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Young Person's National Entitlement Card

The Young Scot National Entitlement Card offers access to a variety of services for young people aged 11 to 25. Specifically for those Young Scot cardholders aged 22 and under, this also allows access to the Young Person's Free Bus Travel Scheme.

Aberdeenshire academies operate a cashless payment system for secondary school meals, using the Young Scot card. This means pupils must have a Young Scot card to make payments.

View the National Entitlement Card privacy notice (PDF 157KB).

Existing cards: renew, replace or update your details

You can request a renewal or replacement of your existing card, or update your details online via the getyournec.scot portal.

You will have to sign in to access the portal. If you already have the myAberdeenshire account, you can sign in with your myAberdeenshire details. 

Change, renew or replace your card

Alternatively you can contact our NEC team by phone or email to request to renew or replace a card. Please provide your name, date of birth, address details and a reason for replacement.

A video guide is also available for those applying for a replacement card to include free bus travel. 

Eligibility

Young adults aged 16-21 can apply for their own National Entitlement Card. Those aged 22-25 can also apply for free travel if they are volunteering full time. 

Parents/carers of 5-15 year olds need to apply on their children's behalf so they can give their consent for the free travel aspect of this card. A video guide is available to assist you with this application process. 

Disabled children under 5

The Scottish Parliament passed legislation, on 3rd March 2021, that extends the existing National Concessionary Travel Scheme (NCTS) to eligible disabled children under the age of five, allowing free bus travel for them and an accompanying companion.

Find out more about conditions and eligibility for accompanying companion.

As of 1st April 2021, parents of eligible disabled children can apply and access free bus travel as soon as their National Entitlement Card arrives. If you have any questions about this please contact our NEC team.

How to apply

We require the following documents to process your application:

  • One passport-style photograph of yourself, head and shoulders taken on light background
  • Proof of your age
  • Proof of your most recent permanent address
  • Proof of photo ID such as photo driving licence or passport
  • Proof of disability if applicable

Find out more about required proofs on the NEC website. 

If you are applying by post, email, or online, please send photocopies of the evidence, we don't require the original. 

Proofs provided have to be original only if you are returning the application in person to one of our validation sites.

If you don't have a passport or driving licence

If you do not have a passport or driving licence, a referee will need to validate the photo.

The referee must be someone that knows you but is not a relative, and is in a professional occupation such as teacher, nurse, community worker, social worker, police officer or a religious leader. They must write the following on the back of your photo "I confirm true likeness of [your full name]" and sign and date the back of the photo. Part 5 of the application must also be completed by the referee.

Apply online

If your child is aged 5 to 10 years old you can apply via the Parentsportal.

For all other ages you can apply online via the getyournec.scot website, where you will have to sign in to access the form. You can sign in with your myAberdeenshire details if you already have an account. 

Sign in with myAberdeenshire 

Apply on paper

If you attend an Aberdeenshire council secondary school you may be able to apply for a card there, when these are in normal operation. Check with the school office to see if this is possible.

If you have left school, attend a private school, or attend one of the council secondary schools where applications are not available, please contact our NEC team to request a copy of the form. Alternatively you can collect it from one of our validation sites, these sites can also validate applications:

Please be aware that applications submitted using a paper application will take considerably longer to process.

Contact

Telephone: 01467 533744
Email: entitlementcard@aberdeenshire.gov.uk
Post:

ECS NEC 
Woodhill House
Westburn Road
Aberdeen
AB16 5GB