If you have Covid-19 symptoms you must self-isolate and let us know using a simple form. All the details are available here.

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Self-isolation and quarantine

Check what to do if you have Covid-19 symptoms and need to self-isolate. Also check our quarantine support after travelling.

Contents

See:

What to do if you have symptoms

If you have the symptoms of Covid-19 (high temperature, new continuous cough or loss or change to your sense of smell or taste), follow this protocol:

  1. If you or another student in your accommodation have one or more symptoms, book a test to check if you have Coronavirus as soon as possible. You can also call freephone number 119 for this.
  2. Report Covid-19 symptoms using this form to let us know.
  3. If you are already in self-isolation, stay in your room and follow government self-isolation instructions until you get your test result.
  4. If you’re not already self-isolating, stay in your room and alert your flatmates by phone/text etc. Ask them to remain or return to your flat immediately; you may all need to self-isolate for 10 days or until you get a negative test result.
  5. If your symptoms worsen, or you feel you can’t manage at home, visit 111.nhs.uk/covid-19 or call freephone number 111 if you don’t have internet access.
  6. In the unlikely event you are sent an ambulance, and you live on campus, call our Security team on 01273 873333 so they can guide the ambulance to you.
  7. If you or someone else in your accommodation is in severe medical distress, call 999 immediately and ask for an ambulance. If you live on campus, call our Security team on 01273 873333 so they can guide the ambulance to you.

Self-isolation guidance

Self-isolation is when you do not leave your home because you have or might have Coronavirus (Covid-19).

Important: If you don’t self-isolate for 10 days, you could face a fine of £10,000.

When to self-isolate

You must self-isolate immediately if you:

Living with housemates? Check the Government guidelines for people living in the same household as someone with Covid-19.

If you need to self-isolate

Submit a report using this form if you need to self-isolate.

Staying in your accommodation

You can only leave your accommodation in limited circumstances. These include where you need:

  • urgent medical assistance or there is a fire or other emergency (continue your isolation as soon as it is safe to return to your accommodation)
  • access to food and medicines, but only in exceptional circumstances when you cannot arrange for these to be delivered
  • to deliver a test to a priority post box.

If you have a visa, do not leave to collect your BRP or any other documents. We will send them to you.

Food and shopping

If you’re a current student self-isolating at the student address you’d normally occupy during term time, you may be eligible for an allowance to help with food and other essentials.

You could be self-isolating because you have symptoms, have tested positive for coronavirus or have been in contact with someone who has.

The allowance for a 10-day isolation period is:

  • £36 if you’re living on campus
  • £60 if you’re isolating off campus (either in University-managed or privately rented accommodation) at the student address you’d normally occupy during term time.

It’s higher for those living off campus because on-campus students get other services.

See “Receiving the allowance” information below.

For supermarket deliveries:

  • Asda accepts credit and debit cards connected to a UK address and PayPal
  • Tesco accepts credit and debit cards connected to a UK address and PayPal
  • Morrisons accepts all major credit cards, UK debit cards and PayPal
  • Sainsbury’s accepts all major credit cards and UK debit cards
  • Ocado accepts all major credit cards, UK debit cards and PayPal
  • Waitrose accepts credit and debit cards connected to a UK address and Apple pay.

Plan ahead and book your delivery a few days in advance.

If you’re on campus, supermarkets will deliver right up to the front door of your flats and our porters will deliver post.

Also check:

Additional on-campus services

If you’re a current student self-isolating on campus, you get:

  • weekly laundry service: you will be provided with a dissolvable laundry bag, which will be returned to you with clean and dry clothes and bedding. Contact your reception to arrange a laundry collection
  • cleaning products to keep your accommodation hygienic, including disinfectant spray, disposable gloves, bin bags, disposable cloths and toilet rolls.

You must report symptoms using our form and begin your period of self-isolation. Our Residential Life Team can then contact you directly with more information.

If you live with someone who has tested positive for Covid-19 and we have asked you to self-isolate, or you have been told to self-isolate through the NHS app, you will also qualify for this support.

