October 26 Ranking update
Driven partly by recent press interest, we have been able to conclude more think tank audits in recent weeks. All grade D and E rated think tanks have been assessed, in accordance with our "risk based" approach to maintaining the rankings.
Whilst this means that two E-rated think tanks have been removed from the rankings due to inactivity, it also means that we have added three more E-rated think tanks to the ratings.
Two of these organisations have been downgraded from a D-grade. One is a new entrant to the ratings.
We have also agreed to make a very rare change to the methodology we use to assess think tanks. This will be rolling out over the next few months.
New addition: Cambridge Circus Research is E-rated
Cambridge Circus Research is a think tank that appears to have been established in 2026. It published its first report in June, and says it was set-up by "two working professionals," who run the organisation in their "spare time."
Although individual research paper authors are named, it provides no public information on its funders, governance or corporate structure.
When contacted, the organisation said it had not published any financial transparency information because they had not received any funding from any sources. They said that all authors that have written or worked for the think tank have done so on a volunteer basis.
The Who Funds You methodology relies on public information not what is sent via emails. Therefore, following our independent audit, the think tank has been awarded an E grade.
Further information on Cambridge Circus Research and comment from Who Funds You? is available here.
Downgrade: E3G
The environmental policy focussed think tank E3G operates through a complex international structure and appears to be event less financially transparent than it has been in prior years. It has therefore been downgraded from a D grade to an E grade.
Downgrade: The Centre for Policy Studies
The Centre for Policy Studies appears to have stopped naming any funders. It has also been downgraded from a D grade to an E grade.
Removed: The New Social Covenant Unit
We have removed The New Social Covenant Unit (formerly a Grade E rated think tank) from the rankings because it has been completed wound up.
Removed: The Scottish Independence Convention
This organisation has been removed from the rankings because we do not believe it is active enough to justify continued inclusion.
We are now introducing an E* rating.
The E* rating will be rolled out over the coming weeks and months and is designed to indicate think tanks that are not only very opaque about their funding, but also fail to provide key information about their governance and corporate structure on their website too. We may also allocate an E* rating where a think tank is known not to have disclosed important information (such as offshore links) about its governance or corporate structure that may serve to obfuscate the real source of its funding or the people who ultimately control it.
We are introducing this rating because we believe that journalists and public policy makers should be particularly wary of making uncritical use of the research outputs promoted by E* rated organisations.