Background
The World Service provides news content to overseas audiences across a range of platforms both in English and across a portfolio of language services. In 2023-24, the World Service had a weekly global audience of 320 million.
Until 1 April 2014, the World Service was mainly funded through grant-in-aid funding from the Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO). From 1 April 2014 until 1 April 2016, government funding for the World Service ceased and the World Service was funded mainly through the BBC’s television licence fee income. Since 2016-17, the World Service has been funded by a combination of the BBC’s licence fee and a grant from the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO).
The World Service contributes to several of the BBC’s five public purposes, most significantly the fifth public purpose – to reflect the UK, its culture and values to the world.
In September 2022, the BBC World Service set out its plans to accelerate its digital offering – in line with the BBC-wide ‘Digital-First’ strategy. At the same time, the BBC announced plans to make savings of £28.5 million across its international services through the closure of around 382 posts and increasing the number of digital-only language services. In early 2025, the BBC announced plans to make a further £6 million in savings through the closure of a further 130 posts. In addition, it announced plans to implement a new international model which aimed to simplify the organisation’s structure and enhance growth opportunities around the world.
We last looked at the BBC World Service in 2016, when we evaluated its performance since 2010, including its progress in reducing expenditure and its investment in new delivery platforms, such as digital and television. Since then, the World Service has expanded its language services and increased its focus on digital outputs.
Scope
This study will focus on how effectively the BBC is transforming the World Service in line with its strategy. It will look at whether:
- the World Service has a clear, evidence-based strategy with a practical delivery plan in place for delivering change and savings.
- the World Service is delivering its planned changes and achieving forecasted targets and impacts
- the BBC has the mechanisms in place to ensure that the World Service continues to deliver intended outcomes and responds to changes in the future
NAO team:
Director: Simon Bittlestone
Audit Manager: Ashleigh Thorius
Audit Lead: Tunmise Usikalu