Question to the Department for Education:

To ask Her Majesty's Government what progress they have made in discussions with universities about the mass testing of students at the end of term.

My hon. Friend, the Minister of State for Universities, wrote to all higher education institutions on 7 and 9 November 2020, asking them to work with the Department for Education and Department of Health & Social Care to deliver a lateral flow devices (LFD) mass testing programme. The sector has engaged enthusiastically with this and we are working with it to set up asymptomatic test sites in as many universities as possible by 30 November to assist in reducing the risk of transmission of COVID-19 during the ‘travel window‘ of 3–9 December for students returning home at the end of term.

LFD tests will be targeted at higher education institutions with higher cases of COVID-19, in areas of highest prevalence, and with more vulnerable students first. LFD testing kits will be allocated based on institutions’ specific requests and an understanding of their student population.

Where available, students are strongly encouraged to undertake testing before travelling home from university. We want them to do this to keep them and their families, friends, and home communities as safe as possible.

Students who have not been able to access testing before they travel home are not required to self-isolate. We would ask them to travel home as safely as possible, remembering that the national lockdown restricts travel until 2 December and the ‘student travel window’ is between 3 and 9 December. If students are symptomatic or have tested positive, they should follow the standard government guidance, including self-isolating immediately and booking a test through the GOV.UK website: https://www.gov.uk/get-coronavirus-test?priority-taxon=774cee22-d896-44c1-a611-e3109cce8eae.