Accountability

Annual reports

Each year we publish a review of our research, the data we release, our partnerships and our finances. It is how we account for our work and demonstrate that our independence is protected in practice, not only in principle.

The reviews below cover every full year since the Institute was established in 2021. Each sets out what we published and why, how our editorial standards and independence were applied, and how income was raised and spent. Where a review refers to a specific study, that study is available in full on our publications pages, with its data and methods.

Our finances are reported in full in each review. In the latest year, to 31 December 2025, total income was £6.2 million across a deliberately diversified base, with unrestricted reserves covering a little over four months of expenditure. A summary of where that income comes from is set out on our independence and funding page, and the full audited accounts accompany each report below.

Reports are provided as PDFs. If you need a review in an alternative format, or have a question about anything in it, please contact us.

2025

Published 14 April 2026

Annual Review 2025

A record of the Institute's fifth year, and the one in which its public catalogue opened: the research we began to publish, the data we opened, the partnerships we entered and the finances behind them. The review sets out how our independence was protected across a growing programme of commissioned and grant-funded work, and reports against the objectives we set the previous year.

In this review

The published catalogue opened in 2025 and now holds thirty titles — twelve reports, ten insight papers and eight datasets — each released with its data and methods.
Eight open datasets released under open licences, covering more than 140 countries.
External review completed on every flagship report before release.
Full disclosure of funding for all published research, including grant support from the Meridian Foundation, summarised in the funding register.

Download reportPDF · 72 pp · 3.4 MB

2024

Published 22 April 2025

Annual Review 2024

The fourth-year review documents the broadening of the research programme into health systems and education, alongside continued work on governance and markets, and the standing-up of a dedicated market-research practice. It explains how commissioned market research is kept separate from the Institute's independent research, and accounts for income, expenditure and reserves in full.

In this review

Research programme broadened into health systems and education, with fieldwork under way across all nine areas.
A dedicated market-research practice established, kept separate from the independent research programme.
Research fellowships awarded to five early-career researchers.
Independent audit completed with an unqualified opinion.

Download reportPDF · 68 pp · 3.2 MB

2023

Published 18 April 2024

Annual Review 2023

The third-year review sets out how the Institute matured its editorial standards, established its corrections process and set the terms on which it would later publish data and methods openly. It reports on the year's fieldwork, the partnerships formed across sectors and regions, and the funding that supported the programme.

In this review

Editorial standards and corrections policy formally adopted.
Commitment made to publish data, code and survey instruments under open licences.
External review formalised for the studies then in preparation.
Research active across seven of the nine programmes.

Download reportPDF · 60 pp · 2.9 MB

2022

Published 20 April 2023

Annual Review 2022

The Institute's first full-year review describes how the organisation was established, the governance put in place to protect its independence, and the research programme it set out to build. It accounts for founding grants and early commissioned work, and states the principles that continue to govern our publishing.

In this review

Board of trustees and executive team appointed.
Advisory Council convened to review methodology and study design.
Founding funding and terms of reference disclosed in full.
Research programme scoped across the nine areas we work in today.

Download reportPDF · 48 pp · 2.3 MB

How we protect our independence

Our annual reviews report against the standards we hold ourselves to. You can read those standards, and how they are governed, on our editorial and governance pages.

Research independence Governance