The Government has set out guidance which allows for teaching to commence online for all courses and your online teaching will commence in line with the communication you received before Christmas.
The Government has also set out which courses can commence their face-to-face activities from next week and we set out important information for you about your teaching and testing below. Please do read this carefully and please do follow the advice contained within this email to keep our community as safe as possible.
Courses Commencing in January as Planned
On 3rd December, we wrote to all students to advise them of plans for the start of term in January and academic schools will have shared details of the first planned face-to-face teaching sessions for their subject area.
The Government has now determined that all universities restrict the return of students from 4th January 2021 to those who are reading subjects in the following areas:
- Medicine & dentistry
- Subjects allied to medicine/health
- Education (initial teacher training)
- Social work
- Courses which require Professional, Statutory and Regulatory Body (PSRB) assessments and /or mandatory activity which is scheduled for January and which cannot be rescheduled.
For these courses listed above at Lincoln, face-to-face teaching will resume as previously indicated before Christmas. For all other programmes teaching will be online for the first three weeks. Government will determine when students can return to face-to-face teaching after a review but they have indicated their hope that face-to-face teaching can resume in a phased way from the 25th January.
As soon as we hear from Government, we will be updating you. If you are in Lincoln already you can access the campus facilities such as the library and student support but you are strongly advised to book and take a test before you access facilities on campus. If you are not in Lincoln you can travel to the university if you do not have appropriate study space or facilities you need for your online learning or for your assignments or assessments or if you require additional support such as for your mental or physical wellbeing. If you do have a placement planned you can take that placement up as long as the provider has Covid-secure facilities. If you are due to return but are unable to, please contact your Personal Tutor to discuss.
Testing
The University of Lincoln expects all students to be tested for Covid-19 before they access and use University facilities and asymptomatic testing arrangements are in place and available for all students, as well as staff. Testing capacity at Lincoln is for 1,000 tests a day, so please do book your test slot as soon as you can.
Asymptomatic testing commences from Sunday 3rd January 2021 and you can book a test slot here: https://lncn.ac/tct. Students are advised to aim to be tested on arrival and to minimise social contact until a negative test result has been confirmed. Testing is available for students who have stayed on campus over the winter break.
Students are asked to bring evidence of a negative test result (eg. text message or email confirmation) if they wish to access and use any University facilities.
Travelling to or from Lincoln
If students are here in Lincoln, in line with Government guidance for areas in Tier 4, they should not travel outside of the Tier 4 area.
The Government advice is that all students are encouraged to remain in their current location until the resumption of their face-to-face teaching, wherever possible, except for the exemptions above to minimise travel over the next few crucial weeks. International students who are in the UK are encouraged to remain in the UK where possible.
If students are not currently in Lincoln and are planning their return to university, to minimise the risk to themselves and others, they should act responsibly before they travel and follow local restriction tier guidance on social contact. Students who are living in an area which is offering the use of local community testing programmes should seek to get tested before their return, where this fits in with locally targeted programmes led by the Director of Public Health.
Government advice for international students travelling from overseas for the spring term is to consider whether they in fact need to travel to the UK at this time, particularly if their course does not require them to be on campus from 4th January.
The University of Lincoln Campus is Open
At Lincoln we are doing all we can to keep our campus as safe as possible and to keep our facilities Covid-secure. Our campus is open in line with Government restrictions, including our library and collaborative study spaces. Health, welfare and support services are available and some of our cafes and coffee shops are continuing to provide a takeaway service. Our ICT and accommodation teams are on hand to support and advise as required to ensure that if students are in Lincoln they have appropriate support and access to study space.
Students on Placements
Where the placement provider has Covid-secure measures in place, is permitted to open based on the relevant local restrictions, and is content for placements to continue, then students can continue on their placement. Placement students should ensure they inform their tutor.
Commuter Students
Students who previously commuted to the campus on a daily basis should only access campus facilities if they are studying on one of the courses indicated in the above exemptions. If they are not studying a listed course they should not travel to campus.
Researchers and Research Students
The Government has advised that research students are to be treated on the same basis as employees. So, where you are able to work from home, you should do so; but those who require access to specialist facilities for their work should be able to do so.
Protecting our Community
At the University of Lincoln, we are doing all we can to support our students in line with the Government guidance. Government believes that these measures are necessary given the rates of transmission of the virus across England and the emergence of this new strain and in particular the Government wishes to minimise travel across the country. At Lincoln we will all do our bit to protect our loved ones, our students and staff, our NHS and to save lives.
With this in mind, please see in the New Year safely in your current home and avoid large gatherings of any kind. This has been an incredibly challenging year for students and staff, we hope that when we meet again in 2021 that the future will be brighter.