Pearson plc (LSE: PSON; NYSE: PSO) is a global publisher and the world's leading learning company headquartered in London, United Kingdom. It has market-leading businesses across education (Prentice Hall, Longman & FT Press), consumer (Penguin, Dorling Kindersley and Ladybird) and business information (Financial Times). It is both the largest education company and the largest book publisher in the world.^[3][4]

Pearson has a primary listing on the London Stock Exchange and is a constituent of the FTSE 100 Index. It has a secondary listing on the New York Stock Exchange. Marjorie Scardino has been CEO since 1997.

History[link]

Origins[link]

The company was founded by Samuel Pearson in 1844 as a building and engineering concern operating under the name of S. Pearson & Son.^[5] In 1880, control passed to his grandson Weetman Pearson, an engineer, who in 1890 moved the business to London and turned it into one of the world's largest construction companies.^[5]

The company built the Blackwall Tunnel between 1892 and 1897.

20th century[link]

In 1919, the firm acquired a 45% stake in the London branch of merchant bankers Lazard Brothers, an interest which would be increased to 80% in 1932 during the depression years. Pearson continued to hold a 50% stake until 1999.^[6]

In 1921, Pearson purchased a number of local newspapers in the United Kingdom, which it combined to form the Westminster Press.^[5] In 1957, it bought the Financial Times^[5] and acquired a 50% stake in The Economist. It purchased the publisher Longman in 1968.^[5]

The company was first listed on the London Stock Exchange in 1969.^[5] It went on to acquire Penguin Books in 1970,^[5] and in 1972, Ladybird Books.

In 1986, Pearson participated in the British Satellite Broadcasting consortium. BSB, choosing expensive methods and technology, was out-manoeuvered by Rupert Murdoch's Sky Television, which used proven and simpler technology, and leased transponders on Astra satellites. Sky gained an important foothold in the multichannel market and the eventual "merger" was effectively a takeover of BSB by Sky, the new company being renamed British Sky Broadcasting (BSkyB) a few years later.^[7]

During the 1990s, Pearson acquired a number of TV production and broadcasting assets and rid itself of most of its non-media assets, under the leadership of future U.S. Congressman Bob Turner.

Pearson acquired the education division of Simon & Schuster in 1998.^[8] That same year, Pearson merged all its units--Penguin Books, Ladybird Books, Dorling Kindersley, and Frederick Warne & Co--to form the Penguin Group.^[9] In November of that year, All American Television, which Pearson bought a year earlier, became Pearson Television.

In September 2000, Pearson acquired National Computer Systems (NCS, Inc.) and entered the educational assessment and school management systems market in the United States.^[10]

21st century[link]

In 2002, Pearson sold its production unit to form FremantleMedia.

In January 2003, Pearson sold its 22% stake in German media conglomerate RTL Group, the largest commercial television and radio broadcaster in the EU.^[11]

Also in 2003 it secured control of Edexcel, the testing and assessment company.^[12] Pearson subsequently purchased a series of other testing and assessment businesses, beginning with Knowledge Technologies in 2004,^[13] AGS in 2005,^[14] and National Evaluation Systems^[15] and Promissor in 2006.^[16] The combination of acquisitions and organic growth have made Pearson the largest assessment and testing provider in the United States.

In April 2006, Pearson acquired National Evaluation Systems, Inc. (NES; Amherst, MA), a provider of customised state assessments for teacher certification in the U.S. Founded in 1972.^[17]

Pearson sold its international government services (Pearson Government Solutions) division to Veritas Capital in March 2007. The new stand-alone company, Vangent, Inc., has its international headquarters in Arlington, Virginia, with offices in London, Rotherham, Yorkshire, and Canada.^[18]

In May 2007, Pearson announced that it had agreed to acquire Harcourt Assessment and Harcourt Education International from Reed Elsevier for $950m in cash.^[19] Due to Pearson's market-leading position in the U.S. textbook market they were not interested in the main Harcourt business on account of regulatory concerns.^[20] Pearson completed the acquisition of Harcourt Assessment on 30 January 2008, merging the acquired businesses into Pearson Assessment & Information.^[21]

