How to get Apple’s Back to School deal 2026: Australian giveaway now on with free AirPods, Apple Pencil and more

Apple holds a Back to School promotion every year (now referred to by Apple as the “College Student Offer” or “Higher Education Offer” to avoid confusion because it’s only open to students once they enter higher education, and the institutions and teachers, not school-age children). As part of the deal, Apple offers an incentive with purchases of qualifying Apple products.

Apple’s ‘Back to School’ deal runs in various locations around the world during the summer months. The deal usually ends about a month after the first university semester/term begins in that country.

The deal started running in Australia on January 7. For this year’s deal, students can get a pair of AirPods, an Apple Pencil or an Apple Keyboard, Mouse or Trackpad, for free, or with a discount, if they purchase a new Mac or iPad.

The higher education deal will then run North America from mid June (it began on June 17 in 2025). It will then start in the U.K. and Europe in mid July (in 2025 it began on July 10). Apple’s promotion will run until the end of September (30th in 2025) in the U.S. and mid October (21st in 2025) in the U.K.

Read on to find out what you need to know about Apple’s Higher Education giveaway, including when it will start where you live and what the deal will include. We also explain who qualifies and how to take advantage of Apple’s education deal.

Apple Back to School Sale Dates 2026

• Australia, New Zealand, Brazil and South Korea: January 7 to – early March 11 2026.
• U.S. & Canada: From mid June – end September 2026.
• U.K. & Europe: From mid July – mid October, 2026.
• India: From mid June – end September 2026.

Apple Back to School Sale Dates 2025

• U.S. & Canada: From June 17 – September 30 2025.
• U.K. & Europe: From July 10 – October 21, 2025
• India: From June 17 – September 30 2025.
• Australia, New Zealand, Brazil and South Korea: January 8 to March 13 2025.

The Higher Education deal runs at different times depending on where you are based due to differences in when the school year starts around the globe: Apple runs the promotion in the southern hemisphere in the first few months of the year.

In 2025 the deal runs from June 17 to September 30 in North America and India, and from July 10 to October 21 in Europe and the U.K.

What is Apple’s Back To School offer?

For the Australian deal that is live as of January 7, Apple is giving away (or offering money off) AirPods, Apple Pencils and other Apple accessories (keyboards and mice) with purchases of certain Mac and iPads. It is likely to offer the same giveaway to students elsewhere in the world later in 2026.

• Southern hemisphere: free AirPods/Apple Pencil/keyboard/mouse with qualifying purchases from January-March 2025. 2026 dates and offer TBC.
• U.S./Canada deal: Get AirPods/Apple Pencil/keyboard/mouse with qualifying purchases from June 17 -September 30 2025 with qualifying purchases.
• U.K. deal: Get AirPods/Apple Pencil/keyboard/mouse with qualifying purchases from July 10 – October 21 2025 with qualifying purchases.
• European deal: Get AirPods/Apple Pencil/keyboard/mouse with qualifying purchases from July 10 – October 21 2025 with qualifying purchases.

This is slightly different to recent years. Since 2022, in the U.S. and U.K. and some other locations, Apple has given away gift cards of different denominations depending on the products purchased during the promotional period. Although in other locations including some European countries and India, Apple still gave away AirPods and Apple Pencils rather than vouchers.

This isn’t the only education-related saving Apple offers though. All products sold to students via Apple’s Education Store include a discount all year round, so you can always make a saving on Apple products, as long as you qualify. The summertime education-focused deal is in addition to these year-long discounts Apple offers to students and education institutions. We explain everything you need to know about getting a discount, including how much you can save as a student and how to use Apple’s Education Store, in our Guide to shopping in the Apple Education Store.

If you aren’t sure what to buy, we also have advice about the Best Mac for Students and the Best iPad for Students.

How to get Apple’s Back to School offer

In order to get the free AirPods, Apple Pencil or other Apple Accessory (or to save money on the more expensive AirPods Pro 3) you need to purchase a qualifying Apple product.

You need to purchase a qualifying Mac (MacBook Air, MacBook Pro, iMac) or a qualifying iPad (iPad Pro or iPad Air). As a student you can also get a discount on the price of those products – in fact, you can get a student discount on Apple products in the Apple Education Store, with the exception of the iPhone, at any time.

You also need to be based in an area where Apple is running the deal at the time of your purchase, and be a student in higher education, or about to start higher education. There are more details about who qualifies for Apple’s Education offer below. Right now qualifying countries include Australia, New Zealand, and select southern hemisphere countries.

To get the deal in the U.S. you need to visit Apple’s U.S. Education Store. Logging on from your university network may make the process easier. 

In the U.K. you can visit the U.K. Education Store, but you will also need to verify your student or staff status with UNiDAYS.

Go to the Apple Education Store for other regions using the links below:

• U.S.
• U.K.
• Canada
• Australia
• New Zealand
• Brazil
• South Korea
• India
• France
• Germany

When you make your qualifying Mac or iPad purchase you will be able to request the freebee.

