Upgrade Education customers from Windows 11 Home to Windows 11 Education

Article
04/17/2024

Appropriate roles: Admin agent | Billing admin

Overview

Cloud Service Providers (CSPs) who have purchased Microsoft 365 A1, Microsoft 365 A3, Microsoft 365 A5, or Windows 11 Enterprise A3 or A5 subscriptions can help their Education customers upgrade from Windows 11 Home to Windows 11 Education, which is designed for both the classroom and remote learning.

Windows 11 Home is now a qualifying operating system for Education customers licensed via the Microsoft Cloud Agreement (through the CSP program). This eligibility, which until now has only been available in Volume Licensing (VL) education programs, has been enabled via Microsoft 365 admin portal support.

How the upgrade process works

You can help your customers upgrade by submitting a support request on their behalf. Microsoft Support will review the request to ensure that the customer qualifies. After the request is approved, support will provide the Windows 11 Pro Education key to you so that you can then give it to the customer.

When the customer installs the key and the device is joined to the tenant domain via Microsoft Entra ID, the device will automatically be upgraded to Windows 11 Education (subscription).

Step-by-step process for customers to get Windows 11 Education

You should create a support request and get keys from Support. You can then share these keys with your customers.

Get keys

Use the following steps to get your Windows 11 Education keys.

Sign in to Partner Center and select Customers.
Select the customer who needs support.
Select Service requests.
Select New request and then select Office 365 and Enterprise Mobility Suite.
You're taken to the Office 365 portal where you need to sign in using your Partner Center credentials.
Select Support, New service request from left-hand menu.
Include the following details in the Support request:
- Title: Windows 11 Home to Windows 11 Education upgrade product key
- Description: Requesting [insert number] keys to enable upgrade to Windows 11 Education. (Note that the number of keys requested must be no greater than your Microsoft 365 A3/A5 or Windows 11 Enterprise A3/A5 subscription licenses.) Customer's subscription ID [insert customers subscription ID GUID for their Microsoft 365 A3/A5 or Windows 11 Enterprise A3/A5 subscription.]
- Contact number: The contact number pre-filled. Review it and confirm or update.
- Email: The email address is pre-filled. It should be the email that you use as the Microsoft portal admin (global admin or billing admin only).
- Preferred contact method: Choose Phone or Schedule a call back.
Select Contact me. The expected waiting time is indicated in the Need Help? pane.
Microsoft Support will review the request to ensure that the customer qualifies. Once the request is approved, they'll send an email to the partner containing instructions on how to access the keys.

Partners share the keys and other instructions with their customers.

Customer applies the upgrade

To upgrade Windows 11 Home using a Windows 11 Pro Education product key, your customer must:

Select Start, then select Settings > Update & Security > Activation. Select Change product key, and then enter the 25-character Windows 11 Pro product key. Select Next to start the upgrade to Windows 11 Pro.
When the device is joined to the tenant domain (via Microsoft Entra ID), the device will be automatically upgraded to Windows 11 Education.

Frequently asked questions (FAQ)

Which customers are eligible? CSP customers who qualify as academic and have active Windows 11 Enterprise A3/A5 or Microsoft 365 A1/A3/A5 license subscriptions can upgrade their Windows 11 Home devices to Windows 11 Education. Direct other Education customers who license these offers through Volume Licensing (VL) to the Volume Licensing Service Center (VLSC).

Can my Volume Licensing customers use this process? No, eligible VL customers who license through Enrollment for Education Solutions (EES), Open Value Subscription for Education Solutions (OVS-ES), and School should go to VLSC to download products and keys.

My customer needs more keys than originally requested. How can I get them? You can submit another support request for keys for your customer's Windows 11 Home devices. The total quantity across multiple requests should be no greater than their total active licenses of Microsoft 365 A1/A3/A5 or Windows 11 Enterprise A3/A5 subscriptions.

My customer is about to buy more Windows 11 Home devices. Can they get more upgrades?

Education customers should consider low-cost Windows 11 Education devices through our Shape the Future program and eliminate the need to upgrade Windows 11 Home devices. If they do purchase more Windows 11 Home devices, partners must submit a new support request via the Microsoft admin portal.

Is there a deadline for when to contact Support and receive the upgrade key? The Windows 11 Education upgrade is based on the customer's active Microsoft 365 A1/A3/A5 or Windows 11 Enterprise A3/A5 license subscriptions. If the customer doesn't extend or renew the subscription, the eligibility to upgrade also ends.