Editing Pearson plc (section)

== Criticism ==
Concerns exist around the amount of influence Pearson, being a commercial company, has on public education.<ref>{{cite web |last=Mansell |first=Warwick |url=https://www.theguardian.com/education/2012/jul/16/pearson-multinational-influence-education-policy |title=Should Pearson, a giant multinational, be influencing our education policy? |date=16 July 2012 |access-date=25 September 2013 |publisher=[[The Guardian]] |location=London}}</ref> Other concerns are around tax avoidance, high value contracts, and an instance of laying off teachers to offset the high costs of testing.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.wiredacademic.com/2011/10/pearson-draws-criticism-from-new-york-to-texas-justified-or-unjustified/ |title=Pearson Draws Criticism From New York to Texas... Justified? Or Unjustified? |date=24 October 2011 |access-date=25 September 2013 |website=wiredacademic.com |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130928053128/http://www.wiredacademic.com/2011/10/pearson-draws-criticism-from-new-york-to-texas-justified-or-unjustified/ |archive-date=28 September 2013}}</ref> In 2017, more than six out of ten Pearson shareholders voted against the chief executive's pay package of £1.5 million after the company made a record loss.<ref>{{cite web |author=Mark Sweney |url=https://www.theguardian.com/business/2017/may/05/pearson-shareholders-reject-pay-revolt-john-fallon |title=Pearson shareholders reject chief executive's £1.5m pay package |publisher=[[The Guardian]] |date=5 May 2017 |access-date=6 May 2017}}</ref> Pearson US has been criticised for using offshore [[tax avoidance]] schemes involving a host of companies at a service address in Luxembourg.<ref>{{cite web |last=Tarek |first=Alia |url=https://www.world.tax/articles/when-pearson-us-took-a-tax-break.php |title=When Pearson US took a tax break – Courtesy of PwC |date=3 July 2015 |website=world.tax |access-date=2 June 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161011073438/https://www.world.tax/articles/when-pearson-us-took-a-tax-break.php |archive-date=11 October 2016}}</ref>

Pearson owns [[Edexcel]], a British education and examination board.<ref>{{cite web |title=The Senior Management Team |url=http://www.edexcel.com/Aboutus/who-we-are/our-people/smt/Pages/home.aspx |publisher=[[Edexcel|Pearson Edexcel]]}}</ref> Edexcel has produced qualifications which link to Pearson texts, although Edexcel also continues to endorse textbooks published by other companies.<ref name="marking"/> Edexcel has also faced criticism over repeated leaks of exam material in consecutive years; police investigations into some of the incidents were referred to prosecutors.<ref>{{Cite web |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/education-48646188 |title=Edexcel launches investigation after A-level maths paper leaked online |date=15 June 2019 |publisher=[[BBC]] |access-date=22 June 2019}}</ref>

In June 2010, Pearson plc received notification that the [[Libyan Investment Authority]] (LIA) founded by [[Muammar Gaddafi]]'s son [[Saif al-Islam Gaddafi]] as a sovereign fund had acquired 24.4 million shares within the company via [[Euroclear]]. On further investigation, Pearson said the LIA may have acquired an additional 2.1 million shares, resulting in a total interest of 26.5 million shares. At the time, this represented a major holding of 3.27% within the company and the investment was worth around £280 million.<ref>{{cite web |last=Sweney |first=Mark |url=https://www.theguardian.com/media/2011/mar/01/pearson-libyan-investment-authority-stake |title=Pearson freezes stake held by Libyan Investment Authority |date=1 March 2011 |publisher=[[The Guardian]] |access-date=26 March 2016}}</ref>