King’s College was criticised by students over a decision to charge the Kitchen Fixed Charge (KFC) to those remaining in residence.

The KFC, which is charged by several colleges, is a termly catering fee which is billed alongside rent and insurance to encourage students to eat in Hall. The King’s KFC is set at £156.90 a term, up from £126.77 five years ago.

The students resisted the continuation of the charges on the grounds that the Hall has been closed since the 24th March, with only packed lunches and “a limited number of frozen ready meals” available. The students living on-site have mostly cooked hot meals for themselves, raising questions about whether the KFC could be justified.

On Wednesday afternoon, the College reversed its initial decision to continuing charging the fee. Rory Kent, the King’s College Graduate Society Accommodation Officer was informed that the College had “now confirmed” they “shouldn’t charge KFC to all those in residence for Easter” and that they “will be issuing credit notes in due course”.

Varsity understands that nine other colleges – St Edmund’s, St Catherine’s, Peterhouse, Pembroke, Newnham, Magdalene, Homerton, Fitzwilliam and Corpus Christi – which normally charge a KFC or similar catering charges, have dropped them for the forthcoming Easter Term.

Clare College will not charge rent or KFC at all for undergraduate students remaining in the college. Lucy Cavendish College ordinarily charges a flat-rate ‘minimal meal charge’ (MMC) for all students of £500 a year but has agreed to refund half of this due to the University’s current closure.

A spokesperson for King’s would not offer comment on the matter, but did add that the issue is “being resolved now”. They suggested that the charges were an “error” after “the College had previously agreed that the KFC would not be charged while the servery was closed”.

King’s faced criticism in March as students felt pressured to leave their college accommodation ahead of the University’s closure. At the time, the College admitted using “language that has been unduly forceful or upsetting”.