> ## Documentation Index
> Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://educontroldoc.pixelspectivetech.com/llms.txt
> Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further.

# Feeding plans

> Putting a pupil on a meal cadence for the term, and handling sponsored or specially priced meals.

A feeding plan says how a particular pupil eats this term, and how far ahead their family pays. Plans are per term, like enrolments.

## Choosing a cadence

| Cadence     | The family pays        | Discount        |
| ----------- | ---------------------- | --------------- |
| **Daily**   | As they eat            | none            |
| **Weekly**  | A week ahead           | 4% by default   |
| **Monthly** | A month ahead          | 5% by default   |
| **Termly**  | The whole term upfront | 7.7% by default |
| **None**    | Does not eat at school | —               |

The discounts come from the class's [feeding rates](/docs/fees/feeding-rates) and can be changed per class.

<Warning>
  **None** is a real choice and you should use it. A pupil left on Daily who brings food from home still gets billed for meals, and the family will dispute it. Set every non-eating pupil to None.
</Warning>

## Sponsored and specially priced meals

A plan can carry its own daily price that overrides the class rate. Use it for:

* A pupil whose meals are sponsored — set the override to zero
* A family who negotiated a different rate
* A pupil on a partial arrangement

The override applies to that pupil only, and only for the term the plan belongs to.

<Tip>
  An override of zero is the honest way to record a sponsored meal. The pupil still appears on the meal register and still counts in your kitchen numbers — you simply do not bill them. Setting them to **None** instead would take them off the register, and the kitchen would cook one portion short.
</Tip>

## Changing a plan mid-term

You can change a cadence during a term. It affects what is billed from that point forward; a feeding invoice already issued is not rewritten.

Where a family has prepaid termly and then withdraws, the unused portion is handled as a [credit note or refund](/docs/payments/corrections), not by editing the plan.

## What gets billed

A plan sets the rhythm and the price. What is actually charged depends on the meals recorded in the [meal register](/docs/during-the-term/meal-register) against the meal days on your [term calendar](/docs/before-the-term/academic-year-and-terms).

See [Feeding invoices](/docs/billing/feeding-invoices).

## Who can edit it

The `edit_finances` permission.