The Government has set out its plans for those students going home for the winter break to return to university in the new year as safely as possible by staggering this process and to facilitate testing for all.
The new term begins on the 4th of January 2021 at the University of Lincoln and teaching will commence from that date. Some courses will start fully online and transition to blended teaching in phases, and others will start with a blended approach with the first face-to-face teaching sessions from the 7th of January.
The Government advice is that all students should be tested for coronavirus before engaging in face-to-face teaching; and all programmes will have resumed their face-to-face teaching by early February 2021.
Your School will provide details of when you need to be on campus for your face-to-face teaching by the 18th of December at the latest, so look out for information from your School. Please note that, although you can choose to start your online study from anywhere, and many of you will still be in Lincoln for various reasons, you are strongly advised to be tested before commencement of any face-to-face teaching and the University will have an asymptomatic test centre on the campus. This means that if you are travelling from elsewhere you do need to be on campus four days before the start of your face-to-face teaching to get your tests.
The Government recommends students travel by private vehicle if possible when they return to university. If you need to use public transport, please follow the Government’s Safer Travel Guidance.
If you need to self-isolate at your home address and cannot return to campus on your planned return date we will help you arrange to return safely to university when your isolation period ends.
The campus will be fully open from early January so you can use the library and other facilities. If you have chosen to go home over the winter break, we would encourage you to come back to Lincoln in time to be prepared for the new term and to embark on the continuation of your study. Our support services are on hand and will be fully up and running from the 4th of January for any student who needs support.
More information for international students travelling back to the UK will be provided as soon as possible.
We are planning lots of student activities on campus and online for the new year. As you would expect, and as we have always done up until now, we will adhere to Government guidance as it changes and develops to contain and beat the virus. We are looking forward to having all our students back with us in the new year so we can continue supporting students in their learning and the extracurricular and social activities that are such an important part of student life.
For more information, please see the coronavirus pages of the University website and the full Government guidance at gov.uk.