The Girls’ Day School Trust, the UK’s 12th largest charity, has increased its income by 17 per cent to almost £274m, according to its recently published accounts.

The charity, which runs a group of independent girls’ schools in England and Wales, was the 12th largest charity in the UK according to last year’s Charity Finance 100 Index. It has continued to see a significant increase in income, up from £233.5m in the year ending August 2013 to £273.6m for the year ending August 2014, according to its most recent annual accounts.

The Girls’ Day School Trust teaches over 19,000 pupils between the ages of three and 18. The charity runs a network of 24 schools and two academies in England and Wales.

School fees grew year on year by £15.3m, which the charity said was due to a combination of higher pupil numbers and fee increases. Income from school fees was up by £16m - to £212m.

The charity offers bursaries and scholarships at its schools, allocating £10.1m to these in the most recent year, up from £8.5m the previous year. However the number of girls to receive this funding was down by five students, with 1,060 students receiving scholarships and bursaries in the year ending 2014.

The number of staff at the charity was up by 125 people to 3,766. Staff costs totalled £148m, with the highest paid employee earning between £240,000 and £250,000. Last year the highest paid employee earned between £230,000 and £250,000. In the year ending August 2014, 124 employees earned over £60,000. The charity’s chair received remuneration of £30,000.

The Girls’ Day School Trust has a pension deficit of £33m, up by £11m on the previous year.