In February 2008, Pearson announced the sale of its Pearson Data Management Division (formerly the scanner manufacturing and servicing division of NCS Inc.) to Scantron Corporation (part of M & F Worldwide) which had been its main competitor.^[22]

Operations[link]

Pearson has three operating divisions: The Penguin Group, Pearson Education and The Financial Times Group.^[23]

Penguin Group[link]

Most Pearson trade publishing is done by the Penguin Group, which includes international imprints such as Allen Lane, Avery, Berkley Books, Dial, Dutton, Dorling Kindersley, Grosset & Dunlap, Hamish Hamilton, Ladybird, Plume, Puffin, Penguin, Putnam, Michael Joseph, Riverhead, Rough Guides, and Viking.

Infoplease is a website devoted to "providing authoritative answers to all kinds of factual questions since 1938 first as popular radio quiz show, then starting in 1947 as an annual almanac, and since 1998 on the internet."^[24]

Pearson Education[link]

Pearson Education operates educational publishing and publishes software, assessments and training. Some of Pearson's educational publishing imprints include Pearson Longman, Addison-Wesley, Prentice Hall, Benjamin Cummings, Pearson Scott Foresman.

The New York Institute of Finance provides financial training.^[25]

Financial Times Group[link]

Financial Times Group operates financial publishing.

• Financial Times
• Financial Times Business Group
• The Economist Group (50% stake)

Criticisms[link]

Edexcel is the only large examination board to be held in private hands. Edexcel's change from a charity to a profit-making company has led to criticisms and calls into question conflict of interest within the education system. As a part of Pearson (a private publisher) Edexcel has produced qualifications which link to Pearson texts. Edexcel also continues to endorse textbooks published by non-Pearson companies.^[12] Edexcel is regulated by Ofqual (the regulator for UK qualifications).

Furthermore, Edexcel has been criticised for implementing excessive late fees for HND students who register late for its examinations.

References[link]

External links[link]

	London portal
	Companies portal

• Pearson plc Official website
• Pearson PLC companies grouped at OpenCorporates

v t e Pearson PLC Financial Times Group The Banker Business Day (50%) The Economist Group (50%) fDi Financial Adviser Financial Mail (50%) Financial Times FT Mandate FTSE Group (50%) Investment Adviser Investors Chronicle Mergermarket Money Management PWM Vedomosti (33%) Pearson Education Pearson School Addison-Wesley AGS Globe BBC Active Causeway Press Celebration Press DDC Dominie Press Dorling Kindersley Family Education Network FunBrain Infoplease Poptropica Ginn Heinemann (outside US) Interstate Modern Curriculum Press Payne-Gallway Prentice Hall Rigby (outside US) Scott Foresman Silver Burdett York Notes Pearson Higher Education Addison-Wesley Allyn & Bacon Benjamin Cummings Longman Merrill Education Prentice Hall Pearson Professional Addison-Wesley Professional Adobe Press Apple Certified Allyn & Bacon Professional Cisco Press FT Press IBM Press InformIT Merrill Professional New Riders New York Institute of Finance Peachpit Pearson Assessment & Information Prentice Hall Professional Que Safari Books Online (50%) SAMS Publishing Pearson VUE Wharton Other Edexcel Pearson Language Tests Wall Street Institute Penguin Group United Kingdom Allen Lane BBC Children's Books Dorling Kindersley Hamish Hamilton Ladybird Michael Joseph Penguin Penguin Classics Puffin Rough Guides Viking Warne United States Ace Alpha Avery Berkley Blue Rider Press BradyGames Current Dial Young Readers Dutton Dutton Children's Books Firebird Gotham Putnam Grosset & Dunlap HPBooks Hudson Street Jove New American Library Penguin The Penguin Press Perigee Philomel Plume Portfolio Prentice Hall Press Price Stern Sloan Puffin Razorbill Riverhead Sentinel Speak Tarcher Viking Category

