All attendees on site should be undertaking twice weekly Covid-19 testing to help break the chains of transmission.
You can collect packs of Lateral Flow Device (LFD) Covid tests from the university reception. Please be aware that there are different types of LFD tests and it is important you follow the instructions provided in each pack.
Each kit contains 7 tests, which are easy to administer and provide results in about 30 minutes. Tests must be taken at home, not on site.
You can also order tests online from the government website.
Reporting your test result
Once you have your result, we strongly recommend that you record it within 24 hours via the report a Covid-19 result page of the government website, even if the result is negative.
Please link your test to St George’s. You can do this by selecting "A nursery, school, college, university, childcare provider or other education provider" when asked "Who was the test for?" You can then confirm if you are staff or a student.
You will then be asked for the name or postcode of the school, college or university. To this please respond LFD: St George's, University of London: BETF (SW17 0RE).
We recommend that you create an account on the NHS test reporting system to speed up the process of recording future test results. Read a summary of the NHS Test and Collect privacy notice (PDF).
What to do if you have a positive test result
If you test positive by any method, you must isolate in order to prevent passing on the virus and inform the university.
Staff should contact their line manager and hrhelp@sgul.ac.uk and students should contact coronavirusconcern@sgul.ac.uk.
Following a positive LFD test result, students and staff should take a follow-up polymerase chain reaction (PCR) test as soon as possible.
Students on placements should follow the advice on testing offered by your placement provider. If you would prefer to access community testing, there is advice on other routes to get tested on the Wandsworth Borough website.
Frequently asked questions
Our testing programme
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While testing is not compulsory, if you are attending the St George’s site regularly, we strongly encourage you to test twice weekly to identify asymptomatic infections. It is our responsibility to help break chains of transmission.
By getting tested you will be helping to break the chain of transmission, protecting those you live with and other members of our community.
We hope you will take seriously the responsibilities we all hold for preventing transmission of coronavirus, but participation in testing is entirely voluntary, on an “opt in” basis, and individuals may withdraw from the testing activity at any point.
If you are attending the St George’s site regularly, we strongly encourage you to test twice weekly to identify asymptomatic infections irrespective of whether you are living at home or not.
You should follow the advice on testing offered by your placement provider.
You will still be able to collect packs of Lateral Flow Device (LFD) Covid tests on the St George's site to use at home, but you may find other means to be tested via your placement provider.
You can also order tests online from the government website.
We encourage students and staff who are regularly on site to test twice weekly, even if you have been vaccinated.
About the test
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You can collect packs of Lateral Flow Device (LFD) Covid tests on site, to use at home.
LFD tests are intended to detect the presence or absence of coronavirus by applying a sample to the device after following the test instructions for swabbing.
The sample runs along the device, showing at the end a visual positive or negative result dependent on the presence of the virus. Lateral flow devices do not require a labratory to process the test.
If you receive a home-testing kit, each kit contains 7 tests with instructions, which are easy to administer and provide results in about 30 minutes. Tests must be taken at home.
If you visit a separate test centre, the processing of results will be carried out by trained personnel or as a self-test with supervision.
Lateral flow tests are validated technology. They are safe, inexpensive and the results are trusted.
About your results
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Lateral flow tests are highly specific, which means that only a small proportion of people who do not have coronavirus will receive a positive result (false positive).
Although they give a result much more quickly, lateral flow tests are not as sensitive as tests offered through other channels (e.g. PCR tests available in other channels like Local Testing Sites). Sensitivity measures how likely a test will return a positive result when that person is infected. This is mitigated by testing people regularly, because the more times someone with the disease is tested, the more likely they are to be picked up by the test.
This also means that if you test positive on a lateral flow test, it is likely that you are infectious at that moment, whereas people testing positive on more sensitive tests could be in the less infectious early or late stages of disease.
Following a positive LFD test result, students should self-isolate immediately and take a follow-up polymerase chain reaction (PCR) test as soon as possible.
If a student takes a PCR test within two days of the LFD test and receives a negative result, they and their household can stop self-isolating.
Students who receive a positive PCR test are required to self-isolate immediately on the day of the test and for at least the following ten full days along with their household contacts.
Students that receive a positive LFD test and do not access a PCR test should also isolate for 10 days.
Please contact coronavirusconcern@sgul.ac.uk for further advice from the university.
See www.gov.uk/coronavirus for more advice
If you are ill, your well-being is the over-riding priority and you should not be concerned about the impact on any learning or assessments.
In that event, please email Student Services on coronavirusconcern@sgul.ac.uk. The Registry will contact your course team and you will be contacted regarding how you can best engage with your studies.