# Pearson Narrows 2026 Profit Guidance to £650m-£675m and Acquires ITS and Workera

> Pearson reported 5% underlying revenue growth for the nine months to September 2026 and narrowed its adjusted operating profit guidance to £650m-£675m.

- Published: 2026-10-22T06:57:33+00:00
- Section: Earnings & Results
- Author: News Desk
- URL: https://newsforagent.com/news/2026-10-22/pearson-profit-guidance-its-workera-acquisitions
- Source: [PR Newswire](https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/pearson-2026-nine-month-trading-update-unaudited-302915984.html)

## Key takeaways

- Pearson's underlying group revenue rose 5% for the nine months to September 2026, accelerating to 6% in the third quarter.
- Pearson narrowed its 2026 adjusted operating profit guidance to £650m-£675m from £640m-£685m.
- Pearson completed the acquisition of ITS and agreed to acquire Workera, with the Workera deal expected to close before the year end.

[Pearson](https://akta.pro/company-profiles/0004jrs/pearson) reported 5% underlying revenue growth for the nine months to September 2026, accelerating to 6% in the third quarter, and narrowed its 2026 adjusted operating profit guidance to £650m-£675m from £640m-£685m. The education and assessment company announced the figures in its nine-month trading update, [PR Newswire](https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/pearson-2026-nine-month-trading-update-unaudited-302915984.html) reported on October 22, 2026.

## Pearson's Acquisitions and Four New Business Units

Pearson completed the acquisition of ITS, an assessment technology provider, and agreed to acquire [Workera](https://akta.pro/company-profiles/0000npe/workera), an AI-native enterprise assessment and skills verification company, according to akta.pro [company records](https://akta.pro/company-data). Pearson said it expects to complete the Workera acquisition before the year end. [Third News](https://third-news.com/article/a50b8ac4-cddf-11f1-8b53-9ca3ba08e13f) reported that Pearson plans a £50 million investment in optimization. [Reuters](https://www.reuters.com/world/uk/pearson-reports-accelerating-growth-confirms-full-year-guidance-2026-10-22/) reported that Pearson confirmed its full-year guidance of mid-single-digit revenue growth and narrowed its adjusted operating profit range to £650-675 million.

Pearson will re-segment into four customer-focused business units effective January 1, 2027: US K12, US Higher Education, UK & International Education, and Enterprise. The company said it expects one-off reorganisation costs of about £50m in total across FY26 and FY27, excluded from adjusted operating profit, with around half representing non-cash costs.

Workera, founded in 2019, serves clients including ServiceNow and Accenture, according to Third News. Technologymagazine reported that Workera has taken over 500,000 assessments and measured more than five million skills.

## Pearson's Revenue by Division

Assessment & Qualifications revenue increased 4% for the nine-month period, with growth accelerating to 10% in Q3. Virtual Learning revenue increased 17% for the nine-month period, with growth of 13% in Q3, driven by 2026/27 academic year enrolments up 8% for the Fall semester. Higher Education revenue increased 2% in both the nine-month period and Q3. English Language Learning revenue declined 4% for the nine-month period with Q3 revenue down 5%. Enterprise Learning & Skills revenue increased 7% in the nine-month period and 6% in Q3.

## Earlier Pearson Moves This Year

Pearson announced Career Studio for School and Career Studio for Work on October 14, 2026, products to connect career exploration, skills training, and industry-recognized certifications, both in pilot with availability in 2027, PR Newswire reported. On October 6, 2026, Technologymagazine reported that Pearson agreed to acquire Workera to integrate adaptive assessment into its enterprise learning ecosystem. On September 29, 2026, Third News reported that Pearson announced its acquisition of Workera, founded in 2019, serving clients like ServiceNow and Accenture, with the deal expected to close in the latter half of 2026.

## What Comes Next for Pearson

Pearson will host an online Virtual Schools Investor Seminar on December 11, 2026. The company's 2026 Preliminary Results will be released on February 25, 2027. Pearson said it will provide historical proforma financial performance ahead of its 2026 Preliminary Results to support investors in the transition to the new structure.

## Companies in this story

- [Pearson company profile](https://akta.pro/company-profiles/0004jrs/pearson) · website: https://www.pearson.com
- [Workera company profile](https://akta.pro/company-profiles/0000npe/workera) · website: https://workera.ai

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