Links to related articles v t e Media in the United Kingdom   Newspapers, magazines and other periodicals Newspapers National Berliner: The Guardian · The Observer · Broadsheet: Financial Times · The Daily Telegraph, The Sunday Telegraph · The Sunday Times · Compact: i · The Independent, The Independent on Sunday · The Times · Middle-market: Daily Express, Sunday Express · Daily Mail, The Mail on Sunday · Tabloid: Daily Mirror, Sunday Mirror · Morning Star · The People · Daily Star, Daily Star Sunday · The Sun · Sunday Sport Regional and local Local newspapers in England · Regional newspapers in England · Newspapers in Northern Ireland · Newspapers in Scotland · Newspapers in Wales Other resources Defunct newspapers · Editors · Fleet Street · History · Journalists · Specialist newspapers · List by circulation Magazines and other periodicals Arts magazines · Business magazines · Comics · Defunct magazines · Fashion magazines · Literary magazines · Political magazines · Satirical magazines · Science and technology magazines · Women's magazines · List of magazines by circulation   Radio National stations BBC Analogue/digital: Radio 1 · Radio 2 · Radio 3 · Radio 4 · Radio 5 Live · Digital: Radio 1Xtra · Radio 4 Extra · Radio 5 Live Sports Extra · 6 Music · Asian Network · BBC National DAB (multiplex) Commercial Analogue/digital: Absolute Radio · Classic FM · Talksport · Digital: Absolute 80s · Absolute Radio 90s · Absolute Radio Extra · Amazing Radio · BFBS Radio · Digital One (multiplex) · Jazz FM · Planet Rock · Premier Christian Radio · Smooth Radio UK · UCB UK Regional and local stations BBC List of BBC Local Radio stations · List of BBC Regional Radio stations Commercial List of community radio stations · List of local commercial radio stations · List of semi-national analogue and digital stations Other stations List of hospital radio stations · Pirate radio · Restricted Service Licence (List of RSL stations) · List of satellite radio stations · List of student and schools radio Other Broadcasting companies · Broadcasting House · FM broadcasting · MediaCityUK · People · Programmes · Radio Academy · Radio Independents Group · RAJAR · Sony Radio Academy Awards · Most-listened-to programs   Television Principal channels BBC Analogue/digital: BBC One · BBC Two · Digital: BBC Three · BBC Four · BBC News · BBC Parliament · CBBC · CBeebies · BBC Alba · HD: BBC HD BSkyB Digital: Challenge · Pick TV · Sky1 · Sky2 · Sky 3D · Sky Arts · Sky Atlantic · Sky Betting and Gaming · Sky Living · Sky Livingit · Sky Movies · Sky Movies Box Office · Sky News · Sky Sports · Sky Sports F1 · Sky Sports News Channel Four Analogue/digital: Channel 4 · Digital: E4 · Film4 · More4 · 4seven · S4C Channel 5 Analogue/digital: Channel 5 · Digital: 5* · 5USA ITV Network Analogue/digital: ITV · Digital: ITV2 · ITV3 · ITV4 · CITV UKTV Digital: Alibi · Blighty · Dave · Eden · Gold · Good Food · Home · Really · Watch · Yesterday Services and platforms 4oD (Film4oD) · Analogue (Analogue terrestrial) · BBC iPlayer · blinkbox · BT Vision · Cable · Demand 5 · Digital (Digital terrestrial · List of channels) · Freesat (Freesat+ · List of channels) · Freeview (Freeview+) · Freewire (List of channels) · High-definition (List of channels) · ITV (ITV Player · STV Player) · Real Digital · Restricted Service Licence · Satellite (List of channels) · Sky (Freesat from Sky · Sky Anytime · Sky Anytime+ · Sky+ · Sky+ HD · List of channels) · Smallworld Cable (List of channels) · TalkTalk TV (List of channels) · Top Up TV · TVCatchup (List of channels) · Virgin Media (FilmFlex · TiVo · V+ · List of channels) · WightCable · YouView · Zattoo (List of channels) Studios