My subscription changed without my knowledge or consent.

I am a 3D Animation student. Last year, I had a free student subscription to Adobe Substance Painter (and the other programs included within the Substance 3D subscription, but I only use it for Substance Painter). Last month, I updated my subscription - not realising that it's only free for the first year - and was charged £18.50 on an annual subscription (billed monthly). I was miffed, but it was my bad for not reading the T&Cs properly so I let it go.

Well, this month comes around, and instead of the £18.50 I expected, I was charged £250.13. I freaked out, wondering why on earth I had such a massive charge from Adobe - only to sign in to my Adobe account and see that it had been updated to an annual subscription (billed upfront) which ends on 6th March 2026, a year from now. I cannot afford to pay £250 in one go. I am a student, working 8 hours a week. Also, £18.50 x 12 = £222, so why am I paying even more?

I figured okay, since it ends exactly a year from now, I'd say that means this is a new, separate subscription. But when I went in to cancel it - having read that I can cancel within 14 days of a new subscription and get my money back - there was no mention of a refund and it said my subscription would continue until the end of the paid year. So I stopped the cancellation process and came out of it, because I did not consent to this "upgrade" and want my money back.

Am I being silly? What do I do?