Oxford University Press (OUP) has released its 2023/24 Annual Report, reporting a turnover of £833m, 2 per cent higher than prior year (per cent at constant exchange rates). Its surplus from trading was £113m, an increase of 12 per cent.
Reported turnover includes £11m of sales which were supplied early to customers due to the transfer to a new enterprise resource planning system.
The results reflect continued progress. OUP says it continued to embrace new technologies to extend the dissemination of its work, launched a number of new digital products and services, responded to curriculum reforms in many markets, and pursued opportunities relating to artificial intelligence (AI) technologies, with careful consideration of its implications for research and education.
OUP’s Academic division increased its global reach, selling in 184 countries and regions, and focussing on improvements to the digital experience for customers. It refreshed the website for the Oxford English Dictionary (OED)—with a further 17,000 senses edited or drafted in 2023/24 alone—and added 7,500 books to the Oxford Scholarship Online archive on the Oxford Academic platform. According to the publisher, revenue from digital content and services now accounts for 70 per cent of its turnover.
Working closely with teachers, education leaders, and schools, OUP’s Education division developed and delivered resources in 80 languages, reaching 55 million learners in 157 countries. Highlights included a collaboration with the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) to launch the PISA 2025 Science Framework, which aims to equip young people with scientific competencies that will support their future development; the creation of a series to promote reading among primary school students in Mainland China called Talk about China with Oxford, to be delivered via a digital learning platform; and the launch of EduZone—a pioneering integrated digital learning hub—in Kenya to provide teachers and learners with a personalized learning experience.
Digital learning support also expanded in OUP’s English Language Teaching (ELT) division. Oxford English Hub, its main online platform for teaching and learning English, saw a 300 per cent increase in sessions recorded. New product, Digital Flow, was also launched to offer a fully digital way of teaching with OUP materials designed for screens to support lessons taught in person, remotely, or hybrid. The division continued to bring together its communities to share insights and learning through the English Language Teaching Online Conference (ELTOC)—which received record engagement of more than 170,000 views, and downloads of teacher toolkits doubling year-on-year—and a paper offering practical advice to schools and teachers on how best to support refugee pupils.
Reflecting on the year, Nigel Portwood, CEO of OUP, said: “This year we have had to navigate technological, social, and political change, while continuing to support and respond to shifting customer requirements. It has, at times, been challenging, but I am grateful for the continued focus and dedication of colleagues across OUP who have enabled us to achieve so much this year.”
OUP says the report contains additional information on the valuable insights and research it has shared—including a report on the impact of AI in education which surveyed teachers globally, and the latest Word of the Year campaign, which generated widespread debate across the world.
You can read the full report here.
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