Re Alliance

RM PLC
18 December 2000


              RM & REED JOIN FORCES IN MATHS SCHEME ALLIANCE

RM plc, the UK's leading supplier of ICT to education, and Reed Educational
and Professional Publishing (REPP) have today announced a strategic alliance
to provide online content linked to REPP's market-leading, school mathematics
products.  The content will be delivered as part of RM's Easiteach Maths, an
Internet service designed to integrate ICT into classroom teaching.

Launched in September this year, Easiteach Maths is a subscription based
interactive, whole-class teaching resource for schools.  It provides powerful
teaching tools - including pre-prepared lesson plans and teaching materials -
that exploit interactive whiteboards.  REPP is the publisher of the leading
mathematics schemes used in UK primary schools. The alliance brings together
the teaching and learning content of REPP's widely used maths schemes with the
power and versatility of Easiteach.

Commenting on the agreement Richard Girling, RM's chief executive said:

'Partnerships of this type are an important avenue of growth for RM.  We are
developing a comprehensive set of curriculum and learning tools that
ultimately teachers will be able to access on an on-demand basis.  We are
pleased to be partnering with such a well-established educational publisher as
Reed for the first of the Easiteach range.'

John Philbin, Chief Executive of Reed Educational and Professional Publishing
added:

 'We are delighted to be partnering with RM to help launch this truly
innovative teaching tool. Teachers using our maths schemes will have an
exciting new way to present the daily maths lesson to the whole class whilst
pupils will find the on-screen interactivity highly engaging.'

                                  
For more information please contact:

Mike Greig/Fiona McLean, RM plc, 01235 826000

Andrew Fenwick, Brunswick, 020 7404 5959

Notes to editors:
  1.   RM is the leading supplier of ICT to UK education, providing,
educational software, online content, services and systems to schools,
colleges and universities.

2.   Reed Educational and Professional Publishing is the schools' and
professional publishing division of Reed Elsevier and the leading supplier of
textbooks to UK education.   Its UK imprints focused on schools' publishing
include Heinemann at primary and secondary level, Ginn and Rigby at primary;
and Heinemann Library - a specialist school library publisher.

3.   RM Easiteach offers teachers a set of powerful teaching tools and
resources that are purpose-built for whole-class teaching. These tools are at
their best when used with the class on a presentation medium such as an
interactive whiteboard or an extra large PC monitor. By using electronic
versions of familiar teaching tools, such as number lines or place value
cards, Easiteach has the power to enhance lessons and extend the learning
potential in a classroom. It also offers the opportunity to save time when
planning lessons, through an online selection of whole-class teaching
activities that match curriculum objectives.