In short: Education and charity software licensing gives eligible schools, colleges, universities and registered charities access to free or discounted editions of business software. Eligibility is set by each vendor and usually verified against official registers. In England, schools also need to consider the DfE's digital and technology standards and, for academies, the Risk Protection Arrangement's cyber conditions.
How education and nonprofit programmes work
Software vendors often offer special terms to education and charitable organisations. These take several forms:
- Free editions for eligible organisations, sometimes with limits on users or features
- Discounted editions of standard business products
- Education-specific editions designed for schools, licensed per student or per staff member
- Grants or donated credits for particular products
Each vendor sets its own eligibility rules, verification process and terms, and they change from time to time. Typically you must prove your status, for example with a Department for Education URN, a UKPRN for further and higher education, or a charity registration number, and some programmes use a third-party verification service. We check current eligibility for any product before quoting.
Google Workspace for schools and charities
Google provides two good examples of how these programmes work.
Google Workspace for Education has a free edition, Education Fundamentals, available at no cost to qualifying institutions, covering Classroom, Gmail, Drive, Docs, Meet and the other core apps. Paid editions, Education Standard and Education Plus, add security, analytics and teaching tools, and are licensed according to student numbers with staff licences included in proportion.
Google for Nonprofits gives eligible charities access to Google Workspace for Nonprofits and other Google programmes. Organisations must be registered charities in a supported country, verified by Google's validation service, Goodstack. Google excludes governmental bodies, hospitals and healthcare organisations, and schools, colleges and universities from the nonprofit programme, although the charitable foundations of healthcare and education organisations can be eligible.
See Google Workspace licences for the business editions.
Standards that shape school purchasing
In England, the Department for Education publishes digital and technology standards for schools and colleges. Six are core standards that schools and colleges should meet by 2030, including cyber security and filtering and monitoring. The cloud solutions standard covers backup. These standards are a useful checklist when choosing software:
- Filtering and monitoring: schools must have appropriate filtering and monitoring under Keeping Children Safe in Education; see DNS and web filtering
- Cyber security: including MFA, secure accounts and protection against malware; see security software
- Backup: including protected, separate copies of data; see backup software
Academy trusts in the DfE's Risk Protection Arrangement (RPA) should check its cyber conditions. The membership rules make cyber cover conditional on offline backups, annual NCSC cyber security training for staff and governors with access to trust IT systems, registration with Police CyberAlarm, and a documented cyber response plan. Check the current rules for the details, and take care that backup products include a genuinely offline or isolated copy.
Charities and public sector buyers
Charity trustees are responsible for managing risks to their charity, including cyber risk, and the NCSC publishes a Small Charity Guide with practical steps. Many security vendors offer nonprofit pricing, and some offer free tools for small charities, so it is always worth asking.
Public sector and education buyers also need to follow their own procurement rules. In England, public bodies follow the Procurement Act 2023, academy trusts follow the Academy Trust Handbook, and many organisations use frameworks. We can provide the information you need for value-for-money comparisons and quotes.
Whatever kind of organisation you are, ask the vendor, or us, three questions before buying: whether you qualify for a programme, whether the programme edition includes the features you need (some are cut down), and what happens if your status changes, for example if a school joins a multi-academy trust or a charity merges.
How we help
We supply schools, colleges, academy trusts and charities, check eligibility for education and nonprofit programmes on your behalf, and help you choose products that meet the DfE standards, RPA conditions or your funders' expectations. Pricing depends on the programme and your organisation: contact us and ask us for a quote.
How Forever Systems supplies your software licences
Forever Systems Ltd supplies business software subscriptions to UK organisations from one account, with one monthly invoice and a UK team who know the products.
- The right edition first time: we check what you need before you buy, so you are not paying for features you will never use
- Monthly or annual terms where the vendor offers them, and help timing renewals and commitments
- Licence changes handled for you: add or remove users, upgrade editions and true-up without starting a new contract
- Deployment and support from engineers who run these products every day, not just a reseller account
- Consolidated billing and renewal reminders so nothing lapses unexpectedly
We work with businesses, schools, charities and public sector organisations of all sizes.
Need a licence quote or a second opinion on your renewal?
Tell Forever Systems what you need and we will come back to you by email with options, not a hard sell.
Contact usFrequently asked questions
Is Google Workspace free for schools?
Google Workspace for Education Fundamentals is available at no cost to qualifying educational institutions. Paid editions add further security and teaching features.
Can UK charities get Google Workspace for Nonprofits?
Registered charities in supported countries, including the UK, can apply through Google for Nonprofits, with verification by Goodstack. Schools, government bodies and healthcare organisations are excluded from the nonprofit programme.
Do schools have to use web filtering?
Keeping Children Safe in Education expects schools and colleges in England to have appropriate filtering and monitoring, and the DfE's filtering and monitoring standard explains what that means in practice.
What are the RPA cyber conditions?
Academy trusts in the Risk Protection Arrangement must meet cyber conditions including offline backups, annual NCSC training for staff and governors with system access, Police CyberAlarm registration and a cyber response plan. Check the current membership rules.