BBC Pacific Quay · BBC Television Centre · Broadcasting House · Broadcasting House (Cardiff) · The Fountain Studios · The Leeds Studios · MediaCityUK · Granada Studios · Roath Lock · Teddington Studios Other Awards · Defunct channels · Edinburgh International Television Festival · History (List of years) · List of channels · Production companies · Programmes · Student television · Viewing statistics (Most-watched broadcasts)   Companies and organisations Companies Major companies Aegis Group · Archant · BBC · Bloomsbury Publishing · British Sky Broadcasting · BT Group · Channel Four · Chrysalis Group · Daily Mail and General Trust · Economist Group · EMAP · EMI Group · Endemol UK · Global Radio · Guardian Media Group · Haymarket Group · Informa · IPC Media · ITN · ITV · Johnston Press · Mecom Group · News International · Newsquest · Northern & Shell · Pearson · Press Holdings · Reed Elsevier · Reuters · STV Group · Syco · TalkTalk Group · Trinity Mirror · UBM · UTV Media · Virgin Media Other resources Broadcasting companies · Defunct media companies · Publishing companies (List of largest UK book publishers) · Record labels Government and regulatory bodies Advertising Standards Authority · BBC Trust · British Board of Film Classification · British Film Institute · Culture, Media and Sport Select Committee · Department for Culture, Media and Sport · Ofcom · Press Complaints Commission · UK Film Council · Welsh Fourth Channel Authority Industry and trades bodies British Academy of Film and Television Arts · British Phonographic Industry · Broadcasting, Entertainment, Cinematograph and Theatre Union · Clearcast · Digital TV Group · Digital UK · Equity · Federation Against Copyright Theft · National Union of Journalists · The Publishers Association · Royal Television Society · United Kingdom Independent Broadcasting Other BBC Academy · National Film and Television School · National Media Museum   Regional and student media Regional media Media in England (Media in Birmingham · Media in London · Media in Manchester) · Media in Northern Ireland · Media in Scotland (Media in Aberdeen · Media in Dundee · Media in Glasgow) · Media in Wales (Media in Cardiff) Student media Student television Category ·  Commons v t e FTSE 100 companies of the United Kingdom   → FTSE 250 As of 19 March 2012: Aberdeen Asset Management Admiral Group Aggreko AMEC Anglo American Antofagasta ARM Holdings Ashmore Group Associated British Foods AstraZeneca Aviva BAE Systems Barclays BG Group BHP Billiton BP British American Tobacco British Land Company British Sky Broadcasting BT Group Bunzl Burberry Group CRH Capita Group Capital Shopping Centres Group Carnival Centrica Compass Group Croda International Diageo Eurasian Natural Resources Corporation Experian Evraz Fresnillo G4S GKN GlaxoSmithKline Glencore International Hammerson Hargreaves Lansdown HSBC ICAP IMI Imperial Tobacco InterContinental Hotels Group International Airlines Group International Power Intertek Group ITV Johnson Matthey Kazakhmys Kingfisher Land Securities Group Legal & General Lloyds Banking Group Man Group Marks & Spencer Meggitt Wm Morrison Supermarkets National Grid Next Old Mutual Pearson Petrofac Polymetal International Prudential Randgold Resources Reckitt Benckiser Reed Elsevier Resolution Rexam Rio Tinto Group Rolls-Royce Group The Royal Bank of Scotland Group Royal Dutch Shell RSA Insurance Group SABMiller Sage Group J Sainsbury Schroders Serco Group Severn Trent Shire Smith & Nephew Smiths Group SSE Standard Chartered Standard Life Tate & Lyle Tesco Tullow Oil Unilever United Utilities Vedanta Resources Vodafone Weir Group Whitbread Wolseley WPP Xstrata

