International Education
Pearson is the world leader in education publishing and related services outside North America. Over the past five years, this has been Pearson's fastest-growing business, increasing sales at a headline compound annual growth rate of 17% (from £559m in 2005 to £1,035m in 2009) and operating profit almost three-fold (from £51m in 2005 to £141m in 2009). The business has achieved strong organic growth and successfully integrated a number of acquisitions including Edexcel, Harcourt International and PBM. In 2009 we further extended our international scale, acquiring Wall Street English, a chain of premium English language training centres in China; and investing in vocational training and online learning in India.
Overview
Our 2009 results reflect good organic growth, continued investment in bolt-on acquisitions (Maskew Miler Longman, Longman Nigeria and Fronter announced in 2008 and Wall Street English in 2009) and currency movements. Our International Education business operates in 67 countries across the globe and has significant exposure to a wide range of currencies including the US dollar and the euro. In 2009, currency movements boosted revenues by £60m but reduced adjusted operating profits by £17m compared to 2008.
Looking ahead, we expect our International Education businesses to continue to benefit from a series of powerful growth trends: increasing public and private spending on education; growing participation rates in elementary, secondary and higher education; the demand for assessment to provide measures of achievement; the growing technology infrastructure in educational institutions; and the rise of English and other international languages.
International Education: Key performance indicators
| £ millions | 2009 | 2008 | Headline growth | CER growth | Underlying growth |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Sales | 1,035 | 866 | 20% | 13% | 4% |
| Adjusted operating profit | 141 | 135 | 4% | 19% | 14% |
Online learning users
chart description
The number of registrations by students and professors to access one of our International Education online learning programmes.
Online results logins
chart description
Number of logins by users of International Education's online results service.
Global Highlights in 2009 include:
'MyLab' digital learning, homework and assessment programmes were used internationally by more than 470,000 students, up almost 60% on 2008, and are now sold in more than 200 countries worldwide.
Pearson Test of English
We launched the Pearson Test of English, our new test of Academic English which will be delivered in up to 200 Pearson VUE testing centres in 37 countries. Approximately 1,000 academic programmes worldwide now recognise, or are in the process of recognising, the Pearson Test of English.
Our eCollege learning management system is growing rapidly in international markets, winning new contracts in Australia, Brazil, Mexico, Colombia, Puerto Rico and Saudi Arabia.
Fronter
The Fronter learning management system continued to grow very strongly with more than 6 million students in more than 8,000 schools, colleges and Universities around the world.
Our new Pearson Learning Solutions business won its first contracts in the UK, the Gulf and Africa. It combines a broad range of products and services from across Pearson to deliver a systematic approach to improving student performance.
Africa and the Middle East Highlights in 2009 include:
Pearson successfully implemented the Abu Dhabi Education Council's External Measurement of Student Achievement programme covering English, Arabic, Maths and Science in April 2009 and was also contracted by the United Arab Emirates Ministry of Education to deliver the programme in the northern emirates.
In South Africa, Pearson launched Platinum, the first blended print and online course developed for the South African National Curriculum. 7,000 students registered for MyMathLab+, at the University of Witwatersrand, helping raise student pass rates in its initial phase from 31% in the first semester to 60% in the second semester.
Asia and Pacific Highlights in 2009 include:
English language teaching
We acquired Wall Street English, China's leading provider of premium English language training to adults, for $145m. The combination of Longman Schools and Wall Street English gives Pearson a leading position in the English language teaching market in China, serving students from elementary school to professional levels.
We stepped up our presence in the Indian education market with two investments totalling $30m: a 50:50 joint-venture with Educomp, called IndiaCan, to offer vocational and skills training through 120 training centres across the country; and a 17.2% stake in TutorVista, which provides online tutoring for K-12 and college students.
Continental Europe Highlights in 2009 include:
The launch of our digi libre (Content Plus) products helped us to gain share in the lower and upper secondary markets in Italy and positions us well for major curriculum reforms planned for 2010.
In Spain, our sales were down sharply with pressures on central and regional government spending and a worsening retail environment.
Our ELT sales continued to grow in Poland, and across central and Eastern Europe we saw good demand for our publishing and digital resources and our fledgling Language Learning Solutions activities.
Latin America Highlights in 2009 include:
New editions of the proven bestsellers, BackPack and Pockets, along with the successful launch of two new courses, CornerStone and KeyStone, helped to deliver strong growth in the sales of ELT materials across Latin America.
In Brazil, which has one of Latin America's largest and fastest-growing university populations, our virtual library now supports 30 post-secondary institutions.
And, in Panama, 75,000 high school students are now learning Biology and Chemistry, using Prentice Hall Virtual Labs.
United Kingdom Highlights in 2009 include:
We received over 3.7 million registrations for vocational assessment and general qualifications. We marked 4.5 million 'A'-level and GCSE scripts on-screen and successfully delivered the 2009 National Curriculum test series and were awarded the contract to administer the 2010 National Curriculum Tests at Key Stage 2.
Our qualifications
We made significant investments in supporting the new Diploma qualification for 14-19 year-olds; the IGCSE qualifications to meet the needs of International schools and colleges; and BTEC, our flagship vocational qualification. BTEC registrations totalled more than 1 million for the first time and were up almost 30% on 2008.
Our Higher Education business grew strongly, helped by the success of new first editions, the rapid take up of MyLabs adapted to meet local requirements, and the growing popularity of custom publishing. Sales of UK primary resources fell, on the back of minimal curriculum change and some signs of schools managing their budgets more tightly.
