We have audited the Group and Company Financial Statements (together the 'Financial Statements') of Pearson plc for the year ended 31 December 2005. The Group Financial Statements comprise the Consolidated Income Statement, the Consolidated Balance Sheet, the Consolidated Statement of Recognised Income and Expense, the Consolidated Cash Flow Statement and the related Notes to the Consolidated Financial Statements. The Company Financial Statements comprise the Company Balance Sheet, the Company Statement of Recognised Income and Expense, the Company Cash Flow Statement and the related Notes to the Company Financial Statements. The Financial Statements have been prepared under the accounting policies set out in the respective Notes to the Financial Statements. We have also audited the information in the Report on Directors' Remuneration that is described as having been audited.

Respective responsibilities of directors and auditors

The directors' responsibilities for preparing the Annual Review, Governance and Financial Statements in accordance with applicable law and International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRSs) as adopted by the European Union are set out in the Statement of Directors' Responsibilities.

Our responsibility is to audit the Financial Statements and the part of the Report on Directors' Remuneration to be audited in accordance with relevant legal and regulatory requirements and International Standards on Auditing (UK and Ireland). This report, including the opinion, has been prepared for and only for the Company's members as a body in accordance with section 235 of the Companies Act 1985 and for no other purpose. We do not, in giving this opinion, accept or assume responsibility for any other purpose or to any other person to whom this report is shown or into whose hands it may come save where expressly agreed by our prior consent in writing.

We report to you our opinion as to whether the Financial Statements give a true and fair view and whether the Financial Statements and the part of the Report on Directors' Remuneration to be audited have been properly prepared in accordance with the Companies Act 1985 and Article 4 of the IAS Regulation. We also report to you if, in our opinion, the Directors' Report is not consistent with the Financial Statements, if the Company has not kept proper accounting records, if we have not received all the information and explanations we require for our audit, or if information specified by law regarding directors' remuneration and other transactions is not disclosed.

We review whether the Corporate Governance statement reflects the Company's compliance with the nine provisions of the 2003 FRC Combined Code specified for our review by the Listing Rules of the Financial Services Authority, and we report if it does not. We are not required to consider whether the Board's statements on internal control cover all risks and controls, or form an opinion on the effectiveness of the Group's corporate governance procedures or its risk and control procedures.

We read other information contained in the Annual Review, Governance and Financial Statements and consider whether it is consistent with the audited Financial Statements. The other information comprises the Chairman's Statement, the Chief Executive's Review, the Financial and Operating Highlights, the Operating Company reviews, the Operating and Financial Review, the Financial Review, the Directors' Report, the unaudited part of the Report on Directors' Remuneration, and all other information referred to on the contents page. We consider the implications for our report if we become aware of any apparent misstatements or material inconsistencies with the Financial Statements. Our responsibilities do not extend to any other information.

Basis of audit opinion

We conducted our audit in accordance with International Standards on Auditing (UK and Ireland) issued by the Auditing Practices Board. An audit includes examination, on a test basis, of evidence relevant to the amounts and disclosures in the Financial Statements and the part of the Report on Directors' Remuneration to be audited. It also includes an assessment of the significant estimates and judgements made by the directors in the preparation of the Financial Statements, and of whether the accounting policies are appropriate to the Group's and Company's circumstances, consistently applied and adequately disclosed.

We planned and performed our audit so as to obtain all the information and explanations which we considered necessary in order to provide us with sufficient evidence to give reasonable assurance that the Financial Statements and the part of the Report on Directors' Remuneration to be audited are free from material misstatement, whether caused by fraud or other irregularity or error. In forming our opinion we also evaluated the overall adequacy of the presentation of information in the Financial Statements and the part of the Report on Directors' Remuneration to be audited.

Opinion

In our opinion:

• The Group Financial Statements give a true and fair view, in accordance with IFRSs as adopted by the European Union, of the state of the Group's affairs as at 31 December 2005 and of its profit and cash flows for the year then ended;
• The Company Financial Statements give a true and fair view, in accordance with IFRSs as adopted by the European Union, as applied in accordance with the provisions of the Companies Act 1985, of the state of the Company's affairs as at 31 December 2005 and of its cash flows for the year then ended; and
• The Financial Statements and the part of the Report on Directors' Remuneration to be audited have been properly prepared in accordance with the Companies Act 1985 and Article 4 of the IAS Regulation.

PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP
Chartered Accountants and Registered Auditors, London
26 February 2006

Notes:

The maintenance and integrity of the Pearson plc website is the responsibility of the directors; the work carried out by the auditors does not involve consideration of these matters and, accordingly, the auditors accept no responsibility for any changes that may have occurred to the financial statements since they were initially presented on the website. Legislation in the United Kingdom governing the preparation and dissemination of financial statements may differ from legislation in other jurisdictions.

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