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Entering the UK over the UCL winter closure period

2 December 2020

UCL will be closed from 5.30pm on December 18 2020 to 9am on January 4 2021. Please read the following article for advice on entering the UCL during this period.

Planes at Heathrow

Students are allowed to enter the UK and arrive at UCL over the winter closure period, but please be aware that large parts of UCL and its services will be closed or running at reduced capacity.

When preparing to arrive in the UK, it is important that you prepare thoroughly and ensure that you comply with all UK Government regulations. This includes providing your journey and contact details 48 hours before arriving in the UK and checking whether you will need to quarantine. If you do need to quarantine, then you will need to notify UCL via askUCL.

If you don’t already have a UK bank account, it is important that you either have a credit/debit card you can use in the UK, or a pre-paid cash card as most shops and services do not currently accept cash. Full details on all of this can be found on the ‘Preparing to arrive in the UK – travel advice’ webpage on the UCL website.

If you’re staying in UCL Accommodation, you can visit the UCL Accommodation website to see the support that is available to you. If this will be your first time arriving at UCL accommodation and you want to move in before January 4 2021, you will need to arrive before midday (12pm) on Friday December 18 unless you have a pre-arranged agreement with the UCL Accommodation team.

If you’re not staying in UCL Accommodation, then there is still support available to you. UCL has a partnership with an independent wellbeing advice and counselling service, CareFirst which will be available 24 hours a day, 7 days a week over the UCL closure period.

For EU/EEA/Swiss students looking to start Term 2 at UCL in the UK, it is important that you are fully aware of the EU Settlement Scheme and its implications. The Brexit Transition period ends on December 31 2020 and if you haven’t already signed up for the EU Settlement Scheme, you will need to enter the UK before December 31 2020 and sign up, otherwise you will need to obtain a Student visa.

If you have any questions regarding traveling into the UK over the winter period, please contact International Student Support via askUCL and if you want to find out more about the wellbeing support available to you, please visit the UCL Student Support and Wellbeing webpages.