The products included in the Apple offer

You need to buy one of the following qualifying products: MacBook Air, MacBook Pro, iMac, iPad Pro and iPad Air to qualify for the giveaway.

You can choose which of the giveaway product you want to get when you make your order. In some cases more the “freebee” comes with an additional cost, as you can see from the table below.

It’s not always the above products that qualify for the deal. Recently Apple has allowed the purchase of a Mac mini and an iPad to qualify for the freebee, but not in 2025 or, so far, in 2026.

Qualifying purchases for Apple’s deal in 2024 included: iMac, MacBook Pro, MacBook Air, Mac mini, iPad Pro and iPad Air. In Australia in early 2024 the iPad 10th generation was included. In summer 2023 qualifying purchases included: iMac 24‑inch, MacBook Pro, MacBook Air, Mac mini, iPad Pro and iPad Air.

It’s also interesting to note that in 2025 Apple did not give any discount on the AirPods Max despite having done so in the past.

What you can save in Apple’s back to school giveaway

During 2025, in the U.S. you could save as much as $199 in the Apple Back to School deal. If you buy a MacBook Air or MacBook Pro there was also the option of a free Magic Keyboard worth $199. However, some of the products being offered as an incentive require you to spend a little extra to get them. For example, in the past to get the AirPods Pro 2 (worth $249) with a new Mac you need to spend an additional $70.

Find out what you can save where you are based in the tables below.

Australian back to school giveaway details: 2026

In summer 2026, Australian students making the following purchases can either get free Mice, TrackPad, Keyboard, Apple Pencil, or AirPods 4, or get a discount on the education price of the AirPods Pro 3 and Magic Keyboard cases for iPad. The terms and conditions of the Australian deal are here.

Apple’s education discounts are available all year round. Visit the Australian Education Store.

There were similar savings in New Zealand.

U.S. back to school giveaway details: 2025

In summer 2025, U.S. students making the following purchases could either get free Mice, TrackPad, Keyboard, Apple Pencil, or AirPods 4, or get a discount on the price of the AirPods Pro 2 and Magic Keyboard cases for iPad. The terms and conditions of the deal are here: U.S.

Apple’s education discounts are available all year round. Visit the U.S. Education Store and Canada Education Store for more information.

U.K. back to school giveaway details 2025

U.K. students making the following purchases could either get free Mice, TrackPad, Keyboard, Apple Pencil, or AirPods 4, or get a discount on the price of the AirPods Pro 2 and Magic Keyboard cases for iPad. The terms and conditions of the deal are here: U.K.

Apple’s education discounts are available all year round. Apple’s education discounts are available all year round. Students and educators need to log in via UNiDAYS website to see the offers. Educational Store discounts are usually up to £280 for U.K. students. See Apple’s terms and conditions.

Europe back to school giveaway details 2025

European students making the same purchases as those above could either get free Mice, TrackPad, Keyboard, Apple Pencil, or AirPods 4, or get a discount on the price of the AirPods Pro 2 and Magic Keyboard cases for iPad.

French details here. German details here. Spanish details here. Italian details here. Netherlands details here.

India back to school giveaway details 2025

The 2025 deal in India the Back to University was the same as in the U.S.: AirPods or Apple Pencil discounts.

Details here. T&C here.

Brazil and South Korea back to school giveaway details

In Brazil and South Korea Apple gave away AirPods with Mac purchases and Apple Pencil with iPad purchases from January to March 13, 2024. The deal was the same in 2025.

Who can get Apple’s Back to School deal?

If you are registered at a higher education facility (that’s post-K12 education: universities and colleges) you will qualify for the free AirPods deal as well as Apple’s usual education discount. Employees of these institutions can also qualify. If you are a parent buying for your student offspring then you can also qualify. Here are Apple’s Ts&Cs for the U.S.

Alternatively, if you are an employee of a public or private K-12 institution/school in the U.S. or Canada you are also eligible. Apple’s Education pricing isn’t available to parents with kids at school, but a homeschool teacher can qualify.

Even when Apple isn’t running the Back to School Deal students and education institutions can still take advantage of its standard educational pricing on its Educational Pricing page (U.S. here / U.K. here).

Students can also take advantage of a reduced subscription to Apple Music with which they get access to Apple TV+ when they buy an Apple product. Read: How to get the student deal for Apple Music and free Apple TV+.

How much can you save with Apple’s education pricing?

Students can save up to $200/£220 on Macs and up to $100/£100 on iPads at any time of the year. More here: How to get an Apple student discount at Apple’s Education Store.

If you don’t qualify for an education discount have a look at these round-ups of the best deals on a new Mac and iPad:

• Best MacBook Pro deals
• Best MacBook Air deals
• Best Mac mini deals
• Best iMac deals
• Best Mac Studio deals
• Best iPad deals

We also have this advice about which Mac is best for students. And for more help read the low down on the Best Mac 2026.