Pearson has released a nine-month trading update that shows their educational businesses performing strongly. While the outline statement does not break out the figures by region, the overall picture was none the less interesting. Pearson Education sales are up 13% (mainly on the strength of US sales) but the star performer was their Professional division, the cornerstone of which are Pearson NCS and NCS Pearson their educational testing businesses. Sale in this area rose 17% and again much of this gain is due to President Bush’s policy No Child Left Behind policy that mandates schools wanting government funds must test their students.
