Who can enter England from a red list country
You cannot travel to the UK if you’ve been in a red list country in the previous 10 days unless you:
- are a British or Irish national
- have residence rights in the UK
Children arriving in England from a red list country should not be travelling alone unless they are students in boarding school, higher education or further education (for more details, see ‘Other types of managed quarantine’ and ‘Unaccompanied minors’ below).
What you must do – an overview
If you’ve been in a red list country in the 10 days before you arrive in England, once you arrive you must:
- quarantine for 10 full days in a managed quarantine hotel (the day you arrive in England is day 0)
- take a coronavirus (COVID-19) test on or before day 2 and on or after day 8 of quarantining – these are included in your hotel package
You must follow these rules even if you’ve been fully vaccinated.
If you’re travelling directly to a country outside the Common Travel Area
If you enter England and are continuing your journey directly to a country outside of the Common Travel Area (UK, Republic of Ireland, Isle of Man and the Channel Islands), you do not need to book a quarantine package or enter managed quarantine.
If necessary, you can travel straight from your port of arrival to another port in England to catch a flight, train or ferry going outside of the Common Travel Area. You must follow guidance on staying safe and helping prevent the spread of COVID-19, and follow safer travel guidance.
How to book a quarantine package
You must book your managed quarantine package before you travel to England using the booking portal administered by Corporate Travel Management (CTM).
How much you’ll need to pay
Rate 1 adult in 1 room for 10 days (11 nights) £2,285 Additional rate for 1 adult (or child over 11) £1,430 Additional rate for a child aged 5 to 11 £325
You do not have to pay for children under 5. Prices are kept under review and may change.
What the prices includes
The price includes:
- transport to and from your quarantine hotel
- accommodation, food and drink for the whole of your stay
- any COVID-19 tests you need to take while you quarantine
Hardship arrangements
If you believe you will suffer severe financial hardship if you have to pay the full cost of your managed quarantine or testing fees before you travel, then hardship arrangements may be available to you.
You can only apply for hardship arrangements if you believe you are eligible.
See more information on hardship arrangements including how to apply.
If you provide false information, or leave out key information when applying, you will be committing fraud and may be prosecuted.
If you need to extend your stay
You will not have to pay more if you need to extend your stay as a result of positive tests at day 2 or day 8.
Where you can arrive
You can only arrive in England at the following ports of entry – carriers are not allowed to take you to any other port of entry:
- Heathrow Airport
- Gatwick Airport
- London City Airport
- Birmingham Airport
- Bristol Airport
- Farnborough Airport
- Biggin Hill Airport
Other ports of entry may be added in the future.
Direct flights from red list countries can only arrive at London Heathrow and Birmingham Airport.
Getting to your managed quarantine hotel
Your quarantine package includes transport to your quarantine hotel. Currently, all quarantine hotels are located at Heathrow Airport.
You must only travel to your managed quarantine hotel by the transport included in your quarantine package and not by public or private transport.
When you arrive in England you’ll need to provide your completed passenger locator form to Border Force officers alongside your passport and negative COVID-19 test result.
You’ll be escorted through the airport with other passengers who need to stay in a quarantine hotel. Please follow signs and instructions for the Managed Quarantine Service.
You must wear face coverings at all times (unless you’re exempt).
A member of staff will make a note of where everyone is sitting on the bus, so that if someone later tests positive for COVID-19, NHS Test and Trace will be able to identify who has been in close contact.
If you have a car parked at the airport, you will need to extend your parking period and pay the additional charges. If you need assistance with this, you can ask for that once you get to your hotel.
Staying in a managed quarantine hotel
When you arrive at the managed quarantine hotel you must quarantine in your room for 10 full days. The managed quarantine hotel will provide your meals.
It’s not possible to select a particular room at the managed quarantine hotel or request a higher standard room when you arrive.
You can quarantine with the people you travelled with. Hotels will prioritise allocating larger or connected rooms to families.
See more information about what to expect if you’re going into hotel quarantine, including help and support.
Visitors
You cannot have visitors in quarantine, including friends or family, unless they’re providing:
- emergency assistance
- care or assistance, including personal care (for example, if you need a carer to support you)
- medical assistance
- veterinary services
- certain critical public services, including social services or services provided to victims
Deliveries
If you have items delivered to you during the quarantine period (such as food deliveries), they’ll be brought to the door of your room by the managed quarantine hotel staff.
