We use cookies to make our websites more user-friendly. Find out about the main types of cookies we use, and what we use them for

(Updated 26 June 2018)

The data we collect using cookies helps us understand our customers better so that we can provide a more focused user experience. Using the knowledge of your previous visits to our website, Pearson can enhance subsequent visits by tailoring our content to match your requirements.

We use cookies principally because we want to make our websites and mobile applications user-friendly, and we are interested in anonymous user behaviour. Generally our cookies don't store sensitive or personally identifiable information such as your name and address or credit card details.

In the unlikely event that our websites use cookies to store personal information about you, Pearson encrypts the personal data to prevent unauthorised use by anyone else.

Here's a list of the main types of cookies we use, and what we use them for. We've described them using the categories recommended by the International Chamber of Commerce in the ICC UK Cookie Guide.

(When we mention "cookies", we also mean web beacons and other technologies that collect information in a similar way to cookies on websites or emails. When we mention "websites", we also mean mobile applications and emails.)

Pearson's cookies typically contain:

  • a unique name set by the site that generated it
  • a value - the information within it that recalls your previous activities
  • an expiration date, which determines how long the cookie will remain active in your browser before being automatically deleted.

Strictly necessary cookies

These cookies are essential in order to enable you to move around the website and use its features, such as accessing secure areas of the website. Without these, cookies services you have asked for, like shopping baskets or e-billing, cannot be provided. Because these cookies are strictly necessary we do not need to ask for your consent to use them.

Performance cookies

These cookies collect information about how visitors use a website, for instance which pages visitors go to most often, and they let you store items in your shopping basket between visits. They may also show us which email or web page visitors clicked through from in order to visit our website, and whether you opened an email we sent you.

Some of these are analytics cookies, set using third party web analytics software, which allow us to monitor our website traffic. For example, we use Google Analytics and Universal Analytics cookies to help us do this. These analytics cookies may also tell us how many of our visitors are male or female, and may summarise the number of visitors who fall within certain age ranges, or certain interest categories. However, this sort of information is not linked to any individual; it just shows us what percentage of our visitors fall in particular categories.

Find out more about how Google uses your data or opt out from having your data sent to Google.

We will not pass this data to third parties in such a way that would allow them to identify visitors personally. However, we may associate this cookie data with other personally identifiable data submitted by you (for instance when you submit a form, or partially complete a form, or leave items in your shopping basket), in order to make sure that our communications are as relevant to you as possible.

Sometimes we may use this data to highlight Pearson products or services which we think will be of interest to you based on your use of our websites, or to contact you and offer help if you appear to be having difficulty completing an order.

We may also use third party cookies during e-commerce transactions to help prevent fraud.

By using Pearson's websites you agree we may place these types of cookies on your device.

User experience cookies

Siteimprove

Pearson uses services provided by Siteimprove to collect statistics about site usage. This information is used to improve the user experience on the website by prioritising the fixing of issues relating to:

  • content quality
  • accessibility
  • SEO
  • other Pearson web policies

The Siteimprove Analytics cookie contains a randomly generated ID used to recognise the browser when a visitor reads a page. IP addresses are anonymised irreversibly before data is made available in Siteimprove. The cookie therefore contains no personal information and is used only for anonymous web analytics (page views, clicks on broken links).

The information generated by the cookies about your use of the website will be transmitted to and stored by Siteimprove on servers in Denmark. Siteimprove will not transmit this information to third parties.

If you wish to disable the Siteimprove cookie, you can find out more information on the how to manage cookies.

Hotjar

Pearson uses services provided by Hotjar Ltd. Hotjar provides services including heatmaps, visitor recordings, funnels and form analysis, feedback polls, surveys and recruiters. The information generated by the tracking code and cookie about your use of the website will be transmitted to and stored by Hotjar on servers in Ireland. Through the Hotjar tracking code the information collected includes:

Device-specific data

The following information may be collected through your device and browser:

  • your device's IP address (collected and stored in an anonymised format)
  • your email address including first name and surname
  • device screen size
  • device type (unique device identifiers) and browser information
  • geographic location (country only)
  • preferred language used to display the webpage
Log data

The following information may be collected through your device and browser:

  • referring domain
  • pages visited
  • geographic location (country only)
  • preferred language used to display the webpage
  • date and time when website pages were accessed

Hotjar will use this information for the purpose of evaluating your use of the website, compiling reports on website activity for website operators and providing other services relating to website activity and internet usage. Hotjar uses a variety of services hosted by third parties, such as Google Analytics and Optimizely. These services may collect information sent by your browser as part of a web page request, such as cookies or your IP request.

For information on how Google Analytics and Optimizely collect and use your information, please refer to their privacy policies. By continuing to use this website, you consent to the processing of the above data by Hotjar and by the third parties used by Hotjar in accordance with their respective privacy policies. The cookies used by Hotjar have differing durations; some are 365 days, others for the session only.

To opt out, simply head over to Hotjar.

Optimizely

Pearson uses the web analysis service by Optimizely, Inc., which is used for A/B and multi-version tests. This service uses cookies to identify a user's browser and to analyse the use of this website. The cookies placed by Optimizely do not collect personal data. For more information about how your data is processed, head over to

For more information about how Optimizely processes your data, or to disable Optimizely tracking at any time, visit their privacy area.

Functionality cookies

These cookies allow the website to remember choices you make (such as your user name, language or the region you are in) and provide enhanced, more personal features. For instance, these cookies can be used to remember changes you have made to text size, fonts and other parts of web pages that you can customise.

They may also be used to provide services you have asked for such as watching a video or commenting on a blog. The information these cookies collect may be anonymised and they cannot track your browsing activity on other websites.

