Exclusive: Bristol Uni fines 42 students for house parties

Bristol Uni has issued fines to 42 students since the start of October for breaking Covid restrictions on gatherings.

Students have been fined a collective total of £5,100, with a spokesperson saying that these fines were issued “across halls of residences and in the private sector”.

Six students were fined £250 each for arranging gatherings that are in breach of the Covid laws in place, and 36 students were fined for attending an illegal gathering, however no student has been suspended or expelled from the University as a result of breaching the restrictions.

David Tonkin, Head of Estates at the University, told a Bristol Live Q&A event today that eight students have been fined in the last week alone, with an “typical” night involving five “interventions” in halls of residences due to noise complaints and illegal gatherings.

Reports of students parties emerged when students began moving in to halls of residence in late September, with one telling The Bristol Tab: “We are planning to have block parties and planning to hang out in people’s rooms. We still want to have the Freshers’ experience and so even if clubs are closed, we are still going to get drunk in halls.”

Confirmed Covid cases rose rapidly in the month of October, but have since stabilised with the University reporting an average of 52.8 new cases per day over the last 5 days.

A University of Bristol spokesperson said: “The vast majority of our students have behaved impeccably since they returned to campus a month ago and have followed the rules around social-distancing set by both the Government and the University. We would like to thank them for this.

“Our approach has primarily been to encourage students to follow these rules, remind them why they are in place and to mitigate the impact bad behaviour has on everyone else’s student experience.

“Unfortunately, it has been necessary to take disciplinary action when students have breached the rules. We have issued 42 fines across halls of residences and in the private sector since the start of October – six at £250 for arranging a gathering that break COVID rules and 36 at £100 for attending a gathering. No students have been expelled or suspended for breaking COVID-related rules.

“Over the last two weeks we have been pleased and encouraged to see a marked reduction in reports of student gatherings and parties.

“We will continue to remind students of the importance of social distancing and staying within their living circles, to keep both themselves and the wider community safe.”

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