Frequently asked questions
The MealPass app is a new, cashless way you can purchase food and drink on campus and benefit from discounts and offers.
Non catered students and staff can download the MealPass app, create an account (with their personal email), add funds to the account and then access a range of offers and discounts when purchasing food and drink and be entered into regular prize draws.
The MealPass Package is for our catered students and includes:
- Breakfast and dinner Monday to Friday, and two meals at the weekend (brunch or dinner) which can be in your dining hall or another dining hall.
- £25 weekly spending allowance which resets every Sunday at midnight. Be careful at the end of term – some MealPass packages are term-time only, and some locations do close or reduce their weekend opening hours.
- This is called your MealPass Package wallet in the app.
As part of your catering package, you can enjoy all the benefits of MealPass.
When you've used up your weekly £25 allowance in your MealPass Package wallet, you can top up your account in a secondary wallet called MealPass. The same login details are used for both accounts making it easy for you to manage everything in one app.
Go to Accounts, add your debit or credit card details or use Apple Pay to add additional funds.
A few things to note:
- You can only use your MealPass wallet once your MealPass Package is used up.
- When using your secondary MealPass wallet you will not be able to spend in Portland Coffee, Mooch, Spar, Spokes Cafe, and Lakeside Cafe.
When you are in store simply take your items to the till or place your order. When it is time to pay, say you would like to pay with the MealPass App. At the bottom of the App select Scan and scan your QR code. This will deduct the funds from your account and pay for the goods.
In the voucher section you will see all the current offers and discounts.
Want to order in advance? Saijokai, Echo Bar and Puritea are offering this new option which you will find under ‘Order’ at the bottom of the app. Pick your favourites, select a time for collection and head to store for a food pick up.
Additional outlets will be added over time.
New offers and flash sales will be added at different times but the offers below will be available all year round:
- Every day – early bird special. Before 10am, free regular tea or americano with a pastry or breakfast roll at Bonington’s Puritea and Hallward Library.
- Upgrade to any other regular hot drink for £1
- Mondays only – before 10am, buy one get one free on hot drinks (excluding Costa and Subway).
- Wednesdays only – buy a regular hot drink and upgrade to a large for free at Hallward Cafe, Puritea, Trent Cafe and Bonington’s.
- Thursdays only – ‘buy three of the same items, get one free’ (cake, pastry or doughnut) from Bonington’s, Trent Cafe, George Green Library, Hipps, DRSV or Puritea (cheapest item free).
- Fridays only – 10% off any hot drink at all UoN retail units (excluding Costa, Subway) and 20% off all sandwiches, packaged salads and wraps after 2pm (excluding Costa, Subway).
- Free fruit – buy a sandwich, hot or cold drink, and packet of crisps/popcorn/Doritos at participating outlets to receive a free piece of whole fruit, all day, every day (subject to availability).
- Every day after 2pm, visit any participating outlet (DRSV, Subway and Costa excluded) and enjoy 10% off cake slices, tray bakes, and doughnuts (not including pre-wrapped/packaged items – ask your server for details).
- Purchase a main from Saijokai, Mama’s, Mango Bay or Mazzeh and receive a same day voucher to redeem at Puritea for 10% off any purchase.
In the app, go to Account and register your credit or debit card and use that to add funds to your account. You must add a minimum of £20. You can top up as often as you like. Funds will remain on your account – they do not expire (as is the case in the MealPass Package).
View screen shots here
For the MealPass Package – under Vouchers there will be a MealPass Package voucher, select this to view your remaining balance for the week.
For MealPass – open the app and check your Account to see your remaining balance.
In the first instance we advise you to uninstall and then reinstall the app. This should rectify any issues.
If this does not work, please report your issue to cateringfinance@nottingham.ac.uk or via phone on
0115 748 4997.
Please note we cannot issue refunds for any credit card or cash transactions you have made in the period of your card/app not working.
No, your allowance is not transferable. The QR code on the MealPass app is unique to your allowance. Any loss of funds due to sharing your QR code will not be reimbursed to your allowance. We are also unable to generate a new QR code for your account.
Catered students
Your MealPass package allowance of £25 can be used in all the outlets but when you top up your secondary wallet called MealPass, you will not be able to use it in Mooch, Spar, Portland Coffee, Spokes cafe and Lakeside cafe.
Staff and non-catered students
The MealPass can be used at any UoN catering outlet on any campus, with the exception of Mooch, Spar, Portland Coffee, Spokes cafe, or Lakeside cafe.
Alcohol and tobacco products are always off-limits, as are medicines and merchandise; this includes cough sweets and syrups, reusable cups, and advent calendars, even if they come with a free drink or chocolate. If something isn’t for human consumption, it’s not a MealPass product, so no notebooks, toiletries, and no treats for the stray cat hanging around in your garden!
If you have made a purchase on your MealPass account within the last 30 days, you will be automatically entered into the next prize draw.
Once you log into the app, you will see all the offers you can claim through the app listed. These will change over time and be marked in-store as well. Please check regularly to ensure you’re always up to date with the best offers or if you want to see what’s available at any given time.
It should be almost instant; you don’t need to wait for your funds to be added to your account.
Yes, you will still get the discount and be able to pay the outstanding amount with a debit or credit card.
No, we are unable to refund any money left in your MealPass account. Please ensure you spend your balance before leaving.
Certain authorisation apps may minimise the MealPass app when switching to approve the transaction; this will cancel the payment option when you do this. Please do not close the MealPass app when collecting your code or approving the transaction. If you do, the transaction will fail. You may use an alternative card to upgrade your MealPass account.