King’s College entertainment officers have issued a reminder to students regarding guest ticket limits at formals, after receiving backlash on the Facebook confessions page, Kingsfess.

The backlash followed the College’s decision to change their formals policy. Students are now required to show their CamCards and a QR code before entering.

There is also a strict 70:30 ratio of King’s to non-King’s tickets issued at formals, which has previously been the source of student complaints.

In an email sent to King’s students in late January, the ents officers explained: “Tickets for King’s members are strictly for King’s – you will be turned away from the formal in the event that you are a non-member with a King’s ticket, with no refunds. If you suddenly cannot make it to a formal, you are still allowed to sell your ticket, but this must be to another King’s member.”

The ents officers were subsequently subjected to strong criticism on Kingsfess.

One anonymous commenter on Kingsfess said: “Ents officers lowkey trying to bring back mandatory digital id, take your CamCards and shove them up Keir Starmer’s behind you Tory-lite fascists.”

Another commenter came to the defence of the officers, writing: “No matter the discussion on formals, there should be no room for the language used about the ents team here. They are doing their job.”

In an email sent to all College students, the ents officers wrote: “Please don’t email us about increasing guest tickets either (this is something set by the college and not a number we can simply increase without permission) as we are just following protocol.”

The ents officers told Varsity: “While we completely understand why people are upset over college policy on guest tickets, this is out of our control. We hope that in the future people do not resort to using hurtful language on Kingsfess as a way to express discontent.”

King’s College commented that “bullying and abusive behaviour is never acceptable towards any group. The College subsidises the members’ price of Formal Hall tickets to help make them more affordable for our students, and it has always been the expectation of the College that CamCards are checked to ensure that guests are not entering on members’ tickets”.

They continued: “A ratio which prioritises College members for Formal Hall dining was established through consultation with the student body via KCSU and has been in place for several years. Any changes to the ratio would be taken through the College’s usual governance processes.”

This is not the first time the College’s internal policy on the ratio of King’s tickets to non-King’s tickets has caused an issue for KCSU officers.

A former KCSU officer explained that “liberation formals” for BME and LGBTQ+ students “have also been impacted by King’s not accommodating external guests”. They added that the rules have “made putting on [these] formals really difficult”.

The officer explained that, due to the small number of students these formals apply to, “they rely on demand from other colleges”. They added: “We need liberation formals at King’s, and the ratio issue puts so much stress on the officers.”