I spotted a couple of interesting comments about the PTE in the transcript of Pearson’s Nine Month Trading Update conference call (which happened at the end of October). They suggest that PTE test volumes may be flat or slightly up on the year. They also suggest that the PTE may be taking market share from competitors in the English testing market.
During the call, a fellow from Goldman Sachs asked: “could you give some colour on PTE revenues and volumes in Q3?”
The response from Pearson was:
“On PTE, you will remember that volumes were down when we disclosed those at the half year. Revenue was down very slightly. In Q3, it did return to growth and so that indication I had given that it was likely to be down for the full year, it could be flatter, maybe even slightly up.”
More interestingly, a representative of Citigroup asked: “I would love some extra detail on whether you think you are taking share within the PTE, specifically talking about PTE, but whether you are taking share within the English language proficiency testing market.”
The response from Pearson was:
“…on the PTE topic that you asked about, Tom, again, without naming names, if you go and look at some of the competitive players in the space they will talk to you about meaningful late teens, 20% percentage reductions in testing volumes. That is what they’re seeing in the market overall. So the fact that actually Gio and the team delivered growth in PTE in the quarter in that kind of a market context, of course implies that we are taking share, and of course implies that we are executing in a very intense and focused way, which you can expect us to continue to do in the context of a market that is indeed subject to some of these policies in different countries. And we understand that market very well.”