UK education companies in numbers (October 2026)
Key figures compared with the UK
| Measure | This sector | All UK | Difference |
|---|---|---|---|
| Active companies | 104,984 | 5,166,057 | 2.0% of UK |
| Median company age (years) | 4.6 | 5.6 | 18% lower |
| Incorporated in the last 3 years | 38.7% | 34.0% | 4.7 pts higher |
| Filing micro-entity accounts | 32.6% | 32.4% | close to UK |
| Filing dormant accounts | 8.4% | 10.8% | 2.4 pts lower |
| Accounts overdue | 1.5% | 1.8% | 0.3 pts lower |
| Under a proposal to strike off | 5.9% | 7.4% | 1.5 pts lower |
| In liquidation, administration or receivership | 0.8% | 2.0% | 1.2 pts lower |
| With outstanding charges (secured lending) | 5.4% | 12.1% | 6.7 pts lower |
| Median net assets | £1,617 | £3,113 | 48% lower |
| Negative net assets | 19.0% | 18.8% | close to UK |
| Net current liabilities | 31.7% | 36.2% | 4.5 pts lower |
| Median cash at bank | £8,274 | £10k | 18% lower |
| Cash covers creditors due within a year | 48.3% | 35.3% | 13.0 pts higher |
| Holding £100k or more in cash | 17.4% | 20.3% | 2.9 pts lower |
| Median employees (where stated) | 1 | 1 | close to UK |
Balance sheet measures use each active company's most recent machine-readable (iXBRL) accounts with a period ending in 2024 or later: 65,970 companies here (62.8% of active). Net assets 25th to 75th percentile: £1 to £21k. Cash 25th to 75th percentile: £636 to £52k.
What the numbers say
Most education companies are small. The largest codes are 85590 other education n.e.c. (40,629 live companies), which covers tutoring, coaching and training providers, and 85600 educational support services (21,409). Sports and recreation education, cultural education and driving schools follow. Many are one-person businesses run by a tutor or trainer.
Three differences from the UK average stand out:
- Cash: a median cash ratio of 0.97, and in 48.3% of companies cash alone covers current liabilities (UK 35.3%). Fees are often paid up front, per term or per course, and there is little stock or equipment to tie money up.
- Small balance sheets: median net assets of £1,617 and median current liabilities of £5,911, against £3,113 and £13,788. Owner-run tutoring companies tend to pay out profits rather than build reserves.
- Low borrowing and few failures: 5.4% have charges, and only 0.8% of live companies are in an insolvency process, against 2% UK-wide.
Negative net assets are close to the UK figure, at 19.0% against 18.8%, but the trend runs the other way. Education stood at 19.3% for financial years ending in 2014 and 18.9% in 2025, while the UK rose from 16.4% to 18.6%. Fees received in advance count as liabilities until the teaching is delivered, which can push equity below zero for some providers. That is a warning sign, not proof of insolvency; see our guide to negative net assets.
The sector is growing fast: 14,991 active companies were incorporated in 2025, against 3,048 from 2016. Many file as a micro-entity. Compare with health and social work, or check a company before signing a training contract.
Share with negative net assets, 2014 to 2025
Share of accounts with net liabilities (total liabilities larger than total assets) by financial year end, for companies on the live register. Dissolved companies are not included because the register no longer lists their industry, so earlier years show survivors. Negative net assets is a warning sign, not proof of insolvency: see what negative net assets means.
Accounts types filed
| Type of last accounts | Share here | Share UK |
|---|---|---|
| Micro-entity | 32.6% | 32.4% |
| No accounts filed yet | 26.5% | 26.0% |
| Total exemption full | 23.9% | 23.8% |
| Dormant | 8.4% | 10.8% |
| Full (audited) | 3.0% | 1.5% |
| Unaudited abridged | 2.4% | 2.9% |
| Small | 1.7% | 1.2% |
| Group | 0.8% | 0.5% |
The type shows how much a company has to disclose. Micro-entity and abridged accounts contain no profit and loss account on the public record. Read more about accounts categories and micro-entities.
Active companies by year of incorporation
Companies incorporated in each year that are still active today. Younger cohorts are larger partly because older ones have been dissolved.
Most common activity codes
| SIC | Activity | Live companies |
|---|---|---|
| 85590 | Other education n.e.c. | 40,629 |
| 85600 | Educational support services | 21,409 |
| 85510 | Sports and recreation education | 14,197 |
| 85100 | Pre-primary education | 8,835 |
| 85520 | Cultural education | 7,475 |
| 85200 | Primary education | 5,386 |
| 85320 | Technical and vocational secondary education | 3,869 |
| 85530 | Driving school activities | 3,843 |
Methodology
Industry is the first SIC code each company declares on the Companies House register (snapshot 1 October 2026); the dormant placeholder 99999 is excluded. Status, accounts type and due dates come from the register. Financial measures come from our parse of 37 million iXBRL accounts filed since 2008; values above £100bn are treated as extraction errors. Companies filing paper or PDF accounts are not in the balance sheet figures. Full details: methodology.
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