Sir Michael Barber is currently the Chief Education Advisor to Pearson, the world's largest learning company. In the past, Sir Michael served as a partner and head of the global education practice at McKinsey, advisor to UK Prime Minister Tony Blair and a global expert on education reform and implementation of large-scale system change. He has worked for over 20 years in education and government reform and improvement.^[1]

Barber previously served as Chief Adviser to the Secretary of State for Education on School Standards during the first term of British Prime Minister Tony Blair.^[1] During Blair’s second term, from 2001 to 2005, Barber served as the Chief Adviser on Delivery, reporting directly to Prime Minister Blair.^[1] As head of the Prime Minister’s Delivery Unit (PMDU), he was responsible for working with government agencies to ensure successful implementation of the Prime Minister’s priority programs, including those in health, education, transport, policing, the criminal justice system, and asylum/immigration.^[2] He wrote a book about his experience in the PMDU, titled Instruction to Deliver: Fighting to Reform Britain’s Public Services (Metheun 2008), which was described by the Financial Times as “one of the best books about British Government for many years,” and has been read by political leaders around the world.^[2]

Following his time leading the Prime Minister’s Delivery Unit, Barber served as partner and head of McKinsey’s Global Education Practice. While at McKinsey, Sir Michael Barber co-authored two major education reports: How the world’s most improved school systems keep getting better (2010) and How the world’s best-performing schools come out on top (2007).^[1] He also served as co-chair of the Pakistan Education Taskforce^[2] and continues to work on education system reform in Pakistan as DFID’s Special Representative on Education for Pakistan. Through his work in Pakistan Sir Michael is serving as an Advisor to Honorable Chief Minister of Punjab, Shahbaz Sharif, on his ambitious public education reform program called Punjab Schools Reform Roadmap with the goal of enrolling ~7.5M of out school children and increasing the quality of education significantly.

Sir Michael has consulted to governments in over 40 countries on issues of public policy and delivery. Sir Michael Barber published Deliverology 101 in 2011 to serve as a comprehensive guide to Education system reform and delivery. Governments and large public organisations (from the Louisiana school system to the Malaysian government) have systematically adopted the 'deliverology' approach and realized quick impact and significantly improve outcomes to their reform programs. Additionally, major international organizations including the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), the World Bank, DFID, and the IMF have sought the advice and guidance of Sir Michael.^[2]

Sir Michael is also a Distinguished Visiting Fellow at the Harvard Graduate School of Education and holds an honorary doctorate from the University of Exeter.^[3]

In 2008, Sir Michael Barber received an Honorary Degree of Doctor of the University from Nottingham Trent University in recognition of his leading contribution to reforms aimed at the modernisation of public management and services over the last 20 years, both nationally and internationally, as an area of expertise explicitly identified in the University's strategic plan.

In the summer of 2010, Sir Michael Barber teamed with leaders from the Education Trust and Achieve to found the U.S. Education Delivery Institute. This Institute works with leaders of K-12 and higher education systems around the United States to adapt the delivery concept pioneered by Barber in the Prime Minister’s Delivery Unit to drive American education reform efforts.^[4]

In September 2011, Sir Michael Barber became Chief Education Advisor at Pearson. In this role, he will lead the company’s worldwide research and partnership on education policy, and learning methods, advise on and support the innovation and development of new products and services, and lead Pearson’s strategy for education in the poorest sectors of the world, particularly in fast-growing developing economies.^[1]

References[link]

1. ^ ^{a b c d e} "Sir Michael Barber to join Pearson as Chief Education Advisor". http://www.pearson.com/media-1/announcements/?i=1443. 
2. ^ ^{a b c d} "U.S. Education Delivery Institute - Board Members". http://www.deliveryinstitute.org/board-members. 
3. ^ "World Innovation Summit for Education - Biography". http://www.wise-qatar.org/node/10778. 
4. ^ "U.S. Education Delivery Institute - Delivery Approach". http://www.deliveryinstitute.org/delivery-approach.