Free Meals in Further Education
If you received free meals at school and are now aged 16 – 18, or are aged 19 – 24 and have an Educational Health & Care plan (EHCP), you may be entitled to Free Meals at College as well. To check if you are eligible you will need to apply online via the Hampshire County Council.
Eligibility
Your application for Free College Meals can only be made on this website and to be eligible to receive Free College Meals you, or your parent/guardian will need to be in receipt of one of the following benefits:
- Income Support
- Income-based Job Seeker’s Allowance
- Income-related Employment and Support Allowance
- Support under Part VI of the Immigration and Asylum Act 1999
- The Guaranteed Element of State Pension Credit
- Child Tax Credit (with an annual gross income into the household that is no more than £16,190, provided you are not entitled to Working Tax Credit. If you are entitled to any part of Working Tax Credit, there is no eligibility with the exception of Working Tax Run-on as shown below.
- Working Tax Run-on – paid for 4 weeks after you stop qualifying for Working Tax Credit
- Universal Credit
When you and/or your parent/guardian make your online application for Free College Meals please note that HCC will use the information you provide to contact other sources as allowed by law to verify your initial and on going entitlement.
How it works
Once you have received confirmation that you are eligible you do not need to do anything else. The College receives this confirmation too so you do not need to inform us in person. Within 24 hours of receiving your Free Meals Entitlement Confirmation, you will be able to access Free College Meals. The College uses a ‘cashless’ system which means that your Free College Meals allowance will be loaded onto your College ID card.
You will be able to buy food/drinks etc. using your College ID card in any of the College student cafes, including CEMAST, to the value of £2.50 for each day that you are timetabled to be at College. Your allowance is reset on a weekly basis. If you do not use it for any reason your weekly amount will be reset for the following week.
If you have any questions about Free College Meals during your time at College, please call into the Student Support Centre in or phone us on 01329 815139.