University highlights road home in  guidance on returning for Christmas

Filiz Gurer, News Editor

With the end of term growing ever closer, the University of Bristol have announced the dates from which all programmes at the University are set to move online, between 3 and 9 December, to accommodate the ‘student travel window’.

The University have also announced their plans to implement mass testing amongst students from 30 November, in order to safely return students home in time for Christmas.

On mass testing, the University confirmed that it was ‘among several universities being offered the opportunity to support a mass testing programme’, and has said that it is ‘still working out the details’, but will be updating students as soon as it can on how mass testing will take shape in practice.

In line with the Government’s guidance stating that ‘Universities should move learning online by 9 December’, Bristol University has been putting in place a staggered travel plan and has determined when each programme should shift to online provision.

Whilst ‘blended learning’ is continuing until the transition takes place, students will start to see the cessation of blended learning, as teaching moves to solely online delivery.

For students planning on leaving Bristol for the holiday period, Bristol University have stated that students ‘should travel on the date [their] programme switches online’.

The student travel window allows for students to travel having just completed the four-week period of national restrictions, reducing the risk of transmission to family and friends at home.

Students who do not travel between the 3 to 9 December travel window period ‘may [be prevented] from being able to travel home for the winter break’, due to the risk of having to undertake a period of isolation of up to 14 days if they display symptoms or are alerted as a close contact by NHS Test and Trace.

Whilst UK students are not currently permitted to travel back to their homes within the UK until lockdown restrictions lift on 3 December, international students are not required to wait until the student travel window period and ‘may leave the UK to travel home at any time, including during the period of the current lockdown’.

The University have also said they will be supporting students who choose to remain in Bristol over the holidays and will, together with Bristol SU, soon be sharing with students a programme of online events and information about support services.

The confirmed dates for the last day of face-to-face teaching for each faculty are as follows:

Faculty of Arts 4 December. With the exception of Theatre, which will have on-campus teaching between 4 to 8 December on practical units only.

Faculty of Engineering 4 December

Faculty of Health Sciences 9 December (undergraduate courses). With the exceptions of the School of Anatomy, which will move online on Friday 4 December, and Orthopaedic surgery, which will finish on Friday 27 November. Clinical placements for both medical and dental students, as well as for veterinary and veterinary nursing students, will finish at the end of term. For dental students, this includes clinical skills teaching for dental students which takes place in the Dental Hospital. For Postgraduate courses, these will finish on either 2, 3 or 9 December, with individual schools confirming the last day of in-person teaching with pupils directly.

Faculty of Life Sciences 4 December. With the exceptions of Psychology, which will finish on Wednesday 2 December, and Cellular and Molecular Medicine, which will finish on Wednesday 9 December.

Faculty of Sciences 2 December. With the exceptions of the following Earth Sciences (9 December), Geography undergraduate courses, Maths and Physics undergraduate courses (all 4 December).

The following second year Chemistry courses will have in-person teaching until 3 December: Chemistry (BSc), Chemistry (MSci), Chemistry with Study in Continental Europe, Chemistry with Industrial Experience, Chemistry with Study Abroad

Faculty of Social Sciences and Law Accounting and Finance: Friday 4 December (undergraduate courses); Wednesday 9 December (postgraduate courses) Economics: Friday 4 December Education: Friday 4 December PGCE students have placements until Friday 18 December Law: Friday 4 December Some units will move online only from Monday 30 November, depending on the scheduled rota of teaching.

Management: Friday 4 December (undergraduate courses); Wednesday 9 December (postgraduate courses)

Sociology, Politics and International Studies: Wednesday 2 December

Policy Studies: Friday 4 December (undergraduate courses); Tuesday 8 December (post-graduate courses)

Social Work students currently on placement will continue as planned. The University of Bristol have also confirmed that ‘blended learning’ is set to resume in the new year and has stated it looks ‘forward to welcoming [students] back on campus after the holidays’.