Better Health for All

Pearson PLC, an education company, has limited direct engagement with health outcomes. The company aligns with NIST frameworks for cybersecurity and data privacy and meets the industry average NIST Cybersecurity Framework score.

However, the articles do not provide specific details on health data breaches, the number of people affected, or the transparency of health data usage, which are necessary to assess the full scope of healthcare data responsibility.

Fair Money & Economic Opportunity

Pearson's core business is education, not financial services, meaning many financial KPIs are not applicable. The company's initiatives, such as the Pearson Affordable Learning Fund (PALF) and partnerships with NGOs, focus on improving access to education for underserved learners, not on direct lending or insurance.

Pearson committed $1 million to support the Kiva initiative, which provides loans to micro-entrepreneurs, but this is not part of Pearson's own loan book. In 2017, Pearson reinvested 1.4% of its pre-tax profit in community activities. The company's Project Literacy campaign reached 3 billion people, but no specific financial literacy programs or metrics are detailed.

Fair Pay & Worker Respect

Pearson's CEO to median employee pay ratio for 2024 was 354.9:1.

The company reported a UK median hourly pay ratio where women earned 88p for every £1 earned by men in 2023. The UK median ethnicity pay gap was 7% in 2024. Employee engagement was in the 72nd percentile among large companies. Over the past three years, Pearson has had three substantiated labor law violations, including employment discrimination, wage and hour violations, and workplace safety violations, resulting in penalties totaling $164,027.

Fair Trade & Ethical Sourcing

In 2024, Pearson received 113 concerns through its third-party reporting line, none of which were related to modern slavery.

The company's Responsible Procurement Policy, updated in 2024, sets minimum standards for suppliers regarding modern slavery, child labor, forced labor, and working hours. This policy is integrated into contracts and the Business Partner Code of Conduct. Pearson utilizes EcoVadis for supplier monitoring, covering 90% of its spend, which includes approximately 350 large-scale suppliers accounting for 80% of global spend.

Honest & Fair Business

Pearson PLC was fined $1 million by the SEC for misleading investors about a 2018 cyber intrusion, which falls within the last three years.

The company has a formal 'Raising Concerns and Anti-Retaliation Policy' revised in April 2023, outlining procedures for raising concerns, anonymity options, and anti-retaliation measures, but there is no evidence of independent investigation processes or hotline details. The company's ESG controversy score is 1.0, indicating a low controversy level. Pearson also has a global Anti-Bribery and Corruption Policy, effective January 2016 and revised in April 2023, which emphasizes zero tolerance for bribery and corruption and covers various aspects of business conduct, including interactions with third parties and government officials, but lacks evidence of training frequency or effectiveness metrics. Independent audit of the tracking and allocation of funds is mentioned for its social bond framework, but the extent of independent verification for other ethical claims is not specified, suggesting approximately 50% coverage.

Kind to Animals

Pearson PLC is a global learning company providing educational content, assessment, and services. The provided articles do not contain any specific, concrete data points or factual statements regarding animal welfare, animal testing, animal-derived ingredients, humane certifications for animal operations, or direct wildlife conservation initiatives with measurable impact.

Therefore, no KPIs under the 'Kind to Animals' value can be scored based on the evidence provided.

No War, No Weapons

Pearson PLC has engaged in minor defense-adjacent services, including a contract with the DOD Education Activity for a student assessment system with a ceiling of $32,834,507 over five years, and six apprenticeship contracts with the British Army for approximately 4,000 learners per year.

The company also acquired PDRI, a workforce assessment services provider for the U.S. federal market, which generated $33 million in revenue in 2021. These services are educational and assessment-related, not direct arms revenue. The company's standard terms and conditions require purchasers to comply with US and international trade sanctions, including OFAC, BIS, UN, EU, and UK regulations, indicating robust compliance controls.

Zero Waste & Sustainable Products

Pearson has implemented 4-5 waste reduction initiatives, including investing in print-on-demand services to reduce overproduction and waste, moving towards an inventory-free system, and maintaining a reuse/recycle rate for unsold books in excess of 95% since 2003.

The company aims to reduce plastic and foamfill in packaging. Pearson encourages printers to introduce and monitor reduction targets for Volatile Organic Compounds (VOCs) in inks and solvents. The company maintains an environmental management system, reviews impacts, sets targets, and reports on performance annually. No environmental prosecutions for waste disposal were reported from 2009-2017. Pearson has company-wide waste reduction targets with timelines. Environmental requirements are an integral part of new contracts and contract reviews for key suppliers, and the company surveys global printers every two years on environmental management. Pearson provides basic disposal information on some products and offers educational programs, such as the BTEC Level 3 National in Environmental Sustainability, and learning curricula covering environmental issues. The company has an objective to reduce plastic and foamfill in packaging, and has reduced plastic use by over 85% over seven years (as of 2014). Pearson considers circular design principles in some product lines, with an objective to close the loop on all products and services by 2020 (zero waste to landfill) and continued development of a textbook rental model.