Pearson PLC.
PSO.US | Higher education
Pearson PLC is a global learning company providing educational content, assessment, and related services to learners, educational institutions, employers, and governments. The company operates through five divisions: Assessment & Qualifications, Virtual Learning, English Language Learning, Higher Ed...Show More
Better Health for All
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Pearson demonstrates a strong commitment to healthcare education, integrating generative AI study tools into its nursing series to improve learning and address nursing shortages
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. This also contributes to healthcare workforce support by improving the learning experience for nursing students and educators
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. The company supports mental health through its digital therapy and wellbeing platform, Pearson’s Global WELL, which is supported by Unmind
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. As a learning company, Pearson's principal goods and services have a neutral direct health impact
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, and its products do not have direct safety implications for physical or mental health
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.
Fair Money & Economic Opportunity
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Pearson PLC is a global learning company that provides educational content, assessment, and related services. The 'Fair Money & Economic Opportunity' value assesses activities related to lending, insuring, moving, or storing money. As Pearson's core business does not involve offering consumer financial products or services such as loans, deposits, or insurance, all Key Performance Indicators under this value are not applicable.
Fair Pay & Worker Respect
-10
Pearson's CEO to median employee pay ratio was 210:1 in 2024.
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In 2024, 26% of the workforce consisted of contingent workers.
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The company reported a mean gender pay gap of 16% in the UK for 2023, implying a pay equity ratio of 0.84.
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Pearson's voluntary employee turnover rate was 13% in 2024.
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The overall employee engagement Grand Mean score was 4.16 out of 5 (83.2%) in 2024, ranking in the 79th percentile against similar-sized companies.
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Fair Trade & Ethical Sourcing
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Pearson sourced 92% of its paper from certified sources (FSC, PEFC, and SFI) in 2024.
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For supplier audits, medium and high-risk suppliers are required to undergo independent third-party audits at least once every 24 months, while highest-risk suppliers are continuously monitored digitally through the EcoVadis IQ tool.
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In 2024, out of 113 concerns raised and investigated, none were related to modern slavery.
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The company also reported 90% of its supply chain was covered by EcoVadis in 2024.
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,
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, indicating a level of traceability.
Honest & Fair Business
-10
Pearson incurred approximately £2,005,000 (around $2.5 million USD) in ethics-related regulatory fines over the past three years, levied by Ofqual for breaches between 2019 and 2023 related to exam standards and online test integrity.
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The company has an S&P Global CSA Score of 57.
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Pearson reported two financial restatement or adjustment events over the last five years, including a restatement for 2020/2021 due to investment classification errors
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and a £10 million adjustment in 2024.
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Independent external audit coverage for a recent year included 95% of total assets.
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The company maintains comprehensive anti-bribery and corruption (ABC) and sanctions compliance programs, compliant with regulations like the UK Bribery Act 2010 and the US Foreign Corrupt Practices Act, which undergo annual deep dives and include updated sanctions and due diligence policies.
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Pearson has a "Raising Concerns and Anti-Retaliation Policy" (SpeakUp process)
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with a secure, third-party-operated ethics hotline, available in multiple languages, applying to all personnel, and aims to acknowledge reports within five working days and conclude investigations within 30 days.
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The Audit Committee annually reviews the program's effectiveness.
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Kind to Animals
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Pearson PLC is a global learning company providing educational content and services. The provided articles do not contain any specific, concrete data points or information related to animal welfare, animal testing, animal agriculture, or the use of animal-derived ingredients in the company's operations or supply chain. Therefore, no KPIs under the 'Kind to Animals' value can be scored based on the evidence provided.
No War, No Weapons
-10
Pearson provides educational services to military entities. It had a contract with the DOD Education Activity for a student assessment system, valued at $22,423,933
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, which was 100% complete by July 2025.
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This represented approximately 0.45% of Pearson's 2022 sales of $5 billion.
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Additionally, Pearson holds six apprenticeship contracts with the British Army
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, with three new contracts announced in April 2025
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, serving approximately 4,000 learners per year over a 6-year duration.
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These are minor defense-adjacent services, and there is no evidence of direct arms revenue.
Planet-Friendly Business
-10
Pearson purchases 100% of its electricity from renewable sources through green tariffs, on-site generation, or Energy Attribute Certificates.
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The company's total market-based greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions in 2024 were 238,926 tCO2e, a 5.9% reduction from 2023.
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New long-term GHG reduction targets, including a 50% reduction by 2030 from a 2018 baseline and a 90% reduction for net-zero by 2050, were approved by the Science Based Targets initiative (SBTi) in 2024, aligning with a 1.5°C pathway.
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Climate-related financial disclosures are aligned with Task Force on Climate-related Financial Disclosures (TCFD) recommendations.
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Climate risk assessment uses RCP 2.6 and RCP 7 scenarios for physical risks and IEA WEO-2021 scenarios for transition risks, covering multiple time periods up to 2050.
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The climate risk assessment did not identify any material impact on stranded assets for the period up to June 2026.
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In 2024, 32.6% of office waste was recycled.
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Pearson is committed to procuring 100% of paper from certified sources that ban deforestation, achieving 92% in 2024.
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90% of its supply chain is covered by the EcoVadis IQ tool for risk assessment.
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Respect for Cultures & Communities
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Pearson published a nursing textbook that contained inaccurate and stereotypical views on pain responses categorized by race/ethnicity, which was widely criticized.
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In response, Pearson issued an apology and removed the problematic material from current and future editions of the textbook, also stating it was reviewing other nursing curriculum products.
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Pearson Canada formed an Indigenous Advisory Circle, comprised of eight Indigenous leaders, to advise on incorporating Indigenous truths and perspectives into policies and procedures.
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Safe & Smart Tech
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Pearson experienced a major cyberattack, disclosed in May 2025, with initial unauthorized access occurring in January 2025.
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This incident impacted millions of people
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and involved the theft of terabytes of data, including customer information, financials, support tickets, and source code from internal and cloud infrastructure
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. A subsidiary, PDRI, also suffered a data breach in January 2025.
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The attack was facilitated by an exposed GitLab Personal Access Token (PAT) in a public .git/config file
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, indicating significant vulnerabilities in authentication security
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and overall vulnerability management
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. Following the incident, Pearson deployed enhanced security monitoring and authentication
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. While Pearson Clinical Assessment holds ISO 27001 certification across its European offices since December 2021
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, and Pearson has a legal obligation to comply with GDPR with a program in place and a Data Privacy Officer in the UK
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, the recent major data breach suggests significant gaps in its regulatory compliance.
Zero Waste & Sustainable Products
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The company recycled 14.6% of waste in its office space.
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It has implemented waste reduction initiatives, including reducing paper consumption and increasing the use of ethically sourced materials, which contributed to a decrease in total waste generation to 1,371 tonnes in 2024.
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Furthermore, Pearson integrates circular economy principles into its product delivery through a strategic shift to digital products and print-on-demand services.
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