On-campus Covid-19 testing

No, testing is voluntary and it is your choice whether or not to get tested. However, getting testing will help to minimise the risk of transmitting the virus to your friends, housemates, other students and staff and testing is strongly advised for anyone accessing BU's campuses.

The Government advice is that you get tested twice with three to five days between the two tests.

From 1 February any student accessing campus for face-to-face teaching or to access study space, and any staff member with permission to access campus,is strongly urged to get a test up to twice-a-week. 

Our on-campus test site is open three days a week and is operating with drop-in sessions for anyone accessing campus.  Please check the on-campus testing page for more information. 

Our on-campus test centre is open for drop-in sessions, there is no need to book. Please check the on-campus testing page for more information. 

We are not currently scheduling tests by programme or department - please arrive at the on-campus test site at a convenient time to take a test, visit the on-campus testing page for more information. Please note, home test kits are also available on campus, or at your nearest pharmacy. 

From 15 February, if you are travelling from, or your flight route takes you through a country on the UK’s banned travel list (sometimes called the ‘red list’) in the last 10 days, you will need to quarantine (self-isolate) in a government quarantine hotel for 10 days. You need to book your hotel before you travel and book two Covid-19 tests to take during your quarantine period at your own expense. Further information on travelling from a country on the ‘red list’ is available on the gov.uk website.   

If you are travelling from a country that is not on the banned travel list, you will need to quarantine at home for 10 days and you will need to book two Covid-19 tests before you arrive to take during your quarantine period. Further guidance for how to quarantine when you arrive in the UK is available on the gov.uk website. 

All international arrivals must complete a passenger locator form on arrival in the UK and must take a Covid-19 test and get a negative result during the three days before you travel. More information about testing before you travel to England is available on the gov.uk website. 

Please ensure that you adhere to both the UK regulations and the regulations of your home country before you travel. 

No, you can’t use the on-campus testing facility for this purpose. If you need proof of a negative Covid-19 test to enter another country, or have been advised that you need proof of a negative test to travel outside of the UK, you must use a private test provider. The NHS Test and Trace service can’t provide you with the documents you will need for travel.

We won’t be recording your attendance, but we will verify you are a student. It will be much quicker for you if you bring your student ID card with you to show when you arrive. Don’t worry if you don’t have it, as we have other methods to verify your identity, although this will take a little longer.

You will then be given a barcode/unique reference number and asked to register yourself on the NHS portal. Where possible, please use your own device (e.g. mobile phone), but support is available if you need it. If you were tested in December, you will still need to register, but your details will have been saved in the NHS portal, so this process will be quicker.

The NHS portal will ask you for the barcode/unique reference number and the following information:

• Date of birth
• Name
• Gender
• Ethnic group
• If you have coronavirus symptoms
• Home address (where you are registered with your GP as living)
• Contact details

Once this is complete you will be tested.

These are processed by NHS Test and Trace and take up to 24 hours to be issued. If you do not receive your results, you can call 119 for assistance.

If your test result is positive, you must book a confirmatory PCR test - these tests are bookable through the gov.uk website. PCR tests are not available through the on-campus test site and it may take longer to receive your results, as the tests are sent away to a lab. 

You will register for your test via the NHS portal, so BU is not given this data. We will also not be sent your test results. However, if you do receive a positive test result, we ask that you tell us via AskBU.

We are asking you to book your tests through Eventbrite and you will need to provide your name, BU course and BU email address. This data will be deleted from Eventbrite after the January/February testing phase is complete. The information collected by BU for the purpose of booking is separate from the information the NHS will collect from you directly for the purposes of the test. You can read about how BU may use your personal data to support the NHS Test & Trace system on our website. You can read more information about how your personal data is collected and used by NHS Test & Trace in this privacy notice.

Each test is done in two phases. You will be given an initial test for Covid-19 – called a lateral flow device test (LFD) – which will give a positive or negative result.

If you test negative, you should have a second LFD test within three to five days. If you test negative a second time, then there is no need to come for a further test.

If you have tested positive for Covid-19 in the last 90 days, there is no need to take a test.

