Microsoft is retiring Office 365 A1, the free plan that gives schools, colleges and universities web versions of Office apps, Teams and email at no charge. The change will take effect at each institution's first renewal or extension on or after 1 January 2028, and schools that want to keep student mailboxes after that point will need paid licences.

The company announced the move on 5 November 2026 as part of a rebuilt Microsoft 365 Education portfolio. Alongside Office 365 A1, Microsoft is retiring the Student Use Benefit, which gives students licences at no extra charge when an institution buys qualifying faculty licences, and free Exchange Online for Alumni, which lets graduates keep their school mailboxes. Microsoft plans a paid replacement for the alumni service, but has not published prices for it.

What replaces the free tier

The free tier continues under a new name, Microsoft 365 Education A0, but it is not a like-for-like replacement. A0 includes Office desktop and web apps, Minecraft Education and basic identity services, but it does not include Exchange Online, SharePoint Online or Teams. That means students who rely on school email, shared files or Teams classes will need a paid edition to keep those services.

Eligibility for A0 is also narrower than the old free tier. It depends on the institution having paid faculty licensing in place and on students actively using Windows devices for education. Microsoft is also changing how storage works: the existing 100 TB base storage allocation will be removed at an institution's first renewal or extension on or after 1 January 2028, and the size of the shared storage pool will instead depend on paid faculty and student licences.

Key dates for schools and universities

The retirement is spread over the next two years, and existing agreements stay valid until they run out. Office 365 A1 stopped accepting new web-direct orders on 5 November 2026, and partner-channel sales end on 1 May 2027. The retirement itself begins at each institution's first renewal or extension on or after 1 January 2028.

Microsoft is also adding a new top tier, Microsoft 365 Education A7, which became generally available on 1 October 2026 and bundles its Copilot, Agent 365 and Entra Suite tools with its strongest security and device-management features. A new learning app, Microsoft Classroom, will be part of the A2 to A7 editions, and a new A2 faculty and paid-student edition becomes available on 1 December 2026.

Reaction in the UK

The reaction in the UK has been negative. The Department for Education said it was disappointed by the decision, but added that it had negotiated additional concessions from Microsoft that give UK schools, colleges and universities more time to move to new licensing agreements. The terms of those concessions have not been published, so institutions should check with Microsoft or their licensing partner before factoring them into renewal plans or budgets.

Jisc, the UK education technology body, said it is working with Microsoft and sector partners to help providers assess their options. Microsoft said it is updating the portfolio to address institutions' combined needs around AI, security, privacy, governance and teaching.

For now, nothing changes overnight. But IT teams in education should check when their current agreement renews, because that date, not 1 January 2028, decides when the free services end for them. Institutions that depend on A1 for student email will need to budget for paid licences or plan a move to another email provider before that renewal.