UNITED STATES
SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION
Washington, D.C. 20549
FORM 6-K
REPORT OF FOREIGN PRIVATE ISSUER
PURSUANT TO RULE 13a-16 OR 15d-16 UNDER
THE SECURITIES EXCHANGE ACT OF 1934
For the
month of October 2025
PEARSON plc
(Exact
name of registrant as specified in its charter)
N/A
(Translation
of registrant's name into English)
80 Strand
London, England WC2R 0RL
44-20-7010-2000
(Address
of principal executive office)
Indicate
by check mark whether the Registrant files or will file annual
reports
under
cover of Form 20-F or Form 40-F:
Form
20-F
X
Form 40-F
Indicate
by check mark whether the Registrant by furnishing the
information
contained
in this Form is also thereby furnishing the information to
the
Commission
pursuant to Rule 12g3-2(b) under the Securities Exchange Act of
1934
Yes
No X
Pearson 2025 Nine Month Trading Update (Unaudited)
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17th October
2025
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Continued execution against our strategic priorities; on track to
deliver on 2025 market expectations1 with
clear drivers for stronger growth in Q4.
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Highlights
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Underlying Group sales growth accelerating to 4% in Q3, resulting
in 2% growth for the nine-month period. Stronger Q4 sales growth
expected given known business unit dynamics.
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Continued strategic and operational progress,
including:
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o
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Building Enterprise momentum, including a new strategic partnership
with Cognizant
(link
here) and a
strategic alliance with Deloitte, together with the successful
launch of our multi-year
global collaboration with Salesforce as their exclusive provider of
certifications (link
here).
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o
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Expansion of AI learning content and training through launch of AI
Literacy Modules (link here) and ongoing global rollout of
AI-powered Study Prep (link here).
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Growing evidence that our AI-powered study tools are improving
learning outcomes with Connections Academy students achieving
higher grades with our AI study tools (link here).
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On track to deliver on 2025 market expectations1.
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Omar Abbosh, Pearson's Chief Executive, said:
"Pearson
delivered another quarter of good progress, with accelerated sales
growth in Q3, and robust performance across our businesses. Our
teams continue to execute against our strategic priorities, leading
on the application of innovative technologies and growing our
enterprise customer footprint. With clear drivers for strong future
growth, we are well positioned for the opportunities that lie
ahead, supporting our medium term outlook."
Underlying Group sales growth accelerating to 4% in Q3, 2% for the
nine months
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Assessment & Qualifications sales growth accelerated in Q3,
with sales up 4% in the period and Pearson VUE returning to growth.
Sales increased 2% for the nine-month period.
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Virtual Learning sales increased 17% in Q3, with 2025/26 academic
year enrolments up 13%. Sales increased 4% for the nine-month
period.
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Higher Education sales were down 1% in Q3 driven by International
Higher Education due to ongoing challenging trading conditions in
mature markets. US Higher Education sales grew 2% in the same
period, with solid growth in our core US Higher Education
Courseware business, partly offset by declines in K12 given the
transitionary period. Sales increased 2% for the nine-month
period.
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English Language Learning returned to growth in Q3, with sales up
1%, driven by strong performance in Pearson Test of English
(PTE) ahead
of recent test enhancements. Sales
declined 1% for the nine-month period, as
expected.
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Enterprise Learning & Skills sales increased 2% in Q3, with
quarter on quarter improvement in Enterprise Solutions. Sales
grew 3% for the nine-month period with solid performance in
Vocational Qualifications and Enterprise Solutions continuing to
build momentum.
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Outlook
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We expect Group sales growth and adjusted operating profit in line
with market expectations1 for
2025 with stronger sales growth in Q4.
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Beyond 2025, Pearson is positioned to deliver a mid-single digit
underlying sales growth CAGR, sustained margin improvement that
will equate to an average increase of 40 basis points per annum and
strong free cash conversion2,
in the region of 90% to 100%, on average, across the
period.
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Financial summary
Underlying growth for the third quarter and nine months ended 30th
September 2025 compared to the equivalent period in
2024.
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Sales
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Q3
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Nine months
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Assessment & Qualifications
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4%
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2%
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Virtual Learning
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17%
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4%
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Higher Education
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(1)%
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2%
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English Language Learning
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1%
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(1)%
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Enterprise Learning & Skills
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2%
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3%
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Total
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4%
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2%
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Throughout this announcement growth rates are stated on an
underlying basis unless otherwise stated. Underlying growth rates
exclude currency movements, and portfolio changes.
Assessment & Qualifications
Assessment & Qualifications sales growth accelerated in Q3,
with sales up 4% in the period. Sales increased 2%
for the nine-month period.
