Microsoft 365 Apps
Thanks to The British Muslim School’s agreement with Microsoft, students can download and install Microsoft 365 Apps for FREE!
You can download and use Microsoft 365 applications on your Windows/Mac computer or on an Apple/Android device. Instructions for both can be found below.
If you are installing this on your parent’s/carer’s computer or a device that is not your own, please ensure that you have their permission to do so.
Microsoft 365 Apps for Windows 7, Windows 8, Windows 10 or Mac OS X 10.10 (Yosemite) or newer.
(Please note, if you have an earlier version of Microsoft Office on your computer, you should uninstall that before following these steps.)
To install Microsoft 365 applications on up to five laptop or desktop computers:
- Go to https://portal.office.com/OLS/MySoftware.aspx
- Under Sign in with your organisational account, where it says someone@example.com, enter your BMSXXX@thebritishmuslimschool.co.uk email address (replace BMSXXX with your “BMS” number).
- Click Next, and type your school login password.
- You will see a list of the applications in Microsoft Office. Click Install.
The software will be installed on your computer. Your copy of Office will remain active as long as you maintain your status as a student. Once you leave The British Muslim School, you will have the opportunity to keep using the software by paying for a license directly from Microsoft, or if you move onto college they may have a similar agreement with Microsoft which will enable you to continue using it for free.
Apple/Android Devices
You can install mobile versions of Microsoft Office apps on your Apple/Android devices and then sign in using your school email address to activate them.
For more information on downloading the apps click here and follow the relevant link.
Alternatively, you can just open the app store on your device and search for the individual apps:
- Microsoft Word
- Microsoft Excel
- Microsoft PowerPoint
Once you have installed the apps you can sign into the apps using your BMSXXX@thebritishmuslimschool.co.uk email address (replace BMSXXX with your school “BMS” number). Then enter the same password that you use to sign into the school computers.
Your licence to use the Office apps will remain active as long as you maintain your status as a student. Once you leave The British Muslim School, you will have the opportunity to keep using the software by paying for a license directly from Microsoft, or if you move onto college they may have a similar agreement with Microsoft which will enable you to continue using it for free.
Free Alternative to Microsoft 365 Apps
In a minority of cases we have found that the device that students are trying to use will not support the install of Microsoft 365 Apps. This is usually because the Operating System on the device is no longer supported or the hardware is not powerful enough to support the installation.
In these cases we are recommending that students install Apache OpenOffice. This is a free productivity suite that will enable students to open and edit the majority of Word/Excel and PowerPoint documents without issue. Whilst not exactly the same, the interface is very similar to older versions of Microsoft Office so there should be some familiarity for students.
To download OpenOffice, or for more information, please click on the link below.
https://www.openoffice.org/download/index.html
What if you can’t install ANY office productivity software?
If you are unable to install any software on the computer, either because the Operating System is too old or you do not have the right access privileges to install software you could still use an online suite of software.
The only restrictions are usually that you have to have a modern browser (such as Google Chrome/Microsoft Edge/Firefox) in order for it to be able to run.
The British Muslim School have subscriptions that allow access to another one of the main online office productivity suites: Microsoft 365 for the web.
In order to use either of these office suites you will have to visit the following sites:
Microsoft 365 for the web: https://britishmuslimschool-my.sharepoint.com/
If asked to sign in, use your school email address (e.g. BMS12345@thebritishmuslimschool.co.uk) and your school password.
In order to work on documents on either of these sites you will have to upload the document you need to edit (unless you are creating one from scratch).
If you need to send it back to your teacher via Teams or email you will also have to download the document back to your device.
