Microsoft retires free Office 365 A1 and alumni email for schools

Microsoft retires free Office 365 A1 and alumni email for schools

10 November 2026: Microsoft is retiring three free education offers on 1 January 2028: Office 365 A1, the Student Use Benefit program and Exchange Online for Alumni. The Register reports that schools, colleges and universities now face new licensing costs if they want to keep student mailboxes.

Not yet independently verified. Microsoft's page gives no prices for the new editions, and neither source says what the extra UK concessions are. The Student Use Benefit description comes from The Register, not from Microsoft's page. We will update this when it can be confirmed, and remove this note.

Three retirements and one start date

Microsoft's Learn page says it announced the next evolution of the Microsoft 365 Education portfolio on 5 November 2026. All updates take effect at an institution's first contract renewal, extension or new agreement on or after 1 January 2028.

• Office 365 A1: end of sale on 1 May 2027 for partner channels, including CSP and Volume Licensing, then retirement on 1 January 2028.
• Student Use Benefit: retired across all Education purchasing programs, including Volume Licensing and CSP, on 1 January 2028.
• Free Exchange Online for Alumni: retired on 1 January 2028, with institutions told to move users to a new paid Exchange Online for Alumni offer.

For each, Microsoft says a customer whose enrolment began before 1 January 2028 may keep using the licences, and may add more, for the rest of that enrolment term. At renewal or the end of the term the licences cannot be renewed or extended.

What the free student tier leaves out

The replacement for students is Microsoft 365 Education A0, which Microsoft describes as a no-cost foundation offer. It covers Office desktop and web apps, Minecraft Education, Microsoft Entra ID Free and access to Learning Zone. Exchange Online, SharePoint Online and Teams are not included.

Eligibility has conditions. An institution needs full paid faculty coverage on A2 or higher, and students must actively use devices running Windows for educational purposes. The Register explains the Student Use Benefit as providing student licences at no extra charge when an institution buys qualifying faculty licences.

The paid editions run from A2 to A3, A5 and the new A7, which Microsoft calls its most advanced offering for AI, security, governance and device management. New faculty and paid student editions of A2 become available on 1 December 2026.

Storage moves to a per-licence pool

Storage stays a single tenant-wide pool, but its size will follow the paid licences. From the first renewal or extension on or after 1 January 2028, the current 100 TB base allocation goes. Paid student licences contribute storage for the first time:

• A2: 4 GB per student and 50 GB per faculty licence
• A3: 8 GB per student and 75 GB per faculty licence
• A5 and A7: 12 GB per student and 150 GB per faculty licence

Organisations stay on their current storage model until they renew or extend under the new offers.

Reaction from UK education bodies

A spokesperson for the UK's Department for Education told The Register it was "disappointed" with the decision but pleased to have negotiated some additional concessions for the UK, giving institutions time to transition. Jisc said its focus was on making sure providers have enough time to assess their options.

An industry insider told The Register the loss of free Microsoft-hosted email could add thousands to institutions' bills. Asked why services were being removed from the free tier, Microsoft said the portfolio update gives a clearer path from foundational access to advanced capabilities.

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Sources

• Microsoft Learn: Microsoft 365 Education portfolio evolution (announced 5 November 2026), 5 November 2026
• The Register: Microsoft teaches schools that free email was just a phase, 10 November 2026, 10 November 2026