New COVID information the introduction of Plan B for England

Following the Government announcement on 8 December and the introduction of Plan B for England, Shrewsbury Colleges Group can confirm the following arrangements are in place.

College attendance

The college remains open for all students up until the last day of this term – Friday 17 December (12.30 pm finish). The college will reopen on Wednesday 5 January with timetables running as normal.

Positive COVID test results

Anyone with COVID-19 symptoms or a positive test result should stay at home and self-isolate immediately. If you have symptoms of COVID-19, you should arrange to take a PCR test as soon as possible, even if you’ve had one or more doses of a COVID-19 vaccine.

Students who are under 18 ½ or adults who have been fully vaccinated can still attend college as normal if they are resident in a household with a positive case of COVID.

However, if there is a positive case of the Omicron variant in your household, under the new guidance, all members of the household, including any student, will be required by NHS Test and Trace to self-isolate regardless of their vaccination status or age.

The Government has announced its intention to replace self-isolation with daily testing for some contacts of people who have tested positive for COVID-19. Further details will be set out shortly. Until then, current rules continue to apply, and you must self-isolate if instructed to do so by NHS Test and Trace. This remains the law.

We would like to remind students that if they test positive for COVID or are self-isolating due to COVID symptoms or COVID related reasons, then they must report this result to the COVID tracing team. Please email This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. and quote your student identification number.

Lateral Flow Test kits

We’ve introduced a ‘grab and go’ service so you can help yourself to Lateral Flow Device (LFD) test kits ahead of the Christmas break.

LFT kit collection points will be set up from Friday 10 December at the following locations;

London Road Campus – Student Services & Reception
English Bridge Campus – Entrance lobby
Welsh Bridge Campus – Reception and Student Services

Testing before the start of next term

You will need to make sure that you test yourself the evening before your return to college in January, but you do not need to inform us of a negative result. If your test is positive, please email This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. and quote your student identification number and, if you know it, the date that your self-isolation period ends (as advised by NHS Test and Trace).

The Government plans to introduce Daily Contact Testing as soon as possible as an alternative to self-isolation for contacts of positive Omicron cases who are fully vaccinated or under the age of 18 years and 6 months. As this approach is likely to happen, it is extremely important that you have sufficient supplies of the LFD test kits.

Ongoing measures

The updated guidance has also reintroduced face coverings in communal areas for secondary Schools and Colleges, as well as the mandating of face coverings on public transport and in shops. As we have retained the use of face covers in corridors throughout the term, the recent changes simply bring other education settings into line with the measures that we have in place already.

In addition, we continue to apply the “Zoono” long-lasting antimicrobial surface protection to minimise the risk of transmission from surfaces in addition to regular spot cleaning of high touchpoint areas on all campuses.

Updated guidance on where else you also now need to wear a face-covering can be found here. 

We would also strongly encourage parents, guardians, and other visitors to take an LFD test before entering any of the college campuses.

Christmas Holiday overseas travel

The new guidance is that anyone travelling back from overseas is required to take a commercial travel PCR test in the first 48 hours of return. Individuals are now also required to isolate until a negative result is received.

Any students travelling abroad over the Christmas break must factor this into their travel plans.

• If your test result is negative, you can end your quarantine
• If your test result is positive, you must self-isolate for 10 full days. The day of the test is day 0
• If your test result is unclear, you must self-isolate for 10 full days. The day you took the test is day 0. In this circumstance, you can choose to take another private test. If the result of that test is negative, you can stop self-isolating
• If your PCR test result is delayed, you must quarantine until you receive a negative test result or until day 14 after arrival, whichever is sooner.

Further questions

If you have any further questions, then please contact the COVID tracing team via the email This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.