The Financial Reporting Council (FRC) has published the 24th edition of its Key Facts and Trends (KFAT) report, providing an overview of the UK’s accountancy and audit sectors.
The report, based on data from 30 of the 33 audit practices with public interest entity (PIE) clients, shows that the number of accountancy students in the UK and Republic of Ireland (ROI) rose between 2024 and 2025, despite a global decline.
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According to the latest KFAT edition, the combined number of students in the UK and ROI increased by 0.9%, from 154,905 in 2024 to 156,367 in 2025.
The increase follows several years of falling student numbers across the UK and ROI.
Membership of accountancy bodies also grew during the period.
In the UK and ROI, the figure rose by 2.5% year-on-year to 418,986 in 2025. Meanwhile, worldwide membership rose by 2.9% to 641,474 over the same one-year period.
Among PIE auditors, the five largest companies outside the ‘Big Four’ expanded their share of FTSE 250 audits to nearly 18% in 2025, compared with around 13% in 2024.
The wider audit market continued to consolidate, with the number of registered audit businesses falling by 9% to 3,421 in 2025.
Last month, the FRC issued its Annual Review of Corporate Reporting covering the 2025/26 cycle.
According to the findings, corporate disclosure levels across FTSE 350 businesses held stable, while the gap in reporting performance between large listed corporations and other organisations narrowed further.
