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The Association of American Publishers (AAP) welcomes the release of the 2022 Special 301 Report by the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative (USTR). The Special 301 Report serves the critical function of identifying continuing impediments to the ability of U.S. copyright owners to compete successfully in foreign markets, including markets of importance to the U.S. publishing industry. China remains on the Priority Watch List, with the Report again noting the prevalence of online piracy and the significant obstacles to releasing legitimate content into the market, given China’s stringent content review requirements. While Canada has made progress with respect to the certain IP and enforcement issues, per its obligations under the U.S.-Mexico-Canada Agreement, the country continues on the Watch List, given the U.S government’s continuing concerns with the “ambiguous education-related exception added to the copyright law in 2012,” and “high levels of online piracy.”

First Quarter Fiscal 2023 - Financial Results: *Net sales of $3.28 billion, down 6% compared to last year, inclusive of an estimated 1-point foreign exchange headwind and 2 percentage points of negative impact from the sale of Gap China. Net sales were in line with the company's expectations for a mid-single digit decline in the quarter. *Reported gross margin was 37.1%. Excluding $4 million in restructuring costs, adjusted gross margin of 37.2% increased 570 basis points versus last year. *Reported operating loss was $10 million; reported operating margin of negative 0.3%.

Improving trend in Q3 with a strong performance in Global Online Learning; North American Courseware and Global Assessment in line with expectations; and International further impacted by COVID-19 *At the nine months, Group sales declined by 14% largely reflecting the continuing impact of COVID-19 and test centre and school closures in Global Assessment and International, and expected declines in North American Courseware. *Global Online Learning sales grew 14% due to 41% enrolment growth in Virtual Schools for the academic year 2020/2021 and strong sales growth in Online Program Management (OPM) driven by undergraduate and international performance, partially offset by discontinued programs. *Global Assessment sales declined 19% due to the impact of test centre closures in Professional Certification (Pearson VUE), cancellation of spring testing in US Student Assessment and school closures impacting Clinical Assessment. *North American Courseware declined 14% with a stronger adoption performance in the Fall in US Higher Education Courseware and good growth in digital and subscription take up leading to the faster decline of higher priced package and print sales. *International declined 24% due to the impact of COVID-19 and as the associated economic effects intensified in several key markets, predominantly affecting public and private spending on courseware and assessments. *Pearson retains a strong balance sheet and significant financial headroom.