If you test positive in either test, you should begin self-isolating immediately and follow the standard process from NHS Test & Trace. This includes booking a confirmatory PCR test - these tests are bookable through the gov.uk website. PCR tests are not available through the on-campus test site and it may take longer to receive your results, as the tests are sent away to a lab. 

You should also let us know that you have tested positive by contacting AskBU, so we can put any support in place for you. You can find out more information on our website.

If someone in your household tests positive for Covid-19 you should follow NHS Test & Trace process and self-isolate immediately.

If you are self-isolating because someone you live with, or you have been in close contact with, has tested positive, please do not come to campus for a test. You will need to stay home and complete your self-isolation period.

BU has a range of measures in place to support any student who needs assistance while self-isolating. Please get in touch with AskBU who will give you more information. You can also see the ‘Self-isolation’ section of our FAQs.

If you are on a health- or social care-related placement, please ask about any testing available to you there. If you can’t access a test through your placement provider, or you are on a non-health or social care placement in the local area, you can get tested in the on-campus facility. 

Under current national restrictions, many students will be taught online and will not return to campus, with a few key exceptions (more information can be found on the gov.uk website). As such, unless you have been told you have face-to-face teaching, or that your research can continue on-campus, you should remain in your current location and not return to Bournemouth. 

Testing is available and bookable for students who are permitted to return to campus under these restrictions, as long as you do not have any symptoms of Covid-19. Study areas are open on campus for students who are already in Bournemouth, and these students are also eligible for a test. 

Please arrive at our on-campus test site at a time convenient to you. Please remember to allow three to five days between the two tests. Please make sure that you are eligible to return to campus, speaking with your supervisor. 

The testing facility on Talbot Campus is exclusively for students and staff, who do not have any symptoms of Covid-19. This uses the Lateral Flow Device, which doesn’t need to be processed in a laboratory. Regional testing facilities, such as those on Talbot Campus Car Park H and in the Bournemouth Gateway Building car park, are for any member of the public who has symptoms of Covid-19. They use a PCR test, which is sent to a laboratory for processing.

Staff are welcome to be tested through this facility, and should attend the testing site during the opening hours stated on the BU website where you will be directed on your next steps to get a test - you do not need to book. Please remember you will need a second test. You are advised to arrive early, as the test centre tends to be quieter and you are likely to recieve your test earlier. You are also encouraged to use home test kits, available from your local pharmacy. 

The Unibus service will be running throughout the testing period. Please check the website for details and timetables. Normal fares will be in operation.

In exceptional circumstances, you can drive to campus for your test. Please use the visitor and events car park if you do not have a BU parking permit. You will be able to park there for up to 60 minutes. 

Even if you have received the Covid-19 vaccine as a health or social care student or for another reason, you should still regularly get tested for the virus. This is because, while the vaccine has been approved as effective, no vaccine offers 100% guarantee against a disease. There is also the chance that you caught Covid-19 before you were given the vaccine and so to keep you, your patients, colleagues, friends and family safe, please continue to get tested.

A negative test result provides information about the level of the virus at one point in time.  LFD tests can sometimes produce false-negative results.  They may also produce a negative result if someone is infected with Covid-19 but has not yet developed a high enough level of the virus for the test to register it.  Whilst it is impossible to eliminate this risk entirely, taking the second LFD test offered to you helps to reduce the possibility of a false-negative result. 

An individual may become infected, or more infectious – enough to be detected, at any point after taking an LFD test.  It is therefore extremely important that everybody behaves as though they may be infected:

• follow the latest UK Government rules on social distancing; and 
• in particular, practice “hands, face, space” - wash your hands, wear a face covering, and maintain social distance with those outside your household.

The LFD test is an additional control to be used in conjunction with the other measures.  It is not a replacement for them.

Due to the potential for the LFD test to return a negative result when it should not, or when an infection is not detectable by it, Bournemouth University* does not make any warranty or representation as to the accuracy or completeness of the LFD test.  To the greatest extent the law allows, Bournemouth University shall have no liability for any loss, damage, liability or expense incurred or suffered by an individual, including personal injury or death, which results from or is in connection with an individual having taken an LFD test provided by it.

* For the purpose of this disclaimer any reference to BU also includes the Arts University Bournemouth.