By using Pearson’s websites you agree we may place these types of cookies on your device.

Behaviourally targeted advertising cookies

We use these cookies to deliver adverts more relevant to you and your interests. They are also used to limit the number of times you see an advertisement as well as to help measure the effectiveness of the advertising campaign.

These cookies remember that you have visited our website and use this information to tailor advertising for our products and services when you visit third party websites.

The cookies are placed by advertising networks. In line with Internet Advertising Bureau guidelines, our online advertising served via this method includes the AdChoices icon. Clicking on that icon will give more information about tracking cookies and allow you to opt out of receiving further targeted advertising.

For more information, and how to opt out of these cookies, head over to AdChoices.

Third-party cookies and social networks

If you click on a hyperlink from Pearson's websites to any third-party websites (for example, if you 'share' content from Pearson’s websites with friends or colleagues through social networks), you may be sent cookies from these third-party websites.

Third-party websites will have their own privacy and cookie policies which Pearson cannot control. Please check the third-party websites for more information about their cookies and how to manage them.

Do we track visitors and users?

Our emails may contain a “web beacon pixel” to tell us whether our emails are opened and verify any clicks through to links or advertisements within the email.

We may use this information for purposes including determining which of our emails are more interesting to users, and to query whether users who do not open our emails wish to continue receiving them.

The pixel will be deleted when you delete the email. If you do not wish the pixel to be downloaded to your device, you should read the email in plain text view or with images disabled.

We use cookies from Pardot to track the browsing behaviour of individual website visitors such as page view activity and impression time, in order to help us better monitor the success of our website. This information is compiled to make improvements to our website.

Personal information is stored in Pardot/Salesforce only if our visitors complete a form, for example for registration to events, contact/request forms or for subscription to our email communications.

Read more about this third party cookie, including the provider’s privacy statement

How to manage cookies

Here's a reminder of what cookies are and why they can be useful - together with instructions for disabling them via your web browser if you choose.

(Updated 30 July 2014)

If cookies aren't enabled on your computer, it will mean that your browsing or shopping experience on our - and other - websites will be limited. Some active content, movies and online shopping baskets, for example, may not work correctly.

What are cookies?

Cookies are most often small text files that websites may put on your computer or mobile device while you’re browsing. They're used for many different purposes. For example, they can:

  • help search engines remember that you want your search results in English
  • help a website remember your preferences so that you don’t need to customise it every time
  • help websites to deliver a better service by showing you the content most relevant to you
  • identify and resolve errors
  • analyse how well a website is performing.

The most common function of cookies is to remember bits of information that help make browsing the web easier and more hassle-free for you.

Here is an example of a cookie:

Name = The name of the cookie
Value = The piece of information that the cookie is created to store
Domain = The website where the cookie is used
Expires = The date when the cookie will be deleted from your web browser.

All modern browsers have tools to help you delete or block cookies. But it’s important to remember that many websites – including Pearson’s websites - need cookies in order to function properly. By deleting or blocking cookies, you could also block certain personalised features and you may not be able to take full advantage of some of the website's features.

To turn cookies on or off for all websites via your web browser, follow the instructions below. If you would like to opt out of Google Analytics cookies, you can find out more on Google's website.

Not sure which web browser you're using?

On a PC, click on 'Help' at the top of your browser window and select the ‘About’ option.

On a Mac, with the browser window open click on the Apple icon and select 'About'.

How to check if cookies are enabled on your PC

Google Chrome

  1. Click the menu icon
  2. Click Settings
  3. Near the bottom of the page, click Show advanced settings.
  4. In the "Privacy" section, click Content settings
  5. Enable or disable cookies:
    1. To enable cookies, select Allow local data to be set (recommended)
    2. To disable cookies, select Block sites from setting any data
  6. Click Done to save

Microsoft Internet Explorer 9.0+

  1. Click the menu icon
  2. Select Internet Options
  3. Click on the 'Privacy' tab
  4. Move the privacy slider to the level of privacy you require. Settings above
  5. Medium will disable cookies.

Mozilla Firefox

  1. Click the menu icon
  2. Click on the button
  3. Select the “Privacy” tab
  4. In the “History” section, click on the “Firefox will:” dropdown box and choose “Use custom settings for history”
  5. Enable or disable cookies:
    1. To enable cookies, check Accept cookies from sites (recommended).
    2. To disable cookies, uncheck Accept cookies from sites
  6. Click OK to save

Safari

  1. Click the menu icon
  2. Select Preferences
  3. Click on the 'Privacy' tab
  4. Next to Block cookies:
    1. To enable cookies, select From third parties and advertisers (recommended)
    2. To disable cookies, select Never
  5. Close the Privacy window

Opera

  1. Click the menu icon
  2. Select Settings
  3. Click on the 'Privacy and security' tab
  4. In the “Cookies” section to Enable or disable cookies:
    1. To enable cookies, select Allow local data to be set (recommended)
    2. To disable cookies, select Block sites from setting any data
  5. Close the Settings tab

How to check cookies are enabled on your Mac

Safari

  1. Click on 'Safari' at the top of your browser window and select 'Preferences'
  2. Click on the 'Privacy' tab
  3. Adjust the level of cookie acceptance here

Firefox

  1. Click on 'Firefox' at the top of your browser window and select 'Preferences'
  2. Select the Privacy icon
  3. In the history section choose 'Use custom settings for history' from the dropdown menu
  4. Cookies can be enabled or disabled by clicking on the appropriate check boxes.

Opera

  1. Click on 'Opera' at the top of your browser window and select 'Preferences'
  2. Select the 'Advanced' tab and choose Cookies from the list on the left
  3. Choose the option that best suits your needs.