Leadership Skills Foundation

What Leadership Skills Foundation does

Leadership Skills Foundation is a UK registered charity (charity number 1095326) trading as the public-facing name of The British Sports Trust, a company limited by guarantee (number 04597192). Founded in 1981/1982 and headquartered in Milton Keynes, it develops and awards regulated leadership, sports, and personal-development qualifications for young people, operating across 14,500+ registered centres and supporting 90,000+ young people annually, with a cumulative 2 million+ learners empowered since inception. Its core delivery stack centres on the Centre Hub platform launched in 2026, which handles centre management, course administration, learner registration, and certificate management; the platform is built on Creatio's creatiogreen (ISO 27001 certified) and incorporates an AI chatbot powered by Microsoft Azure OpenAI Service, hosted in the UK/EEA.

The foundation monetises through per-centre registration/subscription fees and per-learner qualification fees, with annual price lists published separately for England and Scotland (2026-27) in PDF format; pricing is not publicly itemised beyond this. Its go-to-market is anchored by a UK-only distribution footprint and a partner ecosystem that includes Pearson (awarding-body partner), Sport England (government partner), PiXL, Change X, British Blind Sport, and the Association for Physical Education, which collectively route learners from schools, sports clubs, and youth organisations into its regulated qualifications. The organisation employs approximately 65 staff. There is no evidence of material geographic expansion outside the UK, no disclosed M&A or funding activity, and no leadership-change disclosures in the input data; commercial growth signals are concentrated in product refresh (Centre Hub), AI integration, and incremental partner expansion rather than structural change.

Name

Leadership Skills Foundation

Legal name

The British Sports Trust

Website

https://leadershipskillsfoundation.org

Company type

Private

Founded year

1981

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

51–100 employees

Short description

Leadership Skills Foundation is a UK charity (The British Sports Trust) that awards regulated leadership and sports qualifications to young people, delivering via 14,500+ registered centres and a Centre Hub platform, in partnership with Pearson, Sport England and other education and youth-sport organisations.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Youth Leadership Qualifications and Awarding Services

NAICS

Professional and Management Development Training (611430), Educational Support Services (611710)

SIC

Services-Educational Services (8200)

akta.pro primary industry

Awarding Organizations & Credentialing Bodies (Certificates/Diplomas) (EDADAFAC)

akta.pro secondary industries

Leadership, Character Education & Values Development (EDAMAIAG), Youth Leadership, Oratory & Civic Speaking Programs (EDAMAOAH), Student Government & Leadership Programs (EDAJAJAH), Credentialing, Certification Prep & Exam Training (BPACANAJ)

Keywords

• Youth leadership qualifications
• Accredited awarding organisation
• Leadership development programmes
• Educational centre registration
• Charity-led curriculum awards

Headquarters

HQ city

Milton Keynes

HQ country

United Kingdom

HQ region

Europe

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Cost components

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

Revenue model

1. Qualification and Programme Fees: Revenue generated from programme fees charged to centres for qualifications and accredited awards delivered to learners. Pricing is published in annual price lists for centres in England and Scotland.
2. Centre Registration and Administration: Centres register and pay for access to deliver leadership skills qualifications and programmes through the Centre Hub platform.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion3 records

Distribution channels3 records

Marketing channels4 records

Core offering

Leadership Skills Foundation develops and licenses accredited leadership qualifications and awards for young people, covering motivation, self-esteem, communication, and teamwork. Programmes are sold to a network of over 14,500 registered centres (schools, sports clubs, and youth organisations) which deliver them to learners, with administration, learner registration, and certification handled through the Centre Hub online course management system.

Product overview

Leadership Skills Foundation offers a portfolio of leadership skills qualifications and accredited awards for young people, delivered through a technology platform. The core offering consists of leadership development programmes and qualifications that empower learners with skills in motivation, self-esteem, communication, and teamwork. This is supported by Centre Hub (the centre and course management system for registering courses, learners, and certificates) and the underlying creatiogreen LMS platform by Creatio. The Centre Hub Video Guides provide supplementary support for users navigating the platform.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Leadership Skills Foundation Qualifications and Awards
• Centre Hub
• Centre Hub Video Guides

Quantifiable outcome

• Over 14,500 centres supported with leadership programmes
• +2 more outcomes

Named customers1 record

Segments4 records

Ideal customer profiles2 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

AI capability2 records

Feature2 records

Partnerships

Six partnerships are on record, tiered core and minor.

• PearsoncoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerMajor educational publishing and qualification body partnership. Pearson logo appears on the website as a proud partner of the Leadership Skills Foundation.
• Sport EnglandcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerGovernment body for sport and physical activity partnership. Supports delivery of leadership programmes through sports organisations.
• Change XcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerSocial impact organisation partnership focused on scaling community programmes. Logo appears as a proud partner.
• PiXL (Partners in Excellence)coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerPartnership with the PiXL (Partners in Excellence) network of schools, supporting educational leadership development.
• British Blind SportminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerPartnership supporting inclusion of blind and partially sighted young people in leadership programmes through sports.
• Association for Physical Education (afPE)coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerProfessional association for physical education partnership supporting delivery of leadership skills through PE curricula and school sport.

Scale indicators4 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Broad incumbents

• Pearson (Edexcel): Global awarding and qualification body and explicit partner of Leadership Skills Foundation; offers broader academic and vocational qualifications that include leadership and employability components, providing both partnership upside and competitive overlap.
• City & Guilds: Major UK awarding body offering a broad portfolio of vocational qualifications, including leadership, employability and personal development credentials that overlap directly with the Leadership Skills Foundation's portfolio.
• AQA: Major UK awarding body providing academic and vocational qualifications; overlaps in the broader UK qualifications market and could expand into leadership/employability credentials.
• OCR (Cambridge Assessment): Major UK awarding body offering a wide range of academic and vocational qualifications that compete for the same schools and centres, with potential to expand into leadership/employability categories.

Direct peers

• Institute of Leadership & Management (ILM): UK-based leadership-focused awarding body delivering leadership and management qualifications and accreditations — directly comparable in mission, though skewed toward adult/manager learners.
• ASDAN: Awarding organisation offering qualifications and curriculum programmes for personal development, employability and citizenship aimed at schools and youth settings — directly comparable product and customer mix.
• NCFE: UK awarding organisation providing vocational and technical qualifications including personal development and employability programmes, competing for the same schools, colleges and training-centre customers.
• Sports Leaders UK: UK awarding organisation delivering leadership and coaching qualifications through sports clubs and youth organisations — a near-identical target customer base and product category to Leadership Skills Foundation.
• The Duke of Edinburgh's Award: Long-established UK youth development programme awarding recognised credentials for volunteering, physical activity, skills and expedition — competing for the same youth leadership/character-development outcomes and centre/school delivery model.

Emerging players

• The Prince's Trust: UK charity delivering youth leadership, employability and personal development programmes with recognised certifications; similar youth-development mission and partially overlapping learner outcomes.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat5 records

Key risks5 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/leadership-skills-foundation

Compliance1 record

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

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 Leadership Skills Foundation