These are the unis with the most confirmed coronavirus cases this term

By now, most students have spent their at least two weeks cooped up, self-isolating in grim halls or grotty student houses. Everyone knows someone at uni who’s had Covid.

As Christmas looms, there’s talk of staggered returns in January, and not hugging your nan so you don’t kill her. But just how bad has this term’s Covid outbreak on campus been?

Data compiled by UCU shows the unis who have reported the most Covid cases on campus since the start of term. In total, there have been over 50,000 confirmed Covid cases at British universities.

Here are the unis with the most cases:

1. Newcastle: 2,510

2. Bristol: 2,246

3. Nottingham: 2,212

4. Manchester: 2,203

5. Durham: 1,884

6. Northumbria: 1,866

7. Sheffield Hallam: 1,485

8. Leeds: 1,482

9. Loughborough: 1,472

10. Liverpool: 1,461

11. Sheffield: 1,449

12. Manchester Met: 1,426

13. Birmingham: 1,359

14. Cardiff: 1,111

15. Oxford: 1,041

16. Exeter: 1,038

17. Cambridge: 938

18. Bath: 873

19. York: 793

20. Queen’s University Belfast: 767

21. UWE: 733

22. Sussex: 713

23. UCL: 690

24. BCU: 681

25. Salford: 624

Some universities started reporting earlier than others, and UCU figures include staff and student cases. Unis with better, more official reporting systems may also report higher case numbers.

All figures on the UCU dashboard have been updated within the past week, and totals are correct as of 3rd December.

Photo Credit: Ioannis Alexopoulos/LNP/Shutterstock

Related stories recommended by this writer:

• Medics and geography students will be allowed back to uni in January before others

• These are the unis that raised the most money for Movember this year

• QUIZ: Can you tell whether these rogue British uni names are real or fake?