Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what recent guidance he has provided to universities on returning to face-to-face teaching for the 2021-22 academic year as covid-19 restrictions are eased.

Following the announcement to move forward to Step 4 of the government’s Roadmap, we can confirm there will be no further restrictions on the provision of in-person teaching and learning in the autumn term in higher education (HE) settings.

HE providers should continue to conduct risk assessments based around their particular circumstances and should implement sensible and proportionate control measures which follow the health and safety hierarchy of controls to reduce the risk to the lowest reasonably practicable level. HE providers should have contingency plans to deal with any identified positive cases of COVID-19 or outbreaks.

We have updated our guidance to the sector in preparation for Step 4: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/higher-education-reopening-buildings-and-campuses.

As COVID-19 vaccination is now being offered to everyone aged 18 and over, all students and staff should be encouraged to participate in the programme and take up the offer of both doses of the vaccine.

HE providers should communicate clearly to their students on what they can expect from planned teaching and learning, in current circumstances and in different scenarios, and the changes that might need to be made in response to changing public health advice, so that they are able to make informed choices.