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The most correct answer so far is Win11 IoT. But there's a good chance it won't have enough "windows" for your school needs.
If you're just trying to get work done and not trying to stick it to the man with the purity test that this thread seems to insist upon, you can install normally and force an offline user. (Microsoft keeps threatening to kill this capability, it still worked last time I tried early last year.)
Then run Chris Titus debloat utility before you set up anything else.
If you don't have a registration, you can activate it with massgrave.dev.
Could you get away with running it on a vm? I did that for some college classes that needed specific programs.
Use an answer file with W11 Pro.
https://schneegans.de/windows/unattend-generator/
I haven't noticed any AI bullshit, but I might be being protected by EU laws at the moment.
Tiny 11.
Schneegans is pretty well respected. An answer fully used in combination with Ventoy gives you quite the professional install, repeatable on hundreds of machines.
My concern is that someone unfamiliar would want to spend some time understanding the process before diving right in.
Given the amount of research, I suggest using Rufus for the offline install portion and then running the debloat scripts mentioned elsewhere.
Here's a Privacy Guides...guide to make your Windows experience better. https://www.privacyguides.org/en/os/windows/group-policies
Privacy Guides' Community Wiki have some helpful guides too. https://discuss.privacyguides.net/c/community-wiki/9411
Any normal install of W11 can be cleaned up a fair bit just by manually refusing permissions and disabling unwanted features. For all the memes, very few of the features people complain about are forced on.
After that the biggest fixes I'd recommend are editing the registry to remove online search in the Start Menu, which makes it very workable (although there is a redesign incoming, not sure how that'll interact) and installing PowerToys to get a universal search shortcut and a bunch of really nice QoL features.
W11 is actually perfectly usable after some customization, honestly.
Have you tried revi.cc?
This is where computers with two dives shines. If you install windows on a drive then remove it and install a second drive with anything else you like you can then manually swap the drive in the UEFI just like booting from USB or optical when both are installed.
Another option is grab a second drive (nvme or sata) that works in your computer. Swap it out for test taking physically. You can also check if your computer can access a memory card directly and use that to install a removable os on, cfexpress would be ideal but the drives can get insanely expensive. Microsd express would work but it's slower.
Can't help with windows 11. Never used it beyond looking in a store at a computer. I disliked 10 and ran openshell just to make it usable. Didn't even want to try to fix 11 once linux was viable.
There is always Ubuntu or other well worked iterations of Linux.
No, the only answer is mac/bsd/Linux. Vote with their market share.
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