Student information on symptoms and testing

How to get a PCR test

You should book a free PCR test as soon as possible if you have any of the main symptoms of COVID-19, however mild. 

Book or order a test on the government website as soon as symptoms begin or call 119. The test takes less than a minute and ou can expect your result the next day.

There is a testing site in the Great Hall at our London Road campus. The facility operates by appointment only booked in advance and they will not accept anyone arriving without a booking.

Postal test kits are also available through the government website. Testing is available for everyone, including vulnerable groups and people with disabilities. 

If you are requesting a PCR test by post, a step-by-step guide on home testing, including posting your test, is available. The post box on campus outside Whiteknights House has been designated a ‘priority post box’ by Royal Mail for returning COVID-19 tests.

Let us know if you have symptoms

If you have any of the main symptoms (listed previously) of coronavirus you should self-isolate and get a PCR test as soon as possible. You must also tell anyone else you live with as they will need to self-isolate until you get your test result. 

• If you live in private accommodation and are self-isolating while seeking a test or waiting for the results, please let us know using our online form. Let us know if you are struggling to access testing.
• If you live in halls, please use the Home at Halls app (or My Unite for Kendrick residents) to report if you have symptoms.

Further information about self-isolating is available on our Essentials page and on the government website. 

If you receive a positive test result for COVID-19 you must:

• Follow all government advice to self-isolate (stay at home)
• Follow all instructions from the NHS and engage with the Test & Trace system (including advising Test & Trace that you are connected to the University)
• Notify the University using our online positive test reporting form
• Report your absence to your School in the usual way (contact your Support Centre or Henley Helpdesk if unsure)
• If you live in University halls, use the Home at Halls app to notify the team so they can support you
• Let all members of your household know, as they will need to self-isolate in line with government advice

If you have downloaded the NHS COVID-19 app, you can also register your positive test result so Public Health England can notify anyone you have been in close contact with (they will not reveal your identity).

Our Case Management Team enables us to respond quickly to provide support and guidance to those members of our community who have tested positive for COVID-19 and their close contacts after getting a PCR test or LFT test, and to support the national Test & Trace system.

When a student or colleague lets us know about a positive COVID-19 test result, the Case Management Team will work with the affected individual to identify and contact their known close contacts at the University. The team will give advice about when and for how long affected students and colleagues will need to self-isolate, based on government guidance, and how they can access support.

If you are contacted by the team, either because you have tested positive for COVID-19 or because you have been named as a close contact of someone who has, please provide them with your full support and cooperation, for the safety of our whole community.

Anyone who receives a positive test or who is identified as a close contact may also be contacted separately by NHS Test and Trace, and we expect you to fully cooperate with the national process as we are sure you will with ours.

• if you or any member of your household has any of the main symptoms of coronavirus
• if you or any member of your household receives a positive test result (from PCR or LFT tests)
• if you are asked to self-isolate by NHS Test & Trace, Public Health England or other appropriate authority. 

See the NHS website for further advice about how long you should self-isolate, depending on the situation. If you have come in to contact with someone who has tested positive for COVID-19, you will need to self-isolate for the full 10-day period, even if you get a negative test result in that time (further advice about this is on the NHS website). Please also see our information for students in self-isolation.

If you get a positive result from a lateral flow test and take a follow-up PCR test that is negative, you and everyone in your household can stop self-isolating, unless you develop the main symptoms of COVID-19 or are told you must continue to self-isolate by NHS Test & Trace. If the follow-up PCR test is positive, you and your household will need to self-isolate for 10 full days from the time of the positive lateral flow test (this includes the day of the test and the next 10 full days).

Students and staff  on campus are strongly advised to take a Lateral Flow Test twice a week, ideally 3 days apart, at the SportsPark. Although not mandatory, testing can identify those who are not displaying symptoms of COVID-19 but are unknowingly carrying the virus. 

If you are already showing any of the main symptoms of COVID-19 – a high temperature, new continuous cough or a loss/change of your sense of taste or smell, you should book your test through the national NHS testing system and let us know so we can support you.

You should not book one of our Lateral Flow Tests on campus if you are required to self-isolate after arriving from overseas. Please read our advice on arriving from overseas. 

You can book a test online.