Microsoft will gradually discontinue the free education Office 365 A1 and the 100TB base storage pool
Microsoft announced adjustments to Microsoft 365 Education licensing. Office 365 A1 will be gradually discontinued and eventually retired. Sales through the Web Direct channel stopped on November 5, 2026; sales through partner channels, including CSP and volume licensing, will stop on May 1, 2027; and the final retirement date is January 1, 2028. Existing valid enrollments that began before May 1, 2027, may continue to be used until the end of the agreement term.
The Student Use Benefit program and the free Exchange Online for Alumni service will also be retired on January 1, 2028. The original 100TB base shared storage pool for education tenants, covering OneDrive, SharePoint Online and Exchange Online, will be removed starting from the first contract renewal or extension by the institution on or after January 1, 2028. New storage allowances are calculated based on paid licenses: on the student side, A2 contributes 4GB, A3 contributes 8GB, and A5/A7 contributes 12GB; on the staff side, the corresponding amounts are 50GB, 75GB and 150GB.
Microsoft is also launching a new free student tier, A0, which includes Office desktop and web applications, but this requires the institution to provide all staff with an A2 or higher paid subscription, and students must use Windows devices for educational purposes. The main transition will then move to paid subscriptions A2/A3/A5/A7. Existing agreements and benefits remain valid within the current term, and the changes will mainly take effect at renewal points.
Original source:
Title: Microsoft retiring Office 365 A1, Student Use Benefit, confirms 100TB base storage removal
Publisher: Neowin
Publication date: 2026-11-01
URL: https://www.neowin.net/news/microsoft-retiring-office-365-a1-student-use-benefit-confirms-100tb-base-storage-removal/
Nature of source: media report (citing Microsoft official channels and Microsoft Learn)
Verification status: The original text was read, and the timeline and storage rules were cross-checked against Microsoft Learn and the Microsoft Education Blog
Supporting content: A1 sales halt and retirement timeline, Student Use Benefit retirement, removal of the 100TB base storage, new storage allowances calculated by license, A0 conditions
ABAB AI Insight
Microsoft's adjustment shifts education offerings from a broad free base tier plus shared large-capacity storage to storage and features driven by paid licenses. Office 365 A1 previously served as a no-cost entry point, allowing schools to cover a large number of students without purchasing the full suite. After A1 is discontinued, the free student option A0 is explicitly tied to an institution providing paid A2 or higher for all staff, creating a conditional structure of first paying to cover staff and then unlocking free access for students.
The removal of the 100TB base shared storage pool directly changes how storage costs are calculated. Previously, this allowance covered the entire tenant's OneDrive, SharePoint and Exchange, and most schools actually used far less than the cap. Under the new model, storage allowance mainly comes from the cumulative contributions of paid student and staff licenses. If an institution has a large student population but few paid licenses, the available shared storage after renewal will shrink significantly, requiring additional purchases or reduced usage.
On the capital path, Microsoft is pushing education customers toward A2 and above paid tiers by tightening the free entry point and the storage pool. A2 and above include more collaboration and management features and begin contributing storage for student licenses. Existing contract-term benefits remain unchanged, and the changes are concentrated at renewal points in 2028 and beyond, giving institutions time to plan, but reducing the scope of long-term free coverage.
Structurally, this is an adjustment from a model of free base access plus optional paid usage to one in which paid coverage determines free student benefits and the size of the storage pool. When free student options depend on the scale of staff paid licenses, a school's license mix directly determines the free student quota that can be unlocked and the total amount of shared storage. Storage shifts from a fixed large base pool to accumulation based on licenses, tying storage costs more closely to the number of paid users.
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After the free student tier is tied to all staff being paid, the school's license mix directly determines the free student benefits that can be unlocked.
After the 100TB base shared storage is removed, storage allowances are accumulated based on paid licenses, and institutions with large scale but few paid licenses will face a reduction.
Benefits remain in place within the current contract term, and changes are concentrated at renewal points in 2028 and beyond, with the transition period used for planning migration.