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Keeping everyone safe on campus

23 Sep 2021

Message from Professor Nalin Thakkar, Chair of the Campus Management Group.

Campus

Dear colleagues,

As we approach the start of the new teaching year, I am writing to you to give you some more information about the measures we have in place to help keep everyone safe on campus. We have published extensive information and guidance on COVID safety but unfortunately there remains some misinformation and misunderstanding circulating that we’d like to address with this further guide.

In particular, we cover issues which have been regularly queried, such as:

  • Face-mask wearing
  • Ventilation
  • Vaccination matters
  • Managing risk institutionally and personally

We are in a very different situation to the last academic year, with increased vaccination rates and much greater experience of teaching in person during the pandemic. Around 83% of the UK adult population now has had both doses of the vaccine and a survey of our own students with more than 22,000 responses tells us the rate is similar if not higher among this population. Additionally, the programme is now being extended in older school children and those who are high risk or aged 50 and over are being offered a booster dose. Vaccination significantly reduces the risk of serious illness.

In response to this, the government has removed restrictions on social interactions and the wider society is returning to a degree of normality. In addition, there is clear direction from the government that we must not put in place any measures that limit the teaching and learning outcome for students or significantly limit the wider activities. Against this backdrop, we have put in place proportionate measures that allow us to reduce the risk to the lowest reasonably practicable level commensurate with the risk level for on-campus activities.

We have laid these out as frequently asked questions that address the changing risk of COVID, our approach to risk mitigations and measures we have put in place to manage the risk. 

Please do read our comprehensive information.

We all have a responsibility to keep safe on campus and we have put together a video which explains how best to do this.

Working together, with our students, we can ensure that this year’s teaching is safe and enjoyable. Thank you for taking the time to read this and the more detailed guidance.

Professor Nalin Thakkar

Chair of the Campus Management Group.