Report on the audit of the financial statements.
Opinion
We have audited the financial statements of the University of Derby (“the University”) for the year ended 31 July 2020 which comprise the Consolidated and University Statements of Comprehensive Income and Expenditure, the Consolidated and University Statements of Changes in Reserves, the Statement of Financial Position, the Consolidated Cash Flow Statement and related notes, including the statement of accounting policies.
In our opinion the financial statements:
- give a true and fair view of the state of the Group’s and the University’s affairs as at 31 July 2020, and of the Group’s and the University’s income and expenditure, gains and losses and changes in reserves, and of the Group’s cash flows, for the year then ended;
- have been properly prepared in accordance with UK accounting standards, including FRS 102 The Financial Reporting Standard applicable in the UK and Republic of Ireland, and with the 2019 Statement of Recommended Practice – Accounting for Further and Higher Education;
- meet the requirements of the Accounts Direction dated 25 October 2019 issued by the Office for Students; and
- have been prepared in accordance with the requirements of the Companies Act 2006
Basis for opinion
We conducted our audit in accordance with International Standards on Auditing (UK) (“ISAs (UK)”) and applicable law.Our responsibilities are described below. We have fulfilled our ethical responsibilities under, and are independent of the group in accordance with, UK ethical requirements including the FRC Ethical Standard. We believe that the audit evidence we have obtained is a sufficient and appropriate basis for our opinion.
Going concern
The Governing Council has prepared the financial statements on the going concern basis as they do not intend to liquidate the Group or the University or to cease their operations, and as they have concluded that the Group and the University’s financial position means that this is realistic. They have also concluded that there are no material uncertainties that could have cast significant doubt over their ability to continue as a going concern for at least a year from the date of approval of the financial statements (“the going concern period”).
We are required to report to you if we have concluded that the use of the going concern basis of accounting is inappropriate or there is an undisclosed material uncertainty that may cast significant doubt over the use of that basis for a period of at least a year from the date of approval of the financial statements. In our evaluation of the Governing Council’s conclusions, we considered the inherent risks to the Group’s business model, and analysed how those risks might affect the Group and the University’s financial resources or ability to continue operations over the going concern period. We have nothing to report in these respects.
However, as we cannot predict all future events or conditions and as subsequent events may result in outcomes that are inconsistent with judgements that were reasonable at the time they were made, the absence of reference to a material uncertainty in this auditor’s report is not a guarantee that the Group or the University will continue in operation.
Other Information
The Governing Council is responsible for the other information, which comprises the Strategic Review and the Report of the Governing Council. Our opinion on the financial statements does not cover the other information and, accordingly, we do not express an audit opinion or, except as explicitly stated below, any form of assurance conclusion thereon.
Our responsibility is to read the other information and, in doing so, consider whether, based on our financial statements’ audit work, the information therein is materially misstated or inconsistent with the financial statements or our audit knowledge.
Based solely on that work: we have not identified material misstatements in the other information;
- in our opinion the information given in the Strategic Review and the Report of the Governing Council, which together constitute the strategic report and the directors’ report for the financial year, is consistent with the financial statements; and
- in our opinion those reports have been prepared in accordance with the Companies Act 2006.
Matters on which we are required to report by exception
Under the Companies Act 2006, we are required to report to you if, in our opinion:
- adequate accounting records have not been kept by the parent University, or returns adequate for our audit have not been received from branches not visited by us; or
- the parent University’s financial statements are not in agreement with the accounting records and returns; or
- certain disclosures of directors’ remuneration specified by law are not made; or
- we have not received all the information and explanations we require for our audit.
We have nothing to report in these respects.
Governing Council responsibilities
As explained more fully in their statement, the Governing Council (who are the Directors of the University company for the purposes of company law) is responsible for: the preparation of the financial statements and for being satisfied that they give a true and fair view; such internal control as it determines is necessary to enable the preparation of financial statements that are free from material misstatement, whether due to fraud or error; assessing the Group and parent University’s ability to continue as a going concern, disclosing, as applicable, matters related to going concern; and using the going concern basis of accounting unless it either intends to liquidate the Group or the parent University or to cease operations, or has no realistic alternative but to do so.
Auditor’s responsibilities
Our objectives are to obtain reasonable assurance about whether the financial statements as a whole are free from material misstatement, whether due to fraud or error, and to issue our opinion in an auditor’s report. Reasonable assurance is a high level of assurance, but does not guarantee that an audit conducted in accordance with ISAs (UK) will always detect a material misstatement when it exists. Misstatements can arise from fraud or error and are considered material if, individually or in aggregate, they could reasonably be expected to influence the economic decisions of users taken on the basis of the financial statements.
A fuller description of our responsibilities is provided on the FRC’s website.
Report on other legal and regulatory requirements
We are required to report on the following matters by the Accounts Direction dated 25 October 2019 issued by the Office for Students (‘the Accounts Direction’). In our opinion, in all material respects:
- funds from whatever source administered by the Group or the University for specific purposes have been properly applied to those purposes and managed in accordance with relevant legislation;
- income has been applied in accordance with the University’s Statutes (or articles of government for post 1992 institutions); and
- funds provided by the Office for Students, UK Research and Innovation (including Research England), the Education and Skills Funding Agency and the Department for Education have been applied in accordance with the relevant terms and conditions.
Matters on which we are required to report by exception
We are required by the Accounts Direction to report to you where the University has an access and participation plan that has been approved by the Office for Students’ director of fair access and participation and the results of our audit work indicate that the Group’s and the University’s expenditure on access and participation activities for the financial year disclosed in Note 28 has been materially misstated.
We are also required by the Accounts Direction to report to you where the results of our audit work indicate that the Group’s and the University’s grant and fee income, as disclosed in Notes 1-3 to the financial statements has been materially misstated. We have nothing to report in these respects.
The Purpose Of Our Audit Work And To Whom We Owe Our Responsibilities
This report is made solely to the Governing Council, in accordance with Chapter 3 of Part 16 of the Companies Act 2006 and paragraph 10.2 of the University of Derby’s Articles of Association and section 124B of the Education Reform Act 1988. Our audit work has been undertaken so that we might state to the Governing Council those matters we are required to state to them in an auditor’s report and for no other purpose. To the fullest extent permitted by law, we do not accept or assume responsibility to anyone other than the University and the Governing Council for our audit work, for this report, or for the opinions we have formed.
Clare Partridge (Senior Statutory Auditor) for and on behalf of KPMG LLP, Statutory Auditor Chartered Accountants
1 Sovereign Square, Leeds, LS1 4DA
28 January 2021