The National Autistic Society

What The National Autistic Society does

The National Autistic Society (NAS) is a UK charity founded in 1962, registered in England and Wales (269425) and Scotland (SC039427) and structured as a company limited by guarantee. Headquartered in London, it operates across England, Wales, Scotland, and Northern Ireland with a staff of 1,001-5,000 and a Chigwell-based fulfilment centre for shop distribution. Its service portfolio spans free advice and guidance across 24 autism topics, an Autism Services Directory, adult residential and supported living services, a diagnostic and assessment service, education and children's services (including Cullum Centres and a family of schools), the NAS Learn training and accreditation arm, an Online Community forum with 30,000+ autistic people in reach, branches and social groups across the UK, and a campaigning function.

The underlying technology is a content and community platform rather than a software product: the website integrates the Recite Me accessibility toolbar (screen reader, 120-language translation, colour and font customisation, Open Dyslexic support, screen ruler/mask, plain text mode), an Autism Services Directory, and a moderated Online Community with topic-based forums. The shop, donations, membership, and training platforms are supported by PayPal, RSM2000 direct debits, Aventri event registration, and Engaging Networks for campaign actions, with Google Analytics and Hotjar for behavioural analytics.

NAS is funded through a diversified charity revenue model: individual donations (monthly tiers at £8/£18/£28 and one-off options), legacy and in-memory giving, payroll giving, an annual membership with magazine and AGM benefits, a charity lottery (prizes up to £25,000), a shop selling merchandise and publications shipped within the UK, training and consultancy (Autism Accreditation, Annual Professionals' Conference, EarlyBird licensed programmes), and corporate partnerships including Autism Support Plus. Funding is supplemented by research grants (e.g., Motability Foundation for Empowering Autistic Travel, ESRC for XRAD) and NHS/local authority commissioning for residential and diagnostic services.

Name

The National Autistic Society

Legal name

The National Autistic Society

Website

https://autism.org.uk

Company type

Private

Founded year

1962

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

1,001–5,000 employees

Short description

The National Autistic Society is the leading UK charity for autistic people, delivering advice, education, residential and diagnostic services, professional training, advocacy, and an online community to autistic individuals, families, and professionals across England, Wales, Scotland, and Northern Ireland.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Disability and Autism Support Services

NAICS

Educational Support Services (611710), Individual and Family Services (6241), Other Individual and Family Services (624190), Civic and Social Organizations (813410)

SIC

Services-Educational Services (8200), Services-Nursing & Personal Care Facilities (8050), Services-Misc Health & Allied Services, Nec (8090)

akta.pro primary industry

Autism Diagnostic & Educational Assessment Services (EDAKAKAA)

akta.pro secondary industries

Autism Teacher Training & Professional Development (EDAKAKAL), Autism-Specific Schools & Programs (EDAKAAAA), Autism Parent/Caregiver Education & Training (School-Linked) (EDAKAKAJ), Autism Communication Support (AAC, Pragmatics & Language) (EDAKAKAG), Autism Assistive Technology & Learning Tools (Educational) (EDAKAKAM)

Keywords

• Autism support services
• Specialist autism education
• Autism training accreditation
• Residential care services
• Disability advocacy charity

Headquarters

HQ city

London

HQ country

United Kingdom

HQ region

Europe

Offices2 records

Markets served

GTM type

B2B and B2C

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Marketing or Sales, Infrastructure, Technology or R&D, Supply Chain

Revenue model

1. Donations and Fundraising: Charitable donations from individuals including regular monthly giving, single donations, payroll giving, legacies, and in-memory donations. Fundraising events include Great North Run, London Marathon, Royal Parks Half Marathon, and London Landmarks Half Marathon.
2. Membership: Annual membership program providing Your Autism magazine, AGM access, and members' Facebook group. Includes membership discounts on shop products.
3. Shop and Publications: Sale of merchandise, books, resources, and publications including the Spectrum magazine. Ships within UK via Royal Mail and couriers.
4. Training and Professional Services: NAS Learn provides training, accreditation (Autism Accreditation), consultancy services, and conferences including Annual Professionals' Conference. Also EarlyBird licensed user programs for families.
5. Lottery: Charity lottery with prizes up to £25,000 as a fundraising mechanism.
6. Corporate Partnerships: Corporate partnerships and Autism Support Plus program for businesses seeking autism training and consultancy.

Pricing tiers

Distribution channels4 records

Marketing channels7 records

Core offering

The National Autistic Society is the leading UK charity for autistic people, delivering a comprehensive platform of services that includes advice and guidance covering 24 autism topics, diagnostic and assessment services, adult residential and supported living services, specialist schools and Cullum Centres, and a dedicated training arm (NAS Learn) providing training, Autism Accreditation, consultancy, and the Annual Professionals' Conference. The charity is funded through donations, membership subscriptions, fundraising events, training fees, and shop merchandise, and operates across England, Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland.

