Microsoft Surface is built for modern learning

Surface helps IT teams manage AI-ready learning with more consistency, less complexity, and greater security.

Surface is designed to make AI a natural, manageable part of school life – simplifying IT management, personalising student learning, and boosting educator productivity.

Australian schools are navigating a defining moment, with AI at the centre. The evidence is clear – purposeful AI lifts learning outcomes:

• A 2025 peer-reviewed meta-analysis of 29 empirical studies found AI has a significant positive effect on students’ academic performance. ¹
• A significant majority of students believe AI is helpful in their academic activities: 80% agree that using AI-based technologies enhances their educational experience, either by optimising the time spent studying or by providing quick access to personalised educational resources that facilitate their understanding of complex materials. ²
• In the classroom, 58% of teachers saw a jump in student engagement when AI was integrated into lessons. ³

But for IT managers, the challenge isn’t whether to bring AI into the classroom. It’s how to do it securely, manageably, and at scale – without adding complexity to an already stretched team. You need devices you can deploy, protect, and update with confidence. You need AI experiences that run smoothly without overloading your network. And you need a platform that gives school leaders clear evidence to justify the investment.

That’s where Microsoft Surface comes in. Designed for brilliance, engineered for security, and trusted for transformation – Surface brings together hardware, software, and AI in one integrated ecosystem built to meet the needs of Australian schools. It helps you turn AI from a source of uncertainty into a natural, secure, and purposeful part of learning.

Learning for the lives they’ll live

Devices that are built for modern learning help students explore the skills, judgement, confidence, and adaptability they will need to demonstrate their unique brilliance in a digital world shaped by AI. Surface supports that by making digital experiences more natural, secure, flexible, and trusted for schools, teachers, students and carers.

For the people who keep schools running, the question is practical: how do you make AI a natural part of learning without adding risk, cost, or complexity?

That’s where Surface comes in. Built end-to-end by Microsoft, it brings hardware, Windows 11, and Microsoft 365 Education together as one – so future-ready learning is simpler to deploy, easier to secure, and predictable to manage at scale.

Built on Windows 11 and Microsoft 365 Education, Surface brings together tools like Microsoft OneNote, Learning Accelerators, Microsoft Learning Zone, and Microsoft 365 Copilot to support faster deployment, consistent device management and AI-powered teaching tools in one connected environment. ⁴

For education IT leaders, Surface offers something equally important: control. With chip-to-cloud security across hardware, firmware, Windows, and cloud, you get a consistent foundation for protecting users, devices, and data – with less operational overhead. For school leaders, Surface provides a stronger basis for change management and stakeholder confidence, backed by Microsoft’s responsible AI principles.

“We’re aware AI is here to stay, and we’re not looking back. The Surface devices are more intuitive, adapting to users’ habits, allowing for greater efficiency through a better, personalised learning experience.”

Afzal Shariff, Director of IT Services at Canterbury College. Read the customer story

Advancing AI with devices designed for purpose, clarity, and control

Managing AI across a school is a learning curve – and a real opportunity for IT leaders. Surface is designed to reduce complexity while providing you with AI support in your role. Because Microsoft designs both the hardware and the software, every Surface device is optimised for Windows 11 Pro and Microsoft 365 from the ground up, with built-in firmware, encryption and security features enabled by default.

With chip-to-cloud protection across hardware, firmware, OS, and cloud – including Microsoft Pluton and TPM 2.0 – you can support secure AI experiences with real confidence, knowing students, staff and data are protected at every layer. For schools reconsidering their device strategy, Surface offers a more joined-up approach – one that empowers IT teams and gives the whole organisation a stronger foundation.

“It was crucial to choose a device with the right balance of cost and performance with a larger screen, longer battery life, faster processing, and better all-round functionality.”

Kieran Bailey, Head of IT and Innovation, Great Southern Grammar. Read the customer story

Security your school can count on

Surface is built with Zero Trust principles in mind – security that doesn’t rely on the network being trusted, so students and staff remain protected whether they’re on campus, at home, or anywhere in between.