Additional services if you have Covid-19

If you are a current student and have tested positive for Covid-19, we want to ensure you have a hot meal delivered to you each day. A nourishing meal helps with a fast recovery.

If you are living:

  • on campus, a free meal will be delivered to you each day. You will be able to re-heat the meal when you are ready to eat
  • off campus (either in University-managed or privately rented accommodation) at the student address you’d normally occupy during term time, you get an additional payment of £5 a day towards a hot meal.

If you have tested positive for Covid-19, let us know using the online form. If you are living on campus, we will then be able to arrange for your free meal as well as other elements of the support package you need.

Receiving the allowance

We will arrange for payments to be paid into your bank account. Register up-to-date bank account details and term-time adresses in Sussex Direct.

If you do not have a UK bank account, send details of your bank account to FinanceServiceDesk@sussex.ac.uk.

If we do not have your bank account details, we will credit your student account.

Allow up to two weeks for credit to be applied. You may receive your payment in instalments and you may need to use existing funds in the meantime.

Staying in touch

If you are in University-managed accommodation, we will contact you within three days of your arrival as long as you’ve provided us with your phone number on the reporting form.

Email reslife.covid@sussex.ac.uk as soon as possible if you miss our call.

If you have any queries, email your telephone number to reslife.covid@sussex.ac.uk and we can call you back.

Quarantining after arriving from abroad

We’re supporting international students arriving in the UK from red and amber list countries with a Quarantine Support Package.

We’ve put together a Covid-19 Quarantine Support Package for those students travelling from red list countries or amber list countries to help you through the quarantine you must undertake on arrival in the UK. This package will support you financially and help ensure that you can join us as soon as possible for in-person teaching.

Red list countries

If you are travelling from or through a red list country (as identified by the UK Government), you must quarantine for 10 days on arrival in the UK in a government-approved quarantine hotel.

The Covid-19 Quarantine Support Package for international students from red list countries, as identified by the UK Government, will fund up to £2,285 towards the cost of quarantine. Provided you meet the criteria and satisfy our terms and conditions, the University will provide a tuition fee refund after you arrive at Sussex in the second term to reimburse you for the costs of quarantining.

To be eligible to apply for the full Support Package and receive a tuition fee refund of up to £2,285 you must:

In order to arrive on or after 16 October 2021, you will need to have met the University’s published criteria for delayed arrivals.

International students arriving on or after 16 October 2021 will be eligible to apply for a Support Package to receive a tuition fees refund of £1,145 (half the full cost of an approved UK government quarantine hotel), providing that you arrive no later than the end of term (Friday 10 December 2021) and satisfy the criteria in the Covid-19 red list Quarantine Support policy [PDF 90KB].

If you’ve applied for University managed accommodation, you will be able to move into your allocated residence after you have completed quarantine and you’ll be charged rent for your Sussex accommodation from the day you check in or from 18 September (whichever is earliest).

Read the red list terms and conditions [PDF 90KB] for more details on eligibility, including how we will reimburse students who have their tuition fees paid by sponsors.

PhD students arriving from red list countries

Postgraduate research students can claim the full Support Package of £2,285 throughout the claim period up until 10 December 2021.

Read the red list terms and conditions [PDF 90KB] for more details.

Amber list countries

You must quarantine for 10 days if you are travelling from or through an amber list country and you’re not covered by the government quarantine rules on vaccinations.

If you have been allocated University-managed accommodation and you are required to quarantine, we will accommodate you for free during your isolation as long as you arrive between 23 August and 10 September 2021 and adhere to the terms of your quarantine.

Before you travel to the UK

Before you leave, you must:

If you meet the requirements for the UK Government’s test to release scheme, which involves an extra Covid-19 test on day 5 of isolation, you need to book this before you travel to England.

When you arrive

The day you arrive in the UK and check into your University-managed accommodation is classed as day 0. The next full day is day 1, then day 2 and so on.