Product overview

The National Autistic Society operates as a comprehensive autism charity offering a platform of interconnected services rather than a single software product. The core offerings include the Advice and Guidance knowledge base covering 24 autism topics, the Autism Services Directory for finding providers, Adult Support Services (residential and supported living), Diagnostic and Assessment Services, Education and Children's Services (including Cullum Centres and schools), National Autistic Society: Learn (training, Autism Accreditation, conferences, consultancy), the Online Community forum, The Spectrum Magazine, Stories from the Spectrum, and Campaigning initiatives. Additional resources include downloadable autism identification cards, membership with magazine access, EarlyBird family support programmes, local Branches with social groups, and Autism Insight Panels for participatory involvement. Research projects like Empowering Autistic Travel and XRAD (Extended Reality for Autistic Drivers) expand their innovation portfolio.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Adult Support Services Residential and supported living services providing care and accommodation for autistic adults across the UK.
• Diagnostic and Assessment Service Autism diagnostic and assessment services for individuals seeking formal diagnosis.
• Education and Children's Services Education support services including specialist schools for autistic children and Cullum Centres attached to mainstream schools.
• National Autistic Society: Learn Training and professional services division offering autism training programmes, Autism Accreditation, consultancy, and the Annual Professionals' Conference for professionals and organisations.
• Autism Accreditation Accreditation programme for organisations providing services to autistic people, ensuring best practice standards are met.
• Annual Professionals' Conference Annual conference for professionals working in the autism field, providing training, workshops, and best practice guidelines.
• Membership Annual membership programme providing Your Autism magazine, AGM access, members' Facebook group, and shop product discounts.
• NAS Shop Online shop selling merchandise, books, resources, and publications including The Spectrum magazine, shipped within the UK.
• EarlyBird Programme Licensed training programme providing practical tools and trusted resources to support families with autistic children, including EarlyBird, EarlyBird Plus, and Teen Life programmes.
• Consultancy Services Autism consultancy services for organisations seeking specialist guidance on autism-related best practice.
• Branches Network UK-wide network of local branches providing community support, social groups, and local autism services.
• Online Community Forum Safe online forum for autistic people and their families to connect, share experiences, and participate in moderated topic-based discussions.

Segments5 records

Ideal customer profiles3 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Integration11 records

Feature4 records

Partnerships

Eleven partnerships are on record, tiered core and minor.

• University of ExetercoreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 11 June 2025Lead institution for XRAD project developing extended reality (XR) support tools for autistic people to help overcome barriers to driving. Funded by Economic and Social Research Council.
• Hassell InclusioncoreImplementation/ SI/ Consulting Partner · 1 January 2020Accessibility consultancy that carried out research with autistic people for the 2020 website rebuild. Recommendations covered 16 key areas including page layout, font size, and colour schemes.
• Queen Mary University of LondoncoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerResearch partner for 'Affinity Spaces' study exploring autistic young people's experiences of social media and how social media resources are used to interact with others and engage in interests.
• University of PlymouthcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerLead institution for BRIDGING project piloting Virtual Reality to help autistic people practice job interviews and new job scenarios in a safe environment, aiming to reduce autism employment gap.
• University of BirminghamcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerLead institution for CECiLiA project exploring experiences and outcomes of Care, Education and Treatment Reviews for people with learning disabilities and autistic people.
• King's College LondoncoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerLead institution for ENHANCED project improving how learning disability and autism are recorded in medical files and investigating reasonable adjustments to help reduce health inequalities.
• Newcastle UniversitycoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerLead institution for Health Checks for Autistic Adults study investigating use of co-designed health checks to improve health outcomes for autistic people.
• University College LondoncoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerLead institution for Inclusive Talk project investigating experiences of autistic adults in NHS Talking Therapies using large England-wide dataset.
• Centre for Applied Autism Research (University of Bath)minorStrategic or Co-development PartnerResearch collaborator on XRAD project bringing expertise in applied autism research.
• East Midlands RailwaysminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerTransport provider mentioned as example of organisation already providing support for autistic transport users as part of Empowering Autistic Travel research.
• Northumberland Tyne and Wear NHS TrustcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerLead institution for IHOAP project focusing on experiences of older autistic people in healthcare and testing interventions for better access.

Scale indicators5 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Others

• Contact (for families with disabled children): UK charity supporting families of disabled children including autistic children, with advice, helpline, and training. Adjacent in family-support and advice content, not a direct autism specialist.
• Sense: UK charity for people with complex disabilities including deafblindness and autism with complex needs. Comparable in operating specialist services and campaigning, but with a broader complex-disability focus.

Direct peers

• Ambitious about Autism: UK charity focused on education and outcomes for autistic children and young people, operating specialist schools and an inclusion programme. Direct peer given overlapping UK autism education, training, and family-support offerings.
• Autistica: UK autism research charity funding scientific research and policy work on autism. Directly comparable research-network and campaign remit, with overlapping university partnerships.
• The Autism Society: Long-standing US national autism organization providing information, advocacy, and connection services. Closest US analog in terms of mission breadth and information-resource model.

Broad incumbents

• Autism Speaks: Large, well-funded US autism advocacy and research organization with global programs. Operates at much greater scale and broader scope, including research grants, policy, and direct services.
• Mencap: Largest UK charity for people with learning disabilities, including autistic people with co-occurring learning disabilities. Operates broader disability remit but overlapping residential, advocacy, and training services.

Regional players

• Autism NI: Northern Ireland's autism charity providing advice, training, and family support. Comparable mission and service mix but Northern Ireland-only geographic scope.
• Scottish Autism: Scotland's largest autism charity providing advice, training, adult services, and schools. Strongly comparable service mix to NAS but geographically concentrated in Scotland.
• Asperger East Anglia: UK charity providing diagnostic, advice, and support services primarily across East Anglia. Comparable in service type but smaller and geographically concentrated.

Market position

Strengths4 records

Weaknesses4 records

Competitive moat5 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

• YouTubeyoutube.com/user/NationalAutisticSoc
• Facebookfacebook.com/NationalAutisticSociety
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/national-autistic-society
• Instagraminstagram.com/nationalautisticsociety/?hl=en

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles4 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about The National Autistic Society