My DC need a laptop, can I get Word or Office for free?

[pinkrocker]

I've found a decent 2nd hand laptop in a computer shop but Office is £65 a year, is there a free version?
My own laptop (which I'm sharing with DC whilst WFH and slowly going a bit daft in the head over) has Office etc already on it which I don't pay for.

Do you live in wales?

If not just set up gmail and use docs instead.

You dont get Microsoft office for free anymore. You can pay £7.99 a month or buy a years subscription.

It use google docs.

*or

Our school have given us office 365, PowerPoint, word etc for free. Students all have individual log in, is your school not offering this?

If you're just using it for standard word-processing then you can use Open Office or another free software. Or Google Docs, yes.

Uni or college students can get it for free.

Schools pupils usually get it free too.

Free alternatives are OpenOffice and libreOffice. Google docs is good though.
A cheap chrome book can be a great tool for little cash.

Neither of my children's schools (we're in the NE) are offering it, which is such a shame. The DC have an iPad they can use but lots of work is allocated via Google Classroom which can't be edited on an iPad, only a laptop, which is when mine gets used. I'll look into those suggestions, many thanks!

In Wales it is avaliable free on the hwb platform where online school work is posted, paid for my welsh assembly. I am not sure where you are or if there is equivalent platform in England

Open office is a good alternative and is compatible with word documents.

It's work talking to the school. If you're struggling and it's affecting the DCs' ability to wfh they may be able to help with both pc and software.

Another vote for open office. We've used it for years.
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Download Ultra Office It's Microsoft Silver Partner.
www.microsoft.com/en-gb/p/ultra-office-for-free-word-spreadsheet-slide-pdf-compatible/9n161bjrlc1d?activetab=pivot:overviewtab

it is compatible with the office software and is free. It has docs/sheets/slides etc.
Or your children could use Google docs/slides which is more in use these days. It can sometimes mess up the formatting though.

I use open office as well as MS office, it will do anything MS will do and some things are better - writing mathematical equations for one.

Just remember to save documents as rtf so they will open up in word.

I don't think I have used google docs so can't comment.

If you need MS office it's the kind of thing small or local charities sometimes help with.

On google classroom you can just produce documents through that

Yes they can access Google Classroom through laptop ny signing into their Google accounts and then opening Google Docs/Slides from within that.
They will not need another office based bit of software, because they can open and create within Google Classroom and their Google account.
Great thing about Google is that it auto saves the work and you can go back to previous worked versions. Google still have some work to do though to improve Google Classroom and their software.
Good alternative though.

Yes Open Office or Libre Office are both good. Free, easy to use, and compatible with Microsoft documents.

You can save as doc (word 97-03) with OpenOffice which works better than rtf.

You can use Microsoft 365 (which is basically office) for free if you only use the web versions. Sign up online.

If you want them actually installed, plans start from 5.99 per month.

My daughter's school uses Google Classroom and the Google version of MS 365/Office (docs, slides etc.) are all you need - dead easy and intuitive if you're used to MS 365/Office

I work in a school that uses MS 365/Office and the setup of what you need is different - please talk to the school and check before spending any money! They will tell you what you need and I'm sure would be mortified to hear you were struggling!

Good luck @pinkrocker

If you get Office 365 through work, some work packages allow you to install on up to 5 personal machines as well.

I use Google docs for work (contractor). You can convert office docs into Google docs when you open them & download them as office docs to send back once done. Most of the shortcuts and functionality is the same. Never had an issue even though the people I work with use office.

I bought a copy from a friend, sorted now. Thanks for replying.