The top-performing charity in this month’s review of the Charity Finance 100 Index is United Learning, which reported a 41% rise in income to £735.6m in the year to 31 August 2023, largely derived from a comparable rise in income from charitable activities to £723.5m.

The increase at the educational charity was due mainly to the acquisition of six new schools during the course of the year. If the income relating to the newly-acquired operations is stripped out of the statement of financial activities (SoFA), then the rate of increase reverts to a perfectly respectable, albeit more modest, 14%.