RM takes centre stage at BETT

RM PLC
12 January 2005


                       RM takes centre stage at BETT 2005

RM plc, the UK's leading supplier of ICT and other services to education, will
be showing its widest ever range of products and services at BETT - the UK's
leading educational technology showcase, which opens today at Olympia.

During the four days of BETT RM will host briefings for investment analysts and
institutional investors, which will include a presentation from management and a
visit to the exhibition. These briefings will include updates on:

  • Building Schools for the Future: RM will provide further information on
    the Department for Education and Skills' Building Schools for the Future
    (BSF) initiative. This will include details of: the procurement process
    proposed by the government agency Partnerships for Schools (P4S); the
    initial project timescale and LEAs involved; and the structure of Local
    Education Partnerships (the structure suggested by P4S for engaging private
    sector partners in the programme).

  • BBC Digital Curriculum: Each of RM and 3T Productions (the Group's
    interactive design subsidiary) has been appointed by the BBC as a 'preferred
    supplier' for Digital Curriculum subject commissions.

  • Lambeth LEA (local education authority) PFI project: Contract
    negotiations relating to this £16 million PFI project are continuing to
    proceed satisfactorily. RM announced that it was sole bidder for the Lambeth
    PFI project in March 2004.

No update on trading will be given; performance in the year to date has been in
line with management's expectations as communicated at the Group's preliminary
results announcement in November 2004.

Commenting on BETT 2005, Tim Pearson, CEO of RM, said:

'BETT provides an excellent opportunity for RM to demonstrate our range of
educational products and services designed to help teachers to teach and
learners to learn.

'With LEAs and secondary schools developing their ICT strategies in response to
the Building Schools for the Future initiative, infrastructure products and
services and RM's Learning Platform architecture will be particularly important
this year. With Connect Advance, we are showing a family of value-added
enhancements and add-ons for our market-leading Community Connect 3
infrastructure product.

'We are also showing a number of new content packs for Easiteach, our
standard-setting interactive whole-class teaching software. New for BETT 2005
are geography (our first key stage three content pack) and EAL (English as an
additional language).'

                                    - Ends -



For further information, please contact:

Mike Greig/Phil Hemmings, RM plc                         08709 200200
Fiona Laffan/Mark Antelme, Brunswick                     020 7404 5959



Notes to Editors:

BETT 2005 takes place at Olympia, London from the 12th January to the 15th
January 2005. It is the year's major meeting point for the UK educational ICT
community and also attracts significant interest from international educational
influencers and policy makers. With approximately 550 exhibitors and 25,000
attendees, it is believed to be the world's largest educational technology
exhibition.

The RM Group presence at BETT 2005 comprises the main RM stand, showing a wide
range of new and improved educational information and communications technology
(ICT) products, along with separately branded stands representing the Group's
Softease, Sentinel and TTS subsidiaries. There is also a stand showing the
Sonica Spanish language learning software, which was developed by the Group's 3T
Productions subsidiary for the DfES and is now being marketed by RM. At each of
these stands, senior teachers and ICT co-ordinators will be able to discuss the
latest products and services with our education and product specialists.

RM Group stands can be found at:

   • RM - Stand D50/E50
   • Softease - Stand C56
   • Sentinel (Ranger) - Stand E90
   • TTS - Stand PZ1
   • Sonica - Stand R36

RM will be providing consultancy sessions for local education authority (LEA)
staff focusing on how the Group's Learning Platform architecture can provide
ICT-based services that improve teaching and learning. The Learning Platform,
which was introduced at BETT last year, has seen significant development and now
forms the basis of RM's strategic education projects in Warwickshire and Newham.
Focus areas for RM at BETT 2005 include:

  • Easiteach - The emerging standard for whole-class interactive teaching
    software. The Easiteach family now includes geography, early steps in
    literacy, EAL (English as an additional language) and animated book content
    packs. Existing Easiteach family products have been nominated in three BETT
    award categories.

  • DiscoverAlive - A new range of ICT resources for use across the
    curriculum at key stage three. DiscoverAlive includes materials for Maths,
    English, Science, Geography, History, French, and Spanish. It provides
    learning resources, tagged for use in RM's Kaleidos virtual learning and
    environment and support material including exemplar lessons and teacher
    notes.

  • Early Years Window Box - An RM Window Box especially designed for use in
    pre-primary educational environments, with a range of appropriate software
    and learning resources.

  • Sonica Spanish - An innovative tool for teaching Spanish at key stage
    two. Sonica was commissioned by the DfES and developed by 3T Productions
    (the Group's interactive design subsidiary).

  • Connect Advance - Community Connect 3, the market-leading ICT
    infrastructure solution; improved with a family of options and enhancements
    designed to address the challenging requirements of classroom networking.
    These include mass storage solutions, security and access control
    mechanisms, enhanced multimedia and video support and new communications
    options, as well as an improved training offer.

  • RM One - RM's innovative, all-in-one PC. The RM One has been received
    enthusiastically by both primary and secondary schools and is nominated for
    a BETT award.




                      This information is provided by RNS
            The company news service from the London Stock Exchange