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If you have travelledfrom or through a red list country 10 days before arrival, you must quarantine in a managed quarantine hotel. This applies to students who are British or Irish nationals, or third country nationals with residence rights in the UK, e.g. international students. You must pre-book your quarantine hotel in advance, or you could face a fine of up to £4,000.
From the 17 May, a new “traffic light system” will be in place for all travellers and will include students. Under this system, what you must do before you travel and when you arrive in England from abroad will depend on where you have been in the 10 days before you arrive.
Before you travel
Please note, the university’s asymptomatic testing process does not exempt students from having to book and pay for a travel test package.
When you arrive in England
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Amber country arrivals will be required to self-isolate in their own accommodation, and their travel test package will include a test on both days 2&8
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Green country arrivals will not have to self-isolate on arrival, and their travel test package will only include a test on day 2, rather than days 2&8 as has been the policy so far
The safety of our students is the highest priority. We have reorganised our teaching to take account of Covid-19 precautions, using remote teaching where we can, and appropriate safety precautions for learning that needs to take place on campus, in line with Government guidance. For full details of how each course will be taught in 2020–21, please see the course pages.
For every undergraduate course essential, hands-on teaching will be taking place on-campus, with appropriate safety measures in place. To enable the necessary distancing, numbers on campus at any one time have to be carefully controlled, so all the teaching that can be, will be delivered online during the first term.
We expect students to travel to campus, if travel and visa arrangements allow, for the start of term and a CAS will be issued to students who have met all conditions of their offer and have had their visa documentation reviewed by the International Advising Team.
We are aiming to return to face to face teaching, learning and social activities as soon as it is safe to do so and in line with Government guidance.
Check with your local visa application centre using find a visa application centre if there are restrictions because of coronavirus (Covid-19). Some visa application centres might be closed until further notice.
Alternatively, for applications in Europe, Africa and parts of the Middle East visit uk.tlscontact.com. For all other countries, visit VFS Global.
It is still possible to apply online, and to gather all relevant evidence so you can obtain your entry clearance (visa) as quickly as possible when your local application centre does re-open.
You will need to provide biometrics as part of your application. Unlike applications in the UK, we understand that there are no plans to remove this requirement for entry clearance applications, even if you have previously been granted UK immigration permission.
In many cases, you will also have to be tested for TB, so you need be realistic about how much time you will need in order to make your application, especially if you cannot yet travel to your nearest TB clinic or visa application centre, or if they are still closed.
Priority and super priority services have been restored in some countries.
Yes. From 15 February 2021, everyone must:
You must self-isolate (or quarantine) when you enter the UK from any foreign country except Ireland.
Yes. You must self-isolate (or quarantine) when you enter the UK from any foreign country except Ireland.
You must either quarantine in the place you’re staying or in a managed quarantine hotel for 10 days. What you need to do depends on where you travel in the 10 days before you arrive in England:
If you are arriving in England, and you are not travelling from a country on the banned travel list, you may be able to pay for a COVID-19 test under the Test to Release scheme to find out if you can reduce your self-isolation period (see below).
Test to Release Scheme – shorten your period of self-isolation
The government’s Test to Release scheme allows some passengers the option to shorten the mandatory self-isolation period to 5 days. Under the scheme, students who need to self-isolate may have the option to pay for a private COVID-19 test with a private test provider to see if they can end their self-isolation early.
- You cannot take a test until you have been in England for 5 full days.
- If the result is negative, you can stop self-isolating as soon as you receive the results.
- The Test to Release scheme is not available to anyone who has been in or through any country on the ‘red list’
You should book your test before you travel to England. This is so you can enter details of the test when you opt into the scheme on the passenger locator form.
How to take part in the scheme
To take part in the scheme you need to:
If you decide to take part in the scheme after you have arrived in England, you will need to complete another passenger locator form.
You will have to pay the private test provider for your test. You will need to book an individual test for each person opting into Test to Release, including children.
The test provider will either send a test to your address or you can attend a testing site. You may leave your house to post your test or to travel directly to and from the testing site. You should follow safer travel guidance and avoid public transport if possible.
At the moment, it is difficult to know how long the current disruption will last. We fully appreciate that everyone’s circumstances are different, and some students may be unable to travel to campus in time for the start of term, we hope to accommodate this as much as possible.
Students will be notified of a latest course start date, this is the latest date that they must arrive on site for teaching.
If you have been granted immigration permission but you are not able to enter the UK to start your study, you must contact the International Advising Team on student.immigration@sgul.ac.uk to discuss your options.
The opportunity to study online will depend upon your programme of study.
Some people need to register with the police after arriving in the UK with a visa, or after getting permission to stay for longer in the UK.
The Overseas Visitors' Records Office (OVRO) has now launched its online booking portal which will allow people to register with the police.
Please see below for details on how to register with the police in London.
Please note that changes and improvements are still being made to the system.For confirmation, please visit the OVRO website.
If you have any questions about the process, please contact the International Advising Team on student.immigration@sgul.ac.uk.