As lockdown comes to an end on the 2nd December, students will begin to depart their campus and prepare to be home in time for the festive period. During this lockdown period, students have been completing this current four-week period in their accommodation, and have moved onto online lectures, instead of face to face. This would help reduce the level of transmission and minimise any contact they would encounter on a day to day basis. Once being tested for COVID-19, subject to testing negative, they would be permitted to travel back home during the ‘student travel window’. From the 3rd December and the 9th December, pupils would be allowed to travel home on staggered departure dates, which would be decided by the universities.

Ahead of departures, the government has promised to work with universities to secure mass testing, ahead of the student travel window, prioritising universities in major hotspot areas. If a student tests positive before their departure, they will need to remain in self-isolation for the required period of ten days. Labour’s Shadow Universities Minister was pleased with the announcement, praising the fact that the “government had finally acknowledged Labour’s call from September that more must be done to get students home safely over Christmas.”

With lockdown now approaching its final stages, and the university term now drawing to a close, many students will be relieved and excited to meet their families after an extremely turbulent term. With coronavirus heavily disrupting their education, and multiple students turning back positive tests, the university unions will be eased after a hectic four to five months.