Pearson reports 9M underlying sales growth of 3%

5% for Q3, excluding OPM and Strategic Review businesses; 2% in aggregate for the nine months. Assessment & Qualifications sales were up 3% for the nine-month period, with growth accelerating in Q3, as expected, and all businesses contributing to growth. Virtual Learning sales were up 4% for Q3 due to 4% growth in Virtual Schools, with 2024/25 academic enrolments up 4% on a same school basis. Virtual Learning sales declined 4% for the nine-month period attributable to the final portion of the OPM ASU contract in the first half of 2023. Higher Education returned to growth in Q3 with sales up 4% and is on track to grow for the full year, driven by the operational and business changes implemented over the past 18 months. Higher Education sales were flat for the nine-month period. English Language Learning sales were up 7% for the nine-month period driven by a strong performance in Institutional. In Q3, sales were up 2% with some Institutional sales moving to Q4. Workforce Skills sales were up 6% for the nine-month period and also for Q3, with solid performances in both Vocational Qualifications and Workforce Solutions. Omar Abbosh, CEO, said: “Pearson (PSO) is delivering on the three priorities for 2024 that I identified at the start of the year. First, our focus on operational and financial performance has driven growth across all divisions this quarter and we are on track to meet full-year expectations. Second, we are accelerating our AI capabilities across the business and starting to see the commercial benefit. Third, expanded enterprise relationships with companies such as ServiceNow demonstrate progress on our intention to expand in workforce learning.”