Through Microsoft Intune⁵ and the Surface Management Portal school IT teams can manage devices, security, and updates through familiar tools in one place instead of juggling multiple systems. This standardised approach also means less variation across your fleet – fewer support tickets, faster troubleshooting, and less time configuring devices that should simply work out of the box. This means easy device management, simple security and minimised troubleshooting for busy IT teams.

To help you keep your fleet protected with less effort, firmware and operating system updates arrive together through Windows Update, so you can patch once and know every layer is covered consistently across every device.

“In the past with everyone using their own device, we didn’t have control over security. Now we’re confident we’ve moved to best practice around sharing and security of data documentation and e-mail.”

Ryan Neville, ICT Lead at Catholic Education Sandhurst Limited. Read the customer story

Built to last, designed to repair, backed by warranty

Tight budgets mean every device needs to go the distance. Surface is designed for targeted repair, with modular components, clear internal labelling, and built-in digital guidance that help you or your service partners replace individual parts – extending device lifecycles, reducing waste, and keeping devices in students’ hands for longer.

Every Surface device comes with a standard manufacturer’s warranty. Additionally, schools can add a warranty designed specifically for the education environment. Microsoft Complete for Schools is an optional, highly customisable extended service plan, offering extended coverage for up to three to four years. See page 17 of the Surface eCatalogue for details

Less time managing devices, more time for what matters

Whether you’re stretched across multiple campuses or a range of device types, every hour counts. Independently assessed by IDC, IT staff spend 25% less time securing and managing Surface devices compared to other Windows devices – saving almost 17 hours per year per device, plus a further two hours in support time.⁶

For a busy IT team, that adds up quickly. To see what these and other savings mean for your school’s total cost of ownership, explore the Surface TCO Calculator.

“When we switched the strategy, it really uplifted the IT team and placed us in a position to show the true value of a holistic approach.”

Ryan Neville, ICT Lead at Catholic Education Sandhurst Limited. Read the customer story

Microsoft Surface devices, designed for brilliance

Available in both 2-in-1 and laptop formats, Surface devices are lightweight, portable, and designed to support every role – from student to teacher to IT manager. Download the Surface eCatalogue to view the range

With intelligent, fast neural processing units (NPU) and a new generation of AI capabilities built into Windows 11 and Microsoft 365, Surface is powerful enough to run AI efficiently, on the device.

Every Surface includes a Copilot key⁷ , giving users one-tap access to Microsoft 365 Copilot in Windows. An add‑on to your Microsoft 365 Education subscription, Copilot enhances the Microsoft apps you use every day. Tap the Copilot key or click the icon on the top menu bar directly within Teams, Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Forms and Edge.⁴

With five new devices released this year, there’s never been a better time to build your school’s environment on Surface.

Ready to find out more about using Surface and AI for Education?

Use AI to speed up lesson design. Turn any teaching idea into an interactive lesson in minutes, using the simple and intuitive Microsoft Learning Zone. Explore now

Share our practical teacher tips. Discover how teachers can use Surface devices to accelerate admin and personalise learning, so they can spend more time with students and less time on paperwork. Get educator AI tips

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1 Dong, Tang & Wang, Examining AI’s Impact on Academic Achievement: A Systematic Review, 2025, Computers and Education: Artificial Intelligence

2 Veriu & Petrea, The Impact of Artificial Intelligence (AI) on Students’ Academic Development, Education Sciences, 2025, 15(3), 343; https://doi.org/10.3390/educsci15030343

3 Tech in Schools: 2024 Insights and predictions, CSIRO, 2024

4 Requires eligible Microsoft 365 licence. Sold separately.

5 Surface Management Portal is available to customers who use Microsoft Intune Admin Center and enrol at least one Surface device through Microsoft Intune.

6 The Business Value of Microsoft Surface, IDC, April 2025.

7 Microsoft 365 Copilot licence required.