Increased profits for Edexcel
November 25th, 2007 | by Mark Holah | 
T.E.S. have discovered that Edexcel’s profits have risen seven-fold in three years and that one of Edexcel’s directors earned a whopping £450,000 in pay and pensions contributions last year – easily the highest known figure earned by anyone in British education.
In 2005 Edexcel became the first large examination board to be held in private hands when Pearson PLC took complete control. Edexcel was formerly a charity.
Pearson PLC is a media conglomerate and is the largest book publisher in the UK and the second largest in the US. Edexcel’s status as a profit making company has led to criticisms and calls into question conflict of interest within the education system, as a private publisher runs an examining board, which relies on set texts for many of its courses.
According to the report in TES, since its takeover by the Pearson publishing group in 2003, Edexcel has moved from a yearly profit after tax of £3.6 million to the latest total of £25.1m on a £203m turnover.
In January 2007, Pearson announced that it had agreed to acquire Harcourt Assessment and Harcourt Education International for $950m in cash. Harcourt Assessment is a company that publishes and distributes psychological assessment tools and therapy resources. Harcourt Education International is a leading educational company who in the UK publish as Heinemann.
In response to the profits announced by Edexcel John Bangs, head of education at the National Union of Teachers, said, “This raises a big question as to who this money is for. Is it for a private company or is it for the good and quality of the examination system?”
Here is the story in TES
2 Responses to “Increased profits for Edexcel”
By Tony on Nov 26, 2007 | Reply
There comes a time in any industry when those involved as service provides or customers of the service need to look beyound the obvious. We have reached a stage in the US and in the UK when there is a constant call for additional funds for education. This article is yet another example of how private companies are fleecing educational institutions and indirectly siphoning scarce resources intended for student learning.
By Mark on Dec 5, 2007 | Reply
Thanks for the comment Tony.
Although I am not surprised at the gradual takeover of education by these global conglomerates, I am alarmed about the acceptance of this trend and the lack of news and general interest that such issues raise. Unless I have been looking in the wrong places there seem to be very few journalists etc reporting these changes. Where next? AQA to be privatised? Watch this space.