Important: You are legally required to quarantine in your accommodation for 10 days, unless you are covered by UK government vaccination rules. We recognise that these are unusual circumstances and that this can be a frustrating time. While challenging, we expect all students to observe quarantine, not only because it is a legal requirement but also to minimise the risks of transmitting Covid-19 within our community. Under UK law, a penalty of up to £10,000 can be imposed if quarantine rules are broken. The University also reserves the right to revoke any rent waiver and/or credits given under the Support Package if students do not comply with quarantine requirements and may also take disciplinary action. If you are in University-managed accommodation, steps could also be taken to terminate your licence to occupy.

You should expect to be contacted by NHS Test and Trace staff to confirm you are following quarantine rules and complying with your legal duty to quarantine.

On day 2 and day 8, you take your PCR tests. If you’re using the test to release scheme, you also take one on day 5.

If your testing kit has not been delivered to you in time to take a test on day 2, 5 or 8, or if your testing kit arrives broken, you must contact your test provider as soon as possible to request a new kit, take a new test and send it to be processed at the earliest opportunity.

You don’t need to tell us when you have taken tests. Where possible, we will collect them automatically.

Sending your PCR tests

If you live in on-campus University accommodation, one of our porters will visit flats to collect tests for posting by courier.

To get completed tests collected you must:

  • have a PCR test that needs to be returned using a "Royal Mail Priority Post Box"
  • package your test and make it ready for posting
  • place it on the floor just inside your flat door no later than 10am.

You must post your test yourself if you:

  • take a test on another day
  • use a test provider who requires you to return your test through another method that is not Royal Mail (for example, a laboratory drop box)
  • don’t do your test in time for our porter.

If, for unforeseen reasons, we miss your collection and it has not been picked up by 1pm, we recommend you post the test yourself to avoid delay.

UK government quarantine guidance states you can leave your accomodation to post self-administered tests but you must follow safer travel guidance and avoid public transport if you can.

The nearest Royal Mail priority post box to campus is North Moulsecoomb Post Office, BN2 4GB, which is about a 35-minute walk from campus. See more information about Royal Mail priority post boxes.

If you living in our Kings Road flats, one of our off-campus houses or in private accommodation, we cannot collect your test. Instead, follow the instructions on your test kit to return it.

Support payments

If you are from an amber list country and required to quarantine, you will be eligible for an isolation payment (£36 for University-managed accommodation and £60 in privately-managed accommodation) and a contribution of £50 towards a PCR test.

To receive this support, you must report your travel isolation to the University.

Read the full amber list terms and conditions [PDF 228KB] for more details on requirements and eligibility.

Green list countries

If you are travelling from or through a green list country, follow the UK government green list rules.

Staying in touch

If you are in University-managed accommodation, we will contact you within three days of your arrival as long as you’ve provided us with your phone number on the reporting form.

If you have any queries or miss our call, email your telephone number to reslife.covid@sussex.ac.uk and we can call you back.

Essentials

You can buy kitchen packs containing cutlery and cooking utensils to be delivered to you.

Bedding packs, ordered in advance, can also be placed in your room for when you arrive (if you live on-campus). The cost (£38) is added to your student account. A pack includes a sheet, duvet and cover, pillow and case. You can also ask your building manager for one on arrival. Pre-paid bedding packs will not be in your room when you arrive, but you can collect them at the same time as collecting your keys.

You should register with a UK doctor when you arrive. See more health information for international students.

If you have a visa, see how to get your Biometric Residence Permit.

Our porters will deliver post to your flat and place it inside your flat door.

If you want to set up a bank account while you self-isolate, our recommended options are:

  • Monzo – the quickest to set up and you will receive your bank card within five working days. You can use PayPal to transfer money from your international account to Monzo.
  • Santander – this may take longer to set up and receive your bank card.

See more UK bank account options for international students.

Food

For supermarket deliveries:

  • Asda accepts credit and debit cards connected to a UK address and PayPal
  • Tesco accepts credit and debit cards connected to a UK address and PayPal
  • Morrisons accepts all major credit cards, UK debit cards and PayPal
  • Sainsbury’s accepts all major credit cards and UK debit cards
  • Ocado accepts all major credit cards, UK debit cards and PayPal
  • Waitrose accepts credit and debit cards connected to a UK address and Apple pay.

Plan ahead and book your delivery a few days in advance. Supermarkets will deliver right up to the front door of your flats.

Other options include: