Covid vaccine mandate – information for students on health courses

What has changed?

In January 2022 the UK government had made it a legal requirement that all people working in a health and social care setting that is regulated by the Care Quality Commission must be fully vaccinated against COVID-19. This rule was already in place for social care settings and was due to come into effect for health care settings in England on 1 April 2022.

As the national COVID-19 picture continued to improve, and in line with the lifting of all restrictions at the end of February 2022, on 1 March the government announced the mandate was no longer in force.

What does this mean for me?

The mandate applied to our Medicine BM BS degree, our pharmacy courses and our health science courses in nursing, midwifery, occupational therapy, paramedic science, physiotherapy, podiatry and diagnostic radiography.

If you have applied to any of these courses then you no longer are required to be fully vaccinated in order to take up your place.

What does this mean for my offer?

We are amending all offers that included vaccination as a requirement. You will still need to meet the other conditions of your offer including academic grades and the normal DBS and Occupational Health clearance checks.

Will I definitely be able to go on to my placements if I am not vaccinated?

Whilst there is no longer a full-scale government mandate in place, some care homes retain the requirement for vaccination and individual organisations could set their own policies which any student on placement would have to abide by. It is also possible that new COVID-19 variants could cause another change in policy.

As we cannot guarantee that you would be able to go on all placements if you are not vaccinated, it remains advisable to be fully vaccinated, unless you are medically exempt.