Pearson Post Sales Increase on the Back of Online Learning

Pearson PLC posted strong first quarter figures largely as a result of global online learning sales, which jumped a massive 25% during the first quarter.

The education services business said virtual schools did well, primarily assisted by students remaining at residence throughout COVID lock-downs, particularly in the US. However, US assessment work dipped as even more exams were terminated.

Other areas that struggled because of the pandemic included demand for English tuition, especially in Latin America though there was a slight increase in China.

Pearson thinks it has actually been a great start to the year, in spite of a longer period of disturbance from COVID in the quarter contrasted to the previous year. The pandemic has actually enormously increased the need for digital testing and understanding, and also lit a fire underneath Pearson’s efforts to revitalize. On paper, the suggestion has a lot of benefit.

Pearson Chief Executive Andy Bird said “It’s been a good start to the year for Pearson, delivering 5 percent sales growth in the quarter. This is despite a longer period of disruption from coronavirus disease in the quarter compared to last year.”

Pearson is repositioning itself as a consumer-facing group offering training and abilities for life past its core colleges as well as universities remit, said it continued to expect to deliver profits and revenue development in 2021. It just recently introduced it would reorganize around 5 divisions investing heavily in the cloud with higher education, virtual learning English, labor force skills and assessment being the main beneficiaries. This reorganization is now accelerating with that focus of an overall shift into cloud based learning.