Free School Meals (FSM) Eligibility

We use data on your eligibility for free school meals (FSM) during your time in Key Stage 3 and Key Stage 4 education.

The data we use is provided by UCAS, who verify your eligibility against the National Pupil Databases for England, Northern Ireland and Wales.

We do not use your self-declared answer regarding free school meals on your UCAS application. Your school or college will also have been asked to confirm your eligibility to UCAS but UCAS do not share that confirmation with us.

The exact eligibility recorded in the National Pupil Databases varies depending on nation:

• England – you were recorded as eligible for FSM at any point in the 6 years before the school census day in Year 11.
• Northern Ireland – you were recorded as eligible for FSM at any point in the 6 years before the school census date in Year 12.
• Wales – you were recorded as eligible for FSM at any point between the school census date in Year 11 and the January 5 years before.

We do not consider eligibility after Key Stage 4, such as the 16-19 bursary, as part of our criteria.

Independent schools

UCAS also provide eligibility data for students attending independent schools who may not be recorded on the National Pupil Database. This eligibility is verified through the Independent Schools Council (ISC).

You will be flagged as meeting our contextual criteria if UCAS have verified you were eligible for free school meals in any one of these four data sources.

We are unable to use self-declared information you may provide in your UCAS application, unless this is also backed up by the other data we receive.

Alternative evidence for Free School Meals

If your eligibility for Free School Meals is incorrectly recorded on the National Pupil Database or UCAS were unable to match your application against it, we will accept evidence from you directly that you meet our criteria.

This evidence must be confirmation from your school you attended in Key Stage 3 or 4 or a local authority that you were assessed as eligible during the relevant period of study. Evidence of eligibility after Key Stage 4 will not be considered.

Indices of Multiple Deprivation (IMD)

Indices of multiple deprivation (IMD) is a measure of relative deprivation for small, fixed geographic areas of the UK. IMD classifies these areas into five quintiles based on relative disadvantage, with quintile 1 being the most deprived and quintile 5 being the least deprived.

IMD data is freely available from relevant government resources (aside from post-codes in Northern Ireland, for which data is unfortunately not freely available). We use the most recently available dataset for each of the four nations in the UK (England, Northern Ireland, Scotland and Wales). This information is matched to your application by UCAS using the home postcode listed on your application.

For the 2026 cycle, we use the IMD 2019 dataset for England as the updated IMD 2025 dataset was not available at the start of the cycle.

You will be flagged as meeting our contextual criteria if the home postcode listed on your UCAS application when you apply falls into IMD quintile 1 or 2 providing you attended a state school or college for at least two academic years in the last four years of schooling.

You will usually be considered to meet the school requirement if you have been home-schooled for a significant portion of time between ages 14 and 18.

Look-up which IMD quintile your home postcode falls into (England only).

Time in care status

When you complete your UCAS application there is a section for you to self-declare if you have spent time in Local Authority care, either with foster carers or in a children’s home (or in Scotland under a home supervision order).

We would strongly recommend doing this if it applies to you, regardless of when or how long you were in care for. This means that you will receive relevant information about support from all the universities that you apply to.

You will be flagged as meeting our contextual criteria if you declare something in this section of your UCAS application.

The University has pledged to make guaranteed offers to Care Leavers and Estranged students who meet our criteria and terms and conditions. Please visit our Care Leavers and Estranged students webpage for more information, plus our eligibility criteria for funding.

Estranged students

When you complete your UCAS application, there is a section for you to self-declare if you identify as being an estranged student. We would strongly recommend doing this if it applies to you, as this means that you also will receive relevant information about support from all the universities that you apply to.

You are considered an estranged student if you are:

• aged 25 or under at the start of your studies
• without the financial and/or emotional support of your family due to a breakdown in the relationship.

A student who is receiving financial and/or emotional support from part of their family is not considered estranged even if there has been a breakdown in a relationship with another family member (for example, a student who is estranged from only one parent).

If you indicate you are an estranged student, you will then be flagged as meeting our contextual criteria, subject to other criteria being met.

For further information about support and our eligibility criteria for funding, please refer to our estranged student webpage.

The University has pledged to make guaranteed offers to Estranged students who meet our criteria and terms and conditions. Please visit our Care Leavers and Estranged student webpage for more information, plus our eligibility criteria for funding.

Young carers

When you complete your UCAS application, there is a section for you to self-declare if you identify as being a young carer. We would strongly recommend doing this if it applies to you, as this means that you also will receive relevant information about support from all the universities that you apply to.

If you indicate you are a young carer or estranged student, you will then be flagged as meeting our contextual criteria, subject to other criteria being met.

For further information about support and our eligibility criteria for funding, please refer to our young carer webpages.

Refugee, Asylum Seeker, Humanitarian Protection status

You will be flagged as meeting our contextual criteria if we confirm you are a refugee, asylum seeker, have been granted humanitarian protection or a similar status.

We verify this as part of assessing your fee status (either before or after you receive an offer). You will generally be asked to provide a copy of the relevant immigration permission to confirm your status.

For these criteria, we include anyone recognised by the UK Government as registered asylum seeker or who qualifies for Home fees under a ‘humanitarian’ category:

• Asylum seeker
• Refugee
• Granted Humanitarian Protection
• Ukraine Scheme leave
• Stateless leave
• Calais leave
• Section 67 leave
• ILR as a bereaved partner
• ILR as a victim of domestic violence
• Evacuated from Afghanistan

You will also meet our contextual criteria if your parent or legal guardian meets one of the above, even if you do not.

You must hold the relevant leave during your application to meet our contextual criteria. If you (or a parent or legal guardian) held one of these forms of leave in the past but have since become British citizens or gained Indefinite Leave to Remain then you will not be eligible.

On a case-by-case basis, we may flag you as meeting our contextual criteria if you have been granted exceptional leave outside the immigration rules as a result of an application made under one of the recognised routes. You will not meet our contextual criteria if you have been granted leave through the British National (Overseas) (BNO) scheme.