Trading Statement

Pearson PLC
22 January 2008


22 January 2008


PEARSON TRADING UPDATE


Pearson is today providing its regular January trading update.

Across the company, our trading momentum continued in the fourth quarter and we
will produce record profits for 2007. We will also report strong cash generation
and a further underlying improvement in our return on invested capital.

Our businesses have again achieved good sales growth and margin improvement. In
our largest business, education, we continued to perform very well
competitively, as expected, and will report our strongest year ever.

In business information and consumer publishing, we finished the year ahead of
expectations. The FT Group grew strongly in all its subscription businesses, and
FT Publishing also sustained its advertising revenue growth and achieved a
further significant margin improvement. Penguin combined its ongoing operating
improvements with an outstanding publishing performance.

We now expect to report full-year adjusted earnings at or above the top end of
the range of current market expectations*, even after the significant weakening
of the US dollar during the year**.

Our full year results will also benefit from a tax charge of approximately 27%
on adjusted profit before tax.

Marjorie Scardino, chief executive, said:

"This is another excellent performance across all our businesses and on all our
financial measures. We have produced another record year and our third
consecutive year of underlying earnings growth in the mid-teens or higher. Over
this period we have changed the shape of Pearson, invested in our future growth
and made the company more efficient and more resilient. Those moves make us
confident that we will sustain our financial and competitive progress in 2008."

Pearson will announce its preliminary results for 2007 on 3 March 2008.


ENDS


* Range of analyst estimates for 2007 adjusted earnings per share is 42.0p to
45.5p according to Bloomberg.


** Pearson generates approximately two-thirds of its sales in US dollars. The
average £:$ exchange rate for the full year was £1: $2.00 (against £1:$1.84 in
2006). Each 5c move in the average £:$ exchange rate for the full year affects
Pearson's adjusted earnings by approximately 1p per share.



For more information:

Luke Swanson/ Simon Mays-Smith/ Charles Goldsmith         + 44 (0)207 010 2310






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