Welsh Government guidance for January

Read a message from Claire Morgan, Pro Vice-Chancellor for Education and Students sent on 4 January.

Dear Student

Wherever you spent it, I hope you had a safe and enjoyable Christmas and New Year break.

Before the holidays, I wrote to you highlighting the Welsh Government’s plans for this month, and the ‘alert level four’ restrictions which fully came into force in Wales on 19 December.

As I said at the time, please remember this does not change your access to education or support services – we will continue with our blended learning approach.

Our guidance for the next month supports the Welsh Government measures, so remember:

• The Welsh Government have asked that students do not return to term-time accommodation before 11 January unless necessary for their studies or to access facilities such as libraries. If you’ve left Cardiff for Christmas or New Year, you should plan to return just before your in-person teaching resumes. We can confirm you are able to return to Cardiff to continue your studies as this is a ‘reasonable excuse’ to travel.
• We strongly advise that you book into our screening service for your return now (please note while the Welsh Government refers to ‘lateral flow tests’ all our students have access to our own, in-house tests – this is different, and only needs to be taken once). Over 10,000 of you have so far booked to use the service for Christmas travel or returning in January.
• Having received a test upon your return, you will be asked to ‘lay low’ until you receive your result – this includes continuing to stay out of one another’s homes, minimising the people you meet, maintaining social distancing and regular handwashing. You can still attend on-campus teaching or a placement during this period.

The restrictions now in place in Wales also mean people should only leave their home for essential reasons, and that non-essential businesses will be closed for this period. We will keep this under review and will contact you should there be any changes from the Welsh or UK Governments.

All our advice for January is here, and details on the new alert levels are here.

I wish you all the best for your upcoming assessments, and for the year ahead.

Best wishes

Claire Morgan
Pro Vice-Chancellor, Education and Students