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RM shows resilience as education budgets tighten

The schools supplier continued its shift from hardware to software in a challenging market
July 4, 2016

Tightening school budgets threatened to put RM (RM.) in detention in the reported period. But robust demand for testing software widened the schools supplier's margins, pushing adjusted operating profit up 3 per cent to £7.1m.

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RM's shift from manufacturing personal computers to selling more lucrative software continued to pay off. Revenue and profit soared by more than a fifth in the budding results business, as educators snapped up electronic testing tools and management secured an expanded, five-year contract with Cambridge Assessment for English language exams. But they fell in the resources division, as the tailwind of changes to primary school curricula faded and schools cut back on textbooks and learning materials. And although the education segment's digital offerings gained traction with schools and colleges, it suffered from the government's scrapping of a plan to modernise secondary schools.

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