Staff will try to bring the items to you as soon as possible. However, it may not be possible for deliveries to be brought to your door immediately when they arrive at the hotel.
Services available in your hotel
The hotel will tell you about the services available, including food, laundry and free wifi.
Managed quarantine hotels are able to meet the vast majority of requirements and will be able to accommodate dietary requirements.
Medical care and prescriptions
You should bring your prescription medicines with you. You’ll be able to access NHS healthcare via 111 (or your normal GP), including for repeat prescriptions and/or if you need to fill a prescription. You should inform the medical staff at the hotel when you arrive if you anticipate any medical issues.
Leaving your room
You will only be allowed to leave your room in very limited circumstances including:
- to travel directly to leave the Common Travel Area (UK, Republic of Ireland, Isle of Man and the Channel Islands) – you’ll be given instructions when you leave on how to travel safely to your port of exit, if you’re not taken directly there by the hotel transportation
- to fulfil a legal obligation including attending court or satisfying bail conditions or to take part in legal proceedings
- to exercise, but only with special permission from security – this is not guaranteed
You may also be allowed to leave your room in certain exceptional circumstances, such as:
- getting medical assistance if you need it urgently, or on the advice of a registered medical practitioner
- to avoid injury, illness or risk of harm (for example situations such as fire or flooding, or cases where domestic abuse occurs within a group quarantining together)
- to access critical public services including social services or services provided to victims (for example critical access such as for a child to see their social worker)
- to access veterinary services if it’s needed urgently or on the advice of a veterinary surgeon (only service animals, such as guide dogs, can accompany you to managed quarantine)
Visiting dying family members and funerals
You can request permission to leave quarantine for a limited period if a close family member or member of your household is dying.
You can also request permission to leave quarantine to attend a funeral. This is limited to the day of the funeral. In exceptional circumstances where it’s not possible to travel to the funeral and back in one day, it might be possible (with restrictions) to stay overnight elsewhere if you cannot stay in a nearby managed quarantine hotel.
You will need permission from security staff to ensure that arrangements minimise the public health risks. This will include agreeing a specific time with the hotel for returning to your room. You should not use public transport.
If you’re given permission to leave your quarantine hotel to visit a close family member or member of your household who is dying, you should:
- wear a face covering – in some specific circumstances this may need to be a surgical-grade Type IIR face mask
- wash your hands regularly
- maintain distance and follow guidance on staying safe and preventing the spread of COVID-19
Visits should be limited to a single visit on one day.
If you’re given permission to leave your quarantine hotel to attend the funeral of a close family member or member of your household, you should follow the guidance for attending a funeral during the COVID-19 pandemic.
If you request permission to leave your quarantine hotel to visit a hospital (or other healthcare setting) or care home, you’ll need to ask hotel security staff to contact the place you’re visiting and confirm they’ve agreed you can visit.
Testing for COVID-19
Your quarantine package includes the COVID-19 tests you’ll need to take:
- on or before day 2 for variant surveillance
- on or after day 8 to check that you do not have COVID-19
The tests are taken in your quarantine hotel room.
If you get a positive result from your day 2 test, you do not need to take a test on day 8.
The day you arrive in England is day 0. The day after you arrive is day 1, and so on.
What happens if you test positive
If you get a positive result from your day 2 or day 8 test, you must quarantine for a further 10 days from the day after you took the test. If you’re in quarantine with people you’ve travelled with, they will also need to quarantine for 10 days from the day after the test.
If you get a positive result from your day 2 test, you will not need to take any further tests because you will quarantine through the period when you may be infectious to others.
Children aged 4 and under
Children aged 4 and under will not need to take the day 2 or day 8 test but they and their family or carers should only leave quarantine if they are well.
If you get symptoms
You should order a test if you develop at least one of these 3 COVID-19 symptoms, even if mild, at any point:
- a high temperature
- a new, continuous cough
- you’ve lost your sense of smell or taste or it’s changed
Groups quarantining together
If you’re quarantining as a group with people you’ve travelled with, everyone in the group will need to quarantine for 10 full days if you (or anyone in the group) get a positive test. The day of the test is day 0.
