of Birmingham.

Almost all British universities have charitable status because their primary purposes of advancing education and research are deemed to deliver a public benefit. This means the University can reclaim Gift Aid on donations, increasing their value by 25%, and that corporation tax does not have to be paid on profits made from research with a social impact.

Our tax-exempt Inland Revenues charities reference number is X7237.