Pearson VUE returned to growth in Q3 driven by new contract
launches. Sales declined 1% for the nine-month period driven by the
pause in a contract delivered in 2024, which resumed in the
quarter, and headwinds in PDRI, which we now expect to continue
into next year, driven by US federal government hiring and spend
reductions.
US Student Assessment sales were down 1% for the nine-month period
with phasing expected to normalise in Q4.
Clinical Assessment sales were up 9% for the nine-month
period, due
to the continued traction of our products in the market, pricing
and digital product growth.
UK and International Qualifications sales increased 8% for the
nine-month period driven
by volume, pricing and strong International
growth.
We continue to expect low to mid-single digit sales growth for the
full year. Growth
will be Q4 weighted due to new and renewed
contracts.
Virtual Learning
Virtual Learning sales grew 17% in Q3 driven by a 13% increase in
2025/26 academic year enrolments in the Fall semester, favourable
mix and funding. Enrolment
growth benefited from the completed roll out of the new enrolment
portal across the school network and targeted marketing investments
to capture demand. This investment will support profitable sales
growth next year given the business' strong student life-time
value, although it will be a headwind to margin in H2 this year. We
also embedded our career programme across the network ahead of the
Fall back-to-school period, supporting improved student
retention, and
continue to enhance our career offering through new and extended
partnerships.
We successfully opened two new schools for the 2025/26 academic
year and made a strategic closure of a small school at the end of
the 2024/25 academic year. This brings our total number of schools
to 41 across 31 states for the 2025/26 academic year.
We have expanded Pearson's AI custom assessment tool to all
teachers across our network driving increased adoption and usage.
By more than halving the time needed to create custom student
assessments, the tool enables teachers to spend more time on
meaningful student interactions.
Sales grew by 4% over the nine-month period, with strong
performance in Q3 partially offset by the final portion of the
impact of previously announced school losses that affected the
first half of the year.
Full year expectations for Virtual Learning remain unchanged with
sales expected to grow in
H2, and for the full year, driven by enrolment increases, partially
from new school openings, for the 2025/26 academic
year.
Higher Education
In Higher Education, sales increased 2% for
the nine-month period benefiting from growth of 19% in
Inclusive Access
and of 2% in US digital subscriptions. Sales
were down 1% in Q3, driven by International Higher Education due to
ongoing challenging trading conditions in mature markets. US Higher
Education sales grew 2% in the same period driven by solid growth
in our core US Higher Education Courseware business, with continued
strong monetisation of our Study Prep tool and sustained engagement
with our AI-powered study tools, partly offset by declines in our
K-12 channel. As previously flagged, 2025 is a transitionary year
for our K-12 channel as we ramp up our strategically important
direct sales team selling our proprietary AP®, Dual Enrolment,
and CTE materials into US states and school
districts.
We recently launched our new AI Literacy Modules, which are
assignable learning experiences aimed at equipping students with
the skills to understand, use, and evaluate AI ethically and
effectively. Additionally, we expanded the rollout of our
AI-powered Study Prep tools internationally, providing personalised
study support across more than 25 academic subjects to students
worldwide.
We continue to expect sales growth in 2025 to be higher than in
2024 as we build on the successful results of our sales team
transformation and product innovations, particularly using
AI.
English Language Learning
English Language Learning returned to growth in Q3, with sales up
1%, driven by strong performance in PTE ahead of recent test
enhancements.
Sales declined 1% for the nine-month period, as expected, with the
first half of the year impacted by a strong comparator period in
Institutional. We continue to expect a strong Q4 in
Institutional driven
by academic cycles in our key Latin American
markets.
We continue to lead on the application of innovative technologies,
with the launch of a new AI chatbot in the Longman English Plus app
- available to over 1 million young learners in China, with
speaking practice aligned to our proprietary Global Scale of
English.
We continue to expect full year sales growth to moderate,
compared to 2024 growth, given the impacts of elections on
immigration rates in 2025 affecting our PTE business. Growth will
be Q4 weighted. We remain confident in the medium term outlook
given demographic projections.
Enterprise Learning & Skills
Sales increased 3% for the nine-month period with solid performance
in Vocational Qualifications and Enterprise Solutions continuing to
build momentum with new wins including Cognizant
and Deloitte. Sales increased 2% in Q3, with solid quarter on
quarter improvement in Enterprise Solutions partially offset by a
difficult comparator in Vocational Qualifications due to a prior
year one-off development fee.
Sales are expected to grow high single digit for the full year with
Vocational Qualifications seeing solid growth and the addition of
several new contracts for Enterprise Solutions. Growth will be
supported by recent customer announcements and pipeline
activity.
