If you had signed up for the service last year, you do not need to do anything to begin receiving files, otherwise, please contact mcds@ucas.ac.uk to register.
Alongside other contextual data, the MCDS service links data to third party datasets to provide verified free school meal information for applicants that are in the national pupil database, or national equivalent (for English, Northern Irish and Welsh state school pupils), or, for independent school pupils, have been verified as meeting FSM eligibility requirements for their country of residence via Bursary Assessment Associates. Gender has been used as part of this linking process, however, due to the changes in available answers for gender from the 2024 cycle and concern over the differential linking outcomes across different genders, verified FSM data will not be available until an assessment has been made of the impact of this for applicants this year.
This work is expected to complete in early November, at which time the linked FSM data will be included again. Self-declared free school meal information, as well as other contextual information, continues to be available in this supply. If you have any queries about this, please get in touch with mcds@ucas.ac.uk or your CSD.