Edinburgh uni is paying cost of hotel quarantine for students from red list countries

The University of Edinburgh is offering to pay the cost of hotel quarantine for students travelling back to Edinburgh from Red List countries.

Students can apply for grants of up to £1750 – the amount charged by the UK and Scottish Governments for hotel quarantine – and it will be means tested based on financial need.

The fund will be accepting applications between July 15th (next Thursday) and July 30th. Students will hear back about how much they are eligible for by August 13th.

One student tweeted about the news: “Cheers from a fellow red-list country student”.

On their website, the university wrote: “The University of Edinburgh does not want the costs of managed hotel quarantine to be a barrier to your being in Edinburgh for the academic year.

“We are therefore delighted to announce that the University is putting in place a package of financial support open to both new and continuing students joining us for the 2021-22 academic year.  Our funding support will provide up to the full costs of the managed hotel quarantine (currently £1,750) depending on your circumstances and needs.  This support is focused on students domiciled in countries on the UKVI red list. “

The red list was introduced by the Scottish and UK governments to force travellers to quarantine for a period of up to two weeks on their arrival in the UK.

Countries on the list are judged to have the highest risk of Covid-19 transmission or new variants. Currently, there are nearly 40 countries on the red list – including India, South Africa, and the United Arab Emirates (UAE).

Students returning from Amber List countries have to quarantine at home and take PCR tests – these must be provided by private companies and can cost hundreds of pounds. On Instagram, some commenters have queried if students can apply for financial aid from the uni to help pay for these too.

The fund should hopefully make it easier for more students to return to Edinburgh in September for the start of the new academic year.

The University of Edinburgh announced that it is planning for a return to ‘hybrid learning’ for Semester One of next year. However, they have said they are hopeful all seminars and tutorials will be in-person – with only large events like lectures delivered virtually.

This means they expect all students to be in Edinburgh for the semester.

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