2025 guidance summary
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Underlying Sales growth
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Group
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In line with market expectations1 with
stronger sales growth in Q4.
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Assessment & Qualifications
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Sales to grow low to mid-single digit. Growth will be Q4 weighted
due to new and renewed contracts.
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Virtual Learning
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Return to growth in H2, and for the full year, driven by enrolment
increases, partially from new school openings, for the 2025/26
academic year.
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Higher Education
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Sales growth in 2025 will be higher than in 2024 as we build on the
successful results of our sales team transformation and product
innovations, particularly using AI.
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English Language Learning
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Sales growth will moderate given the impacts of elections on
immigration rates in 2025 affecting our PTE business. We expect
growth to be Q4 weighted. We remain confident in the medium term
outlook given demographic projections.
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Enterprise Learning & Skills
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Sales to grow high single digit with Vocational Qualifications
seeing solid growth and the addition of several new contracts for
Enterprise Solutions. Growth will be supported by recent customer
announcements and pipeline activity.
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Group Profit
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Adjusted Operating Profit
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In line with market expectations1.
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Interest
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Adjusted net finance costs of c.£65m.
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Tax rate
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We expect the effective tax rate on adjusted profit before tax to
be between 24% and 25%.
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Cash flow
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We expect a free cash flow conversion2 of
90-100% plus the £0.1bn State Aid repayment which was received
in full during Q1 2025.
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FX
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Every 1c movement in GBP:USD rate equates to approximately £5m
adjusted operating profit impact.
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1Current
market expectations: underlying sales growth 4%, adjusted operating
profit of £656m at £:$ 1.23. Taking the average
FX rate
through the first 9 months of 2025 (£:$1.32) and assuming the
September 2025 month end rate of (£:$1.35) for the rest of the
year, results in an implied FX rate for the full year of
£:$1.33. This results in an updated adjusted operating profit
of c.£606m.
2Free cash
flow conversion calculated as free cash flow divided by adjusted
earnings.
Contacts
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Investor Relations
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Alex Shore
Steph Crinnegan
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+44 (0) 7720 947 853
+44 (0) 7780 555 351
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Gemma Terry
Brennan Matthews
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+44 (0) 7841 363 216
+1 (332) 238-8785
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Media
Teneo
Pearson
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Ed Cropley
Laura Ewart
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+44 (0) 7492 949 346
+44 (0) 7798 846 805
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Virtual Event
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Pearson's 2025 nine-month trading update is taking place today at
08:30 (BST). Register to receive log in details: https://pearson.connectid.cloud/register
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About Pearson
At
Pearson, our purpose is simple: to help people realise the life
they imagine through learning. We believe that every learning
opportunity is a chance for a personal breakthrough. That's why our
Pearson employees are committed to creating vibrant and enriching
learning experiences designed for real-life impact. We are the
world's lifelong learning company, serving customers with digital
content, assessments, qualifications, and data. For us, learning
isn't just what we do. It's who we are. Visit us at
pearsonplc.com.
Notes
Forward looking statements: Except for the historical information
contained herein, the matters discussed in this statement include
forward-looking statements. In particular, all statements that
express forecasts, expectations and projections with respect to
future matters, including trends in results of operations, margins,
growth rates, overall market trends, the impact of interest or
exchange rates, the availability of financing, anticipated cost
savings and synergies and the execution of Pearson's strategy, are
forward-looking statements. By their nature, forward-looking
statements involve risks and uncertainties because they relate to
events and depend on circumstances that will occur in future. They
are based on numerous assumptions regarding Pearson's present and
future business strategies and the environment in which it will
operate in the future. There are a number of factors which could
cause actual results and developments to differ materially from
those expressed or implied by these forward-looking statements,
including a number of factors outside Pearson's control. These
include international, national and local conditions, as well as
competition. They also include other risks detailed from time to
time in Pearson's publicly-filed documents and you are advised to
read, in particular, the risk factors set out in Pearson's latest
annual report and accounts, which can be found on its website
(www.pearsonplc.com). Any forward-looking statements speak only as
of the date they are made, and Pearson gives no undertaking to
update forward-looking statements to reflect any changes in its
expectations with regard thereto or any changes to events,
conditions or circumstances on which any such statement is based.
Readers are cautioned not to place undue reliance on such
forward-looking statements.
SIGNATURE
Pursuant
to the requirements of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, the
registrant has duly caused this report to be signed on its behalf
by the undersigned, thereunto duly authorized.
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PEARSON
plc
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Date: 17
October 2025
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By: /s/
NATALIE WHITE
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------------------------------------
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Natalie
White
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Deputy
Company Secretary
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