Microsoft 365 Update: Deprecation of the Office 365 A1 Plus license
On 1st August 2024, Microsoft will deprecate the Office 365 A1 Plus license. All Office 365 A1 Plus users will be moved to the Office 365 A1 license. The key variance between these two licenses is the removal of access to Office Desktop apps. Any users that are assigned an Office 365 A1 license will no longer have access to desktops apps and will have to use web applications moving forward.
Alongside this, early in the year Microsoft reduced the storage capacity for OneDrive for Office 365 A1 to 100GB. This change has already taken effect.
What is not changing:
All students across the University already have a Microsoft 365 A3 license, which is the fully featured license they are familiar with.
A3 licenses will not be changing.
Who is impacted:
Office 365 A1 licenses are used to license any additional accounts that are created on our systems, such as IT Access accounts. These same accounts are often provided for RHD students to allow access to some systems that are generally limited to staff - staff calendars, printing, etc.
Please refer to the below table to understand the different personas across the University and their impact:
Account type | Default license type | Access to Office Desktop Apps | OneDrive storage capacity | Options |
|---|---|---|---|---|
Student | Microsoft 365 A3 for Students | Included | Tiered, starting at 8GB for most students | You are on the full license for students. Students with IT Access ("Staff") accounts should use their student accounts to access Office Desktop Apps. If you have questions, please see Student IT Microsoft 365 |
IT Access (RHD students) | Office 365 A1 for Staff | Not included | 100GB | You may continue using these accounts for viewing Staff Calendars, Outlook Room Bookings and UniPrint. |