Annual Report and Accounts

Each year we publish our Annual Report and Accounts which contains our assessment of how we have delivered our mission and public purposes and the extent to which the commitments set out in the Annual Plan, as well as regulatory and other commitments, have been met.

This year’s Annual Report and Accounts provides details on some of our cultural, social, and economic achievements during 2025/26.

The Best of the BBC in 2025/26 (in under three and a half minutes)

• Read the statement from the Chair

• Read the Director-General's review

Our audiences own the BBC. Examine our performance over the past year by looking at how we’re used and perceived by the people of the UK and how this has changed.

• Read more about our audiences

Engaging with audiences

The BBC’s Charter requires that the BBC must ‘carefully and appropriately assess the views and interests of the public and audiences, including licence fee payers’, and ‘ensure that the diverse perspectives and interests of the public and audiences, including licence fee payers, are taken into account in its decision-making’.

How we met our audience goals is set out in the Our Audiences section. In the section below, we set out the channels through which we directly engage with audiences.

• Learn more about how we engage with audiences

In 2025 we undertook our biggest ever listening exercise through the Our BBC, Our Future questionnaire. This was designed to ensure that the voice of the audience is at the heart of the debate about the BBC’s future as we look ahead to the review of our Royal Charter beyond 2027.

In total, 872,701 account holders shared their views, giving us a powerful picture of what people across the UK want and need from the BBC as we reinvent what we do for the future.

• Learn more about the results of the Our BBC, Our Future questionnaire
• Visit the Our BBC, Our Future website

In March, the BBC published a response to the Government’s Green Paper on the review of our Royal Charter beyond 2027. It set out both the scale of the challenges we face and the exciting opportunities ahead.

Our response made the case for the BBC as a vital national asset – one that belongs to everyone in the UK and represents a shared investment in our culture, our communities, our economy and our democracy at a time when this has never been more needed. Yet it was also clear-eyed about the growing jeopardy – both for the BBC and the UK as a whole.

• Learn more about the Royal Charter Review
• Read the BBC's response to the Government's Charter Review Green Paper

A BBC for All

The BBC has long upheld a distinctive mission: to inform, educate, and entertain everyone. This mission, enshrined in the Royal Charter alongside the BBC’s five public purposes, remains the foundation of everything we do at the BBC.

As the world changes, the role the BBC plays for the UK is changing too. We want to offer outstanding value to all audiences in the years ahead whilst supporting the UK’s  democracy, creative economy and society. That’s why, aligned with our five public purposes, the BBC is focused on three roles that are essential in today’s world.

Three Essential Roles

In an uncertain and fast-changing world, with truth and facts under growing assault, the BBC’s commitment to impartial, accurate and trusted news and information is needed now more than ever.

It is our promise to the UK and audiences worldwide. Brave, public service journalism – local, national and international – which strengthens our democracy, our national security, and our society, available digitally, on audio and on video for all.

• Learn more about how we pursue truth with no agenda

The BBC’s commitment to backing homegrown storytelling is unique in its ambition, scale, and impact. As our media landscape continues to fragment, homegrown creativity is increasingly at risk of being squeezed out by global content.

In response, we must offer value to all licence fee payers by reflecting, representing and sharing stories from every part of the country, ensuring our economic impact is felt across the nations and regions, and showcasing the very best of the UK’s cultural identity to the world.

• Learn more about how we back the best homegrown storytelling

The BBC is a unique and unifying force in our society, vital in countering the growing crisis of trust which leaves so many of us feeling isolated and divided.

Whilst social media echo chambers drive us apart, the BBC provides a space where the whole of the UK public can come together for the biggest national moments, to engage in open, civil debate, and to share experiences and find common ground.

• Learn more about how we're bringing people together

The BBC exists to serve all audiences across the UK, delivering value for every licence fee payer.

Central to this mission is a commitment to ensure that the diversity of the UK’s voices, cultures and experiences are reflected in our journalism, storytelling and creative output – and that the economic and social impact of the BBC is felt across the nations and regions.

• Read more about how we're delivering across the UK

Find out how the BBC is delivering where you are

• Wales

• Scotland

• Northern Ireland

• England

Annual Report and Accounts Archive