05/ What version of Microsoft 365 Education is right for my institution?

Microsoft describes three Microsoft 365 Education tiers: A1, A3 and A5. The differences concern the classroom applications, device administration and security capabilities an institution needs.

A1 uses a one-time licence for each device. Its listed applications include Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Teams and Minecraft: Education Edition. Intune for Education is also included, allowing institutions to administer devices through a central cloud dashboard. A3 includes the A1 features and adds Bookings and Live Events, together with more advanced security, management and analytics capabilities.

A5 includes A3’s teaching and learning features and provides a broader set of compliance, security and management tools. When comparing the tiers, consider both the applications your students and staff need and the administration, analytics and compliance work your institution must support. That makes the choice about the institution’s requirements, rather than simply selecting the plan with the longest feature list.