Share-Based Payments - Summary of Shares Granted under Restricted Share Arrangements (Detail) - Restricted shares [member] Unit_pure in Thousands	12 Months Ended
Dec. 31, 2022 GBP (£)	Dec. 31, 2021 GBP (£)
Long-term incentive plan [member]
Disclosure of terms and conditions of share-based payment arrangement [line items]
Number of shares	7,584	6,394
Weighted average fair value	£ 7.61	£ 7.27
Management incentive plan [member]
Disclosure of terms and conditions of share-based payment arrangement [line items]
Number of shares	0	630
Weighted average fair value	£ 0	£ 7.71

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

No definition available.

+ Details

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

- Definition

The number of other equity instruments (ie other than share options) granted in a share-based payment arrangement.

+ References

Reference 1: http://www.xbrl.org/2003/role/disclosureRef
-Name IFRS
-Number 2
-IssueDate 2022-03-24
-Paragraph 47
-Subparagraph b
-URI https://taxonomy.ifrs.org/xifrs-link?type=IFRS&num=2&code=ifrs-tx-2022-en-r&anchor=para_47_b&doctype=Standard
-URIDate 2022-03-24

Reference 2: http://www.xbrl.org/2009/role/commonPracticeRef
-Name IFRS
-Number 2
-IssueDate 2022-03-24
-Paragraph 45
-URI https://taxonomy.ifrs.org/xifrs-link?type=IFRS&num=2&code=ifrs-tx-2022-en-r&anchor=para_45&doctype=Standard
-URIDate 2022-03-24

+ Details

Name:	ifrs-full_NumberOfInstrumentsOtherEquityInstrumentsGranted
Namespace Prefix:	ifrs-full_
Data Type:	xbrli:decimalItemType
Balance Type:	na
Period Type:	duration

- Definition

The weighted average fair value at the measurement date of granted equity instruments other than share options. [Refer: Weighted average [member]]

+ References

+ Details

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

- Details

Name:	ifrs-full_TypesOfSharebasedPaymentArrangementsAxis=pso_LongtermIncentivePlanMember
Namespace Prefix:
Data Type:	na
Balance Type:
Period Type:

- Details

Name:	ifrs-full_ClassesOfShareCapitalAxis=pso_RestrictedSharesMember
Namespace Prefix:
Data Type:	na
Balance Type:
Period Type:

- Details

Name:	ifrs-full_TypesOfSharebasedPaymentArrangementsAxis=pso_ManagementIncentivePlanMember
Namespace Prefix:
Data Type:	na
Balance Type:
Period Type: