Business Combinations - Additional Information (Detail) £ in Millions	12 Months Ended
Dec. 31, 2019 GBP (£) Acquisitions	Dec. 31, 2018 GBP (£) Acquisitions
Disclosure of detailed information about business combination [line items]
Number of significant acquisitions during period \| Acquisitions	0	0
Investment made in group associates	£ 404	£ 392
Lumerit Education and Smart Sparrow [member]
Disclosure of detailed information about business combination [line items]
Total consideration transferred	40
Penguin Random House [member]
Disclosure of detailed information about business combination [line items]
Investment made in group associates	£ 40

The fair value, at acquisition date, of the consideration transferred in a business combination. [Refer: Business combinations [member]]

Reference 1: http://www.xbrl.org/2003/role/disclosureRef
-Name IFRS
-Number 3
-IssueDate 2019-01-01
-Paragraph B64
-Subparagraph f
-URI http://eifrs.ifrs.org/eifrs/xifrs-link?type=IFRS&num=3&code=ifrs-tx-2019-en-r&anchor=para_B64_f&doctype=Appendix&subtype=B
-URIDate 2019-03-27

+ Details

Name:	ifrs-full_AcquisitiondateFairValueOfTotalConsiderationTransferred
Namespace Prefix:	ifrs-full_
Data Type:	xbrli:monetaryItemType
Balance Type:	credit
Period Type:	instant

- Definition

Line items represent concepts included in a table. These concepts are used to disclose reportable information associated with domain members defined in one or many axes of the table.

+ References

No definition available.

+ Details

Name:	ifrs-full_DisclosureOfBusinessCombinationsLineItems
Namespace Prefix:	ifrs-full_
Data Type:	xbrli:stringItemType
Balance Type:	na
Period Type:	duration

- Definition

The amount of investments in subsidiaries, joint ventures and associates in an entity's separate financial statements. [Refer: Associates [member]; Joint ventures [member]; Subsidiaries [member]; Investments in subsidiaries]

+ References

Reference 1: http://www.xbrl.org/2003/role/disclosureRef
-Name IAS
-Number 27
-IssueDate 2019-01-01
-Paragraph 10
-URI http://eifrs.ifrs.org/eifrs/xifrs-link?type=IAS&num=27&code=ifrs-tx-2019-en-r&anchor=para_10&doctype=Standard
-URIDate 2019-03-27

+ Details

Name:	ifrs-full_InvestmentsInSubsidiariesJointVenturesAndAssociates
Namespace Prefix:	ifrs-full_
Data Type:	xbrli:monetaryItemType
Balance Type:	debit
Period Type:	instant

- Definition

Number of business acquisitions completed.

+ References

No definition available.

+ Details

Name:	pso_NumberOfBusinessAcquisitionsCompleted
Namespace Prefix:	pso_
Data Type:	xbrli:integerItemType
Balance Type:	na
Period Type:	duration

- Details

Name:	ifrs-full_BusinessCombinationsAxis=pso_LumeritEducationAndSmartSparrowMember
Namespace Prefix:
Data Type:	na
Balance Type:
Period Type:

- Details

Name:	ifrs-full_SignificantInvestmentsInAssociatesAxis=pso_PenguinRandomHouseMember
Namespace Prefix:
Data Type:	na
Balance Type:
Period Type: