UK SRS and sustainability reporting FAQ: the questions people search, answered

UK SRS are the UK Sustainability Reporting Standards: UK SRS S1, the general requirements for sustainability-related financial disclosures, and UK SRS S2, climate-related disclosures. They are the UK-endorsed versions of the ISSB's IFRS S1 and IFRS S2, with UK amendments, published by the Department for Business and Trade on 25 February 2026.

No. The FCA's final rules in PS26/19, published on 30 September 2026, require listed companies in five UK Listing Rules categories to report against UK SRS on a comply-or-explain basis: they disclose in line with the standards or explain what is missing and why. CP26/5 had proposed mandatory UK SRS S2; the final rules did not adopt that. Every other entity may use UK SRS voluntarily.

The FCA's rules come into force on 1 January 2027 and apply to accounting periods beginning on or after that date, with first reporting in 2028. For a company with a 31 December year-end, the first period is calendar 2027 and the first report is in the annual financial report published in 2028.

There is no single deadline. UK SRS disclosures or explanations go in the annual financial report for the first accounting period beginning on or after 1 January 2027. An issuer subject to DTR 4 must publish that report within four months of its year-end, so 30 April 2028 for a 31 December year-end.

Companies listed in UKLR 6 (commercial companies), UKLR 14 (secondary listings), UKLR 15 (depositary receipts), UKLR 16 (non-equity and non-voting shares) and UKLR 22 (transition). Closed-ended funds, open-ended investment companies, shell companies, and debt and miscellaneous securities are excluded. PS26/19 gives no total count; CP26/5 estimated around 600 listed companies would be affected.

Neither the standards nor an Act. UK SRS S1 and S2 are standards with no effective date. The obligation for listed companies is an FCA rule: the UK Listing Rules (Sustainability Reporting Standards Disclosure) Instrument 2026, made on 24 September 2026 under the Financial Services and Markets Act 2000 and in force on 1 January 2027. The Companies Act 2006 does not yet refer to UK SRS.

Yes. In the first period beginning on or after 1 January 2027 a company may use a one-year Scope 3 relief and simply state that it is doing so. From the second period, Scope 3 is either disclosed or explained under the comply-or-explain rule.

A two-year "climate-first" relief: for the first two periods a company may report only climate-related matters, leaving UK SRS S1 matters beyond climate undisclosed, and state that it is using the relief. From periods beginning on or after 1 January 2029, all UK SRS disclosures are complied with or explained.

No. A listed company states whether it obtained third-party assurance, and if so names the provider, what was assured and to what level, and the standards used. The FCA says it will keep the case for mandatory assurance under review. ISSA (UK) 5000 is effective for periods beginning on or after 15 December 2026 and is for voluntary use.

No. No government document proposes a UK SRS threshold or date for private companies. The government's Modernising Corporate Reporting consultation, open until 30 November 2026, says only that it will consider how UK SRS should be reflected in the Companies Act 2006.