Their own payment-practices filing · gov.uk

Thomas Deacon Education Trust pays suppliers in 33 days on average — within its stated 25–56 day terms

CRN 05090788 · Education · 18 statutory reports on record · period to 31 Aug 2026

33daysavg time to pay · H1 2026

Their H1 2026 filing puts the average 8 days past the shortest term they state (25 days), still within their 56-day upper term.

Around averagevs a 31-day median across 6,104 recent filers

Their stated terms: 25–56 days
Paid outside agreed terms: 5% of invoices
Paid after 61+ days: 2%
Reporting period: 1 Mar 2026 – 31 Aug 2026
Source: their gov.uk filing, filed 10 Sept 2026

Self-reported figures from their statutory filing. How this is compiled.

Terms vs reality · their H1 2026 filing

Paid within their stated range — 33 against 25–56 days

PAIDLATE · terms vs the clockdays to pay · 0–65

avg 33d

0 days65 days

reported avg 33 days their filed terms 25–56 days UK median 31 days · n = 6,104 recent filers

Where their invoices landed · share of all invoices

within 30 days 41% 31–60 days 57% 61+ days 2%

Source: their statutory Payment Practices Report #116848, period 1 Mar 2026 – 31 Aug 2026, filed 10 Sept 2026 · gov.uk payment-practices service

Thomas Deacon Education Trust pays within its stated range, 8 days past the shortest term. 5% of invoices still went outside agreed terms; 2% reached 61 days or more. Self-reported in their statutory H1 2026 filing.

The pattern · last 6 of 18 reports

40 → 33 days — getting faster

PAIDLATE · the patternavg days per report

Last 6 of 18 filed reports · linear day scale · every period is in the table below · Source: gov.uk payment-practices service

7 days faster across the window. From 40 days in H1 2024 to 33 in the H1 2026 filing; the dashed line marks the 25-day term they state.

The read · computed from their figures

Thomas Deacon Education Trust's H1 2026 filing puts their average at 33 days against stated terms of 25–56 days; 5% of invoices were paid outside agreed terms and 2% took 61 days or longer. Filed 10 Sept 2026.

The direction is faster: from 40 days in H1 2024 to 33 now — 7 days faster across their last 6 reports.

On the latest reported averages: Slower than 83% of the 309 large companies reporting in education.

That is 18 statutory periods on record (earliest H1 2018) — a historical record, not a promise for a new invoice.

What they tell their suppliers

1% of invoices in dispute

In their own words · from the filing

Standard payment terms

Payable on the 25th day of the month following the month in which the invoice was dated.

Dispute resolution

Initial contact is with the central finance team. Appropriate queries from suppliers are raised with the respective budget holders within the Trust. Following resolution to the query, which may take up to 10 working days, we will either: - Revert back to the supplier with validated reasons for non-payment; - Include payments with due payments on the next available payment run.

Every statutory report on record

Most recent first.

Period	Avg days	Outside terms	61+ days	Filed
H1 2026	33	5%	2%	10 Sept 2026
H1 2026	39	23%	4%	16 Mar 2026
H1 2025	38	13%	6%	23 Sept 2025
H1 2025	40	18%	9%	27 Mar 2025
H1 2024	39	11%	6%	11 Sept 2024
H1 2024	40	19%	9%	22 Mar 2024
H1 2023	38	14%	6%	28 Sept 2023
H1 2023	44	23%	12%	23 Mar 2023
H1 2022	43	18%	9%	30 Sept 2022
H1 2022	44	24%	14%	25 Mar 2022
H1 2021	49	18%	10%	28 Sept 2021
H1 2021	48	24%	16%	30 Mar 2021
H1 2020	47	27%	16%	29 Sept 2020
H1 2020	52	28%	19%	1 Apr 2020
H1 2019	42	16%	9%	26 Sept 2019
H1 2019	41	19%	9%	27 Mar 2019
H1 2018	46	24%	9%	18 Sept 2018
H1 2018	50	20%	17%	13 Mar 2018

On the public register · Companies House

Company record

Status: Active
Type: PRI/LBG/NSC (Private, Limited by guarantee, no share capital, use of 'Limited' exemption)
Incorporated: 1 Apr 2004
Registered office: THE THOMAS DEACON ACADEMY, PETERBOROUGH, PE1 2UW

0 outstanding charges on the register Accounts due 31 May 2027

Open the full record at Companies House.

Illustrative · working-capital arithmetic

What a 33-day cycle ties up

A worked example, not a finding. On a hypothetical £12k/month account, at a 33-day vs a 25-day payment cycle.

≈ £13,000

of invoicing outstanding at any one time on a 33-day cycle — about £3,200 more than the same account would carry at 25-day terms.

Late Payment Act. The Late Payment of Commercial Debts (Interest) Act 1998 lets a supplier charge statutory interest and fixed compensation on invoices paid past agreed terms. Work out what a late invoice is worth → Whether it applies depends on your contract — check with an adviser.

Quick answers · Thomas Deacon Education Trust

Are they getting slower or faster?

Their reported average has moved about 7 days faster over the window (40 → 33 days).

What's their typical pay point?

Their latest filed report puts the average at day 33; across their last 6 reports it ranged 33–40 days. Treat that as a historical reference point, not a promise for a new invoice.

Can I see what this means for my invoices?

Run the live check — it re-reads their record and their live Companies House file, on the amount you invoice.

Stay ahead

Watch Thomas Deacon Education Trust (free)

Their next payment report is due ≈ 29 Mar 2027. We watch their public record and email you when something changes — a new payment report, late filings, insolvency markers, new charges.

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How UK payment reporting works

What is a Payment Practices Report?

UK companies and LLPs above a size threshold — broadly, two of: turnover over £54m, balance sheet over £27m, or more than 250 employees — must report twice a year, under the Reporting on Payment Practices and Performance Regulations 2017, how quickly they actually pay suppliers: the average time to pay, the share of invoices paid in 30 days or fewer, 31 to 60 days and 61 days or longer, and their standard payment terms. Those thresholds apply to financial years beginning on or after 6 April 2025; for earlier financial years they were £36m and £18m, with the same 250-employee test.

What does "paid outside agreed terms" mean?

The share of invoices paid later than the terms in the supplier contract. If terms are 30 days and an invoice is paid on day 45, it counts as paid outside terms, regardless of the headline average.

How often is this data updated?

Each report covers a six-month period and must be filed within 30 days of that period ending, so a company's record refreshes roughly twice a year. PaidLate re-reads the register as new reports are filed.

Is this official government data?

The underlying payment figures come from the company's own statutory filings on the gov.uk payment-practices service; company-status data comes from Companies House. PaidLate calculates trends, comparisons and summaries from those records. It does not use surveys or credit-agency scores.

How this is compiled. Built from official records only: Companies House and the gov.uk payment-practices service. The payment figures are self-reported — companies over the size threshold must file them by law and the board signs them off. No credit-agency data. The numbers are theirs; the plain-English read is ours. This is information compiled from public records under the Open Government Licence v3.0 — not a credit rating and not advice.

The 31-day comparison figure is the median across 6,104 companies with a current statutory report — every sector pooled, not an average of sector medians (how the figure is built).

Report PL-05090788 · latest period to 31 Aug 2026

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