Financial Report

From
the Bursar

Ivan Rockey

I was delighted to be appointed as Bursar and to start work at Keble in April of this year. I am extremely grateful to Stephen Cooke, who retired as Bursar in October 2024, for steering the College’s finances through the COVID-19 pandemic, and to Interim Bursar Tom Polkey for keeping up momentum on key projects. The welcome I received from the whole Keble community has been exceptionally warm, and I look forward to meeting many of you.

Financially, the College recorded another year of steady improvement. A small deficit had been budgeted, but the outcome was a positive cashflow of almost £3m, thanks in large part to donations and legacy income.

An especially generous bequest from the estate of Victoria de Breyne, received over the last two years, has now been designated by the College’s Governing Body: almost £2m to underwrite capital and maintenance projects in the coming years, and £4m towards a sinking fund for the eventual repayment of the £40m, 40-year debt associated with the HB Allen Centre.

Projects during the year included initial works and planning for a major refurbishment of our kitchens and catering facilities, scheduled for 2026-27, and emergency repair and restoration work on two of the chapel’s historic stained-glass windows (requiring elaborate scaffolding inside the chapel, carefully constructed around the organ).

As our finances continue to improve, slowly but steadily, it is clear that our next priority must be to increase investment in our estate, to ensure it remains in good condition and fit for purpose.

Turning to the College’s endowment, this is the permanent fund that underpins many of our activities by generating an annual income to support fellowships, scholarships and bursaries, and other more general purposes. Our total endowment increased last year from £66.3m to £73.5m, driven by new donations and gifts of £1.5m and investment returns of £5.7m.

Total endowment funds
(at 31 July 2025)

£3.7m Other

£15.5m Scholarships & Bursaries

£25.0m General Purposes

£29.3m Fellowships

90% of our endowment is managed by Oxford University Endowment Management (OUEM), with the aim of generating an annual income while forever preserving its value in real terms. Each year we ‘draw down’ 3.5% of the fund’s value (averaged over 5 years), which in 2024-25 meant the endowment contributed £1.7m of income to support our activities.

We are one of Oxford’s largest colleges (by number of students), with annual expenditure of around £19m, but we have one of the smallest endowments (less than one tenth the size of the richest), so we are more reliant than most on philanthropy. The continued generosity of alumni and friends is therefore essential to sustaining our high-quality education and research, and I know that everyone at Keble is profoundly grateful for your support.