PEARSON AUSTRALIA

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T: +61 (0) 2 9454 2200

www.pearson.com.au

Driving Innovation, Fairness and Excellence in Australian Education Options Paper: Pearson Submission

Pearson is the world’s largest education company, with over 35,000 employees in over 70

countries, including 400 people in Australia. We work to help people of all ages make measurable

progress in their lives through learning. Pearson provides learning materials, technologies,

assessments and services to teachers and students in order to help people everywhere aim higher

and fulfil their potential. We put the learner at the centre of everything we do.

We are closely working with academics and their authorities to prepare learners for the new

economy. As the leading education company in Australia we believe the higher education sector

and the corporate world can work together to increase participation in the workforce and improve

lives through learning.

Our own products and services are rapidly evolving to meet these changing needs, yet more can

be done. The following are six higher education reform recommendations for the Federal

Government around the themes of greater involvement of business leaders, the facilitation of

partnerships, and turning the direction of funding towards institutions who measure and report the

efficacy of their products and services.

Recommendations

1. Appoint a business representative from the education sector to the Minister’s advisory panel.

For-profit organisations make up a large part of the education sector as a supplier of products and

services. Including an education business leader in the advisory panel ensures the Minister gleans a

range of ideas and expertise. Business leaders in education invest in innovation, are close to market

trends and are sensitive to commercial considerations. These values will be vital to a newly

reformed higher education sector.

2. Encourage and, in some cases, facilitate more partnerships between universities and for-

profit organisations to deliver better learner outcomes.

The need for more high quality partnerships, technology and commercialisation is most prevalent in

higher education, and not just in the area of research. There is so much potential for online and

blended learning to change the way learning is accessed and delivered, and should be a more

central part of a university's strategy.

Governments and universities need to radically change the way they think about students. By

appreciating that higher education is a high consideration, high investment decision, the

engagement and interactions with students throughout their learning path - from enquiry to

graduation and alumni - needs to be strategic and effective.

Case Study: Pearson’s University Partnerships Business

Pearson has undergone significant change in recent years and is now a large and active player

across a much broader range of education services and products. In Australia, we are building a

specialised services business to assist universities in understanding the change and challenges in

transitioning to online learning - both operationally and pedagogically. By partnering in the

development, go-to-market and delivery of online programs, we have achieved greater access,

scale and speed to market than would have been possible for the university to generate

independently.

We are proud to be partnering now with Monash and Griffith Universities, helping them develop

and grow new online learning operations, initially at postgraduate level. Both of these institutions

chose Pearson because they acknowledged that a different learning experience and approach to

student management and support was needed if better student retention and graduation rates

were to be achieved.

It is through these partnerships we are able to attract high volumes of students from within and

outside the traditional university catchment area. While the institution still remains firmly in charge

of the application and decision making process and teaching, Pearson works behind the scenes

to assist the students with their applications, the enrolment process, onboarding, welcome

activities and ongoing support throughout the duration of their studies. But the fundamental value

of these partnerships is that we’re not just about commencing student enrolments. Both Pearson

and our partner institutions understand that it is the learner’s success that will deliver true results.

Our business model only works if we succeed in retaining a majority of students and helping them

through to completion.

3. Align Federal funding to encourage structural reforms to universities so they are more able

to partner with education companies to incubate and scale sector ideas.

There is abundant opportunity for Australian tertiary education institutions to partner with

organisations such as Pearson to incubate and scale industry and sector ideas. Pearson does

partner with startups in other jurisdictions through our Pearson Catalyst program.

This program identifies the most promising education startup companies and matches them with

Pearson brands to deliver pilot programs. Over the course of three months, startups have access

Pearson resources – such as product experts, innovators and industry veterans – and the

opportunity to work closely with a Pearson brand.

4. Adopt an efficacy framework and review methodology to assist in defining, measuring and improving student learner outcomes for the sector.

Fairness and equity in education, as stated on page 11 of the options paper, can be achieved if there is clear evidence to support efficacy of learner outcomes and if that information is provided as transparently as possible to students. A supportive system is committed to driving student outcomes and attaching metrics, targets and lead measures to map progress. It should make itself publicallyaccountable for delivery of outcomes and be made public.

Pearson a n nounced in 2013 it would commit to an external audit of learning outcomes, measures and targets for our flagship products and services from 2018. At the time Pearson made this commitment, there were not examples of any other educational institution or system globally reporting on educational outcomes at this scale. We have had to learn as we go. The following are the key elements of our approach to efficacy and outcomes reporting. More detail can be suppliedon how this approach can be applied to higher education reform in Australia.

The framework consists of 4 categories, each with 3 criteria. A basic rating system is then applied to determine current state and identify actions to drive continuous improvement.

This is a process that works well for us internally and we would welcome the opportunity to speak with you about how it may be applied more broadly to the Higher Education sector.

5. Align components of Federal funding of the higher education sector to institutional performance in student reach and impact.

Once national targets are defined, institutions could be assigned responsibility for demonstrating which targets they deliver to and how, as well as defining and reporting on institutional reach andimpact targets over time.

If institutions are made accountable for defining and measuring their own reach and impact targets - aligned to the government’s own efficacy goals, the Federal Government has more opportunity to positively incentivise institutions who deliver learner outcomes.

Case study: Pearson’s Efficacy Growth and Impact Goals

Earlier this year, Pearson announced their Effic a cy Gr o wth a nd I m pact Goals . These goals will frame the collective impact of our products and investments on learners over the next 10 years. We have set ourselves a global target to empower the lives of 200 million learners annually by2025. This number will not just reflect product registration or ‘bums on seats’. This number willspecifically measure impact on:

● Access: to high quality education leading to defined learner outcomes;● Success: in the areas of literacy, numeracy, knowledge and skills for study, employment

and improved English language skills, and;● Progress: into higher or further education and – critically – to employment and the

workforce.

In addition to ensuring external accountability for outcomes, the Efficacy Growth and Impact Goals provide Pearson with internal clarity that informs strategic decision making, investment and resource allocation decisions. We believe that adopting a similar approach - with defined reachand impact targets - to the higher education sector would assist the Australian government todeliver long-term benefit to current and future students and the country as a whole.

Pearson is committed to transparency and providing st dents with evidence on the impact of oureducational products and services through its global commitment to efficacy.

We wholly support any initiative by the Australian government to provide more information to students that is clear, common-language and easily comparable across institutions and sectors. We would welcome the opportunity to share further details of our approach to improving learner outcomes in education.

6. Transform the Quality Indicators for Teaching and Learning (QILT) surveys and website to put the student at the centre, ensuring their progression into a successful career.

There is huge potential for the QILT system to become the “one stop shop” careers advisor for students of all ages. A first step would be to aggregate data according to the students needs, not by which course is offered by which institution. This would ensure greater recruitment and retention of the student. It would also provide a better user experience for the student, therefore encouraging them to continue use of the platform beyond their formal education and at the start of their career pathway.

Our online services partnership with Griffith and Monash universities has the student at the centre of everything we do. From recruitment to retention we gather insights into students needs and goals. This informs our approach on how to guide students towards the right career that suits them.

For further information please contact:

David Barnett Heather Gilmore Managing Director Corporate Affairs Director Pearson Australia Pearson Australia david.barnett@pearson . com heather.gilmore@pearson.com