If a second person tests positive while you’re quarantining, the quarantine period starts again, and everyone in the group must quarantine for 10 days from the day after the second positive test.
This will be the case for all positive tests for groups quarantining together.
If you have interconnecting rooms in a hotel, you are considered one household. If someone tests positive, other people in the same room should be moved into another room if there’s space available in the hotel.
Leaving managed quarantine
You’ll be able to leave the managed quarantine hotel when you’ve received a negative result from your day 8 test and have quarantined for 10 full days from the day you arrived in England (the day you arrived in England is day 0), and are well.
If you get a positive result from either of your tests, you will not be able to leave managed quarantine until 10 full days have passed from the day after the date of the test.
If you get a negative test result on day 8 but you develop new COVID-19 symptoms on day 9 or day 10, you must take a new test. If this is positive, you’ll have to extend your quarantine for another 10 days.
You will not be able to end your managed quarantine early through the Test to Release scheme.
Onward transport
At the end of the quarantine period you’ll be transported to the airport you were collected from when you arrived in England, where you can continue with your travel plans.
Other types of managed quarantine
Most people who need to stay in managed quarantine will stay in a government-approved quarantine hotel. Exceptions to this include:
- nurses arriving in England to work for the NHS can quarantine in managed quarantine accommodation provided by the NHS trust they’ll be working for
- students travelling to attend a boarding school in the UK may be able to quarantine at their boarding school
- unaccompanied higher and further education students under the age of 18 may be able to quarantine in accommodation provided by their education institution
Unaccompanied minors
A minor is someone who is under 18. In this guidance, we use the word ‘child’ when referring to an individual of any age under 18.
Children arriving in England from a red list country should not be travelling alone (unless they’re coming to attend boarding school or a higher or further educational institution).
A parent, guardian or appropriate adult must travel with them and go into managed quarantine with them on arrival.
An appropriate adult is either:
- a parent
- a person who has parental responsibility for the child (and can provide evidence of this)
- a person that the child’s parent, or someone who has parental responsibility for the child, has confirmed in writing is a suitable person for the child to quarantine with
Applying for permission for a child to travel alone
Where it is not possible for a parent, guardian or appropriate adult to travel with the child, they will need to apply for permission for the child to travel alone.
If the responsible adult is already in England and therefore cannot travel with the child, the adult must enter managed quarantine with the child on arrival.
Applying for an exemption from managed quarantine
If it is not possible for a parent, guardian or appropriate adult to join the child in managed quarantine, they will need to apply for an exemption.
If an exemption is granted, the child will be expected to quarantine at their final destination for the full quarantine period. They will also be required to take polymerase chain reaction (PCR) tests booked through Corporate Travel Management (CTM) on day 2 and day 8. The entire household must isolate with the child for the full quarantine period – for more details, see the separate guidance for people allowed to quarantine at home after entering England from a red list country.
If your request for an exemption is denied, you will need to book and pay for managed quarantine for the child and a parent, guardian or appropriate adult.
How to apply and what to expect
You need to apply for permission for a child to travel alone and/or a managed quarantine exemption at least 14 days before the child’s travel date.
To apply, email [email protected].
You will receive an automated response with a list of questions that you need to answer. Your responses are used to assess your application.
Permission for a child to travel alone and/or confirmation that a responsible adult is eligible for a managed quarantine exemption will only be granted in exceptional circumstances, for example:
- if the responsible adult has other caring responsibilities that prevent them from entering managed quarantine
- if the responsible adult has secured a medical or compassionate exemption from managed quarantine
Exemptions from managed quarantine
Some people may be exempt from the standard quarantine and testing rules if:
- they are travelling for work and their job is on the list of exempt jobs
- they qualify for an exemption for medical or compassionate reasons
Read the guidance on job exemptions and exemptions for medical reasons and compassionate reasons to see if these apply to you and what they involve.
Circumstances not covered by this guidance
If you’re intending to travel to the UK in the next 14 days and are facing a set of circumstances that are not covered by this guidance, use the following email addresses for enquiries relating to:
- arrival from a red list country: [email protected]
- arrival from a country that is not on the red list: [email protected]
