BETT and Analyst Visit

RM PLC
07 January 2004


                                                                7th January 2004


RM plc comments on BETT 2004 and analyst visit

RM plc, the leading supplier of information and communications technology (ICT)
and other services to UK education, will be showing a wide range of
market-leading products and services at BETT 2004, the UK's major educational
ICT showcase, which opens today at Olympia.

Across three stands, RM Group companies will be demonstrating the latest
hardware and software, along with continuing professional development materials
and services designed to help schools improve teaching and learning. New for
this year at BETT is a 'Hands-On' area on the main RM stand, where visitors to
the show can make their own digital video movie, try out RM's wide range of
curriculum software and experience the Group's mobile-learning products.

Commenting on BETT 2004 Tim Pearson, RM's CEO, said:

'BETT is an important opportunity for RM to meet existing and potential new
customers. As usual, we are showing a wide range of education technology
products designed to help educators improve the quality of teaching and learning
in their schools. The products we are displaying at BETT 2004 show significant
technical advances - and cost reductions - over last year. Mobile computing, in
particular Tablet PCs and wireless networking, has progressed enormously and has
significant potential for enriching education. RM's focus, however, remains on
education and the introduction of Kaleidos and the launch of our new RM Learning
Platform architecture demonstrate our commitment to helping schools create 21st
Century learning environments.'

During the four days of BETT, RM will be hosting briefings for Institutional
Investors and Investment Analysts. These briefings will include product
demonstrations and presentations from senior management.

At these briefings, Tim Pearson, RM's CEO, will comment:

'The prospects statement made at our Preliminary Results announcement in
November still applies - we remain in the government financial year in which
many schools experienced budget pressures and conditions in the educational ICT
market are unquestionably tough. However, RM's performance in the first half and
over the full year will benefit from our strategic project activities and our
recent acquisitions.

'Against this market background it is especially important that RM continues to
deliver products that offer educational effectiveness, value for money and
innovation as well as high levels of customer satisfaction. It is also essential
that we continue to make progress in refreshing our bid pipeline, and I'm
pleased that we can announce today that RM, as a strategic partner to CfBT, has
been shortlisted for the DfES National Strategies tender.'

                                    - Ends -

For further information, please contact:
Phil Hemmings/Mike Greig, RM plc          08709 200200
Mark Antelme/Fiona Laffan, Brunswick      020 7404 5959

Notes to Editors:

BETT takes place at Olympia, London from 7th January 2004 to 10th January 2004
and is described by EMAP, the organisers, as '... the world's leading forum for
educational technology and ICT related products and services ...'. Last year
over 24,000 people visited BETT and approximately 550 organisations exhibited.
Independent research suggests that two-thirds of attendees at BETT visit the RM
stand.

Amongst the new and improved products RM will be showing at BETT are:

Kaleidos - Kaleidos is RM's pioneering virtual teaching and learning
environment, which was shown in prototype form at BETT last year. It provides a
rich environment that allows teachers to plan, prepare, deliver and assess
lessons using interactive whole-class teaching. Central to Kaleidos is the
ability to integrate digital learning resources from other providers, and the
Kaleidos Content Provider programme now includes a wide range of education
publishers.

Easiteach - RM's popular interactive whole-class teaching tool has been enhanced
with the addition of two new subject content packs. Easiteach Science provides a
range of science simulations and lesson plans and supports the use of laboratory
instruments such as digital microscopes. Easiteach Games offers a series of
educational games suitable for use in primary classrooms.

PC hardware - RM's innovative Tablet PC now features a larger screen, faster
processors and networking, and a collection of accessories that make it a
versatile teaching and learning tool. The RM Tablet PC is a BETT award nominee,
in the Secondary Hardware category. RM will also be showing the All-In-One PC
and a range of mobile computing solutions.

RM Community Connect - RM Community Connect, the most widely used ICT network
and infrastructure product in UK schools, continues to evolve to allow schools
top take advantage of the latest technology. Key features for BETT 2004 include
enhanced support for mobile learners through wireless connectivity.

SmartCache 2 - The DfES, as part of its broadband strategy for school,
recommends the use of caching devices to improve the speed and effectiveness of
broadband and other Internet connections. SmartCache 2 fully meets government
caching standards and provides schools with a cost-effective, high-performance
Internet solution.

Interactive whole-class teaching - As well as the RM ClassBoard interactive
whiteboard, RM will be showing other interactive whole-class teaching products
including ClassPad. ClassPad is a wirelessly-connected graphics tablet that
allows teachers or pupils to work with an interactive whiteboard from anywhere
in the classroom.

On the INDIGO Visions stand RM will be showing a range of Continuing
Professional Development materials developed under the £4.7 million DfES
contract announced at BETT last year. INDIGO Visions now covers six curriculum
areas (literacy and numeracy for primary teachers, and science, English, design
& technology, ICT and modern foreign languages at KS3).

RM Group company Softease will be showing Softease Timeline for the first time
at BETT 2004. Softease Timeline works inside the familiar Textease user
interface and supports the widely used classroom activity of creating a timeline
of events based on dates or any other numerical scale. Softease will also be
showing Tizzy's First Toolbox (a collection of seven ICT tools designed for
primary school pupils), which has been nominated for a BETT Award in the Early
Years and Primary Software category.

The National Strategies tender brings together the DfES Primary Literacy &
Numeracy strategies and Key Stage 3 strategy into a single, new six-year
contract. RM is acting as a subcontractor to CfBT, which is the incumbent
provider.

In its Preliminary Results announcement on 24th November 2003, RM made the
following comments about prospects.

'The school funding position is clearer than it was when we reported our Interim
results in May 2003. With the DfES committing to a minimum per-pupil funding
increase for government year 2004/05 intended to fund 'unavoidable cost
pressures', head teachers will face less uncertainty in setting their budgets
for 2004/05 than they did in 2003/04. Nonetheless, budget pressures remain,
particularly for those schools that set deficit budgets for 2003/04.

'2004 will include a full year's contribution from our two recent acquisitions.
There will also be an increased contribution from the strategic projects we won
during 2003, with the Classroom 2000 project in Northern Ireland in particular
contributing significant hardware revenues during the year.

'We are not expecting the educational ICT market to show any significant growth
in the next government year. The opportunity for RM - as it was in 2003 - is to
generate growth by increasing our share of educational ICT spend and by
expanding into broader education services markets.'




                      This information is provided by RNS
            The company news service from the London Stock Exchange