Colleges and training providers should plan for all learners to return to a "full, high-quality education" from September, the government has said.

In guidance published today, the government said this was “possible because we are continuing to make significant progress in tackling the virus”.

“The prevalence of the virus has reduced and the NHS Test and Trace system is up and running. Given the improved position, the balance of risk is now overwhelmingly in favour of young people and adults being able to take part in a full education, including attending on site, with appropriate controls in place to manage the transmission risk.”

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Safety measures

The guidance sets out the steps FE providers should take to prepare for reopening after the summer holidays, including cleaning regimes, how to form groups of students, transport to and from campus and cases in which wearing PPE might be necessary.

It says that, as employers, institutions "must protect people from harm". "Health and safety legislation requires employers to assess risks and put in place proportionate control measures. This includes taking reasonable steps to protect staff, learners and others from coronavirus (Covid-19) within the education setting."

Risk assessments should be revisited and updated "to consider the additional risks and control measures to enable a return of all learners from September". "You should also review and update wider risk assessments and consider if additional controls are needed. You should implement sensible and proportionate control measures which follow the health and safety hierarchy of control to reduce the risk to the lowest reasonably practicable level."

Actions to be taken

The list of actions colleges should take is grouped into those aimed at preventing people being infected with Covid-19 – such as social distancing – and others that should be carried out in response to any infection in an institution's community. 

Education secretary Gavin Williamson said: "Nothing can replace being in the classroom, so ever since schools, colleges and nurseries closed to most children, we have been working hard to ensure they can reopen as soon as possible. We have already seen more than 1.5 million children and young people return, but we must make sure all pupils can go back to school in September, giving them the opportunity to thrive and fulfil their potential.

"I want to reassure parents and families that we are doing everything we can to make sure schools, nurseries, colleges and other providers are as safe as possible for children and staff, and will continue to work closely with the country’s best scientific and medical experts to ensure that is the case."

Unison head of education Jon Richards said: "It's disappointing that staff still haven't seen the science behind the government's guidance. Workers and students must be confident their safety is a priority.

"Little's been said about protecting support staff who face a greater infection risk as they move between groups of students, both inside and beyond the classroom. And there's still confusion about why staff are being told protective equipment isn't needed. The guidance has done little to dampen fears that an autumn opening won't risk public health."

David Hughes, chief executive of the Association of Colleges, said: “Since the outbreak of Covid-19, colleges have been pragmatic and acted swiftly to protect student safety, whilst also protecting their continued access to learning and training. Students should be confident that they will continue to receive a high quality education with great pastoral support as colleges continue to increase the numbers of students able to return to their sites.

 "This guidance offers some clarity to college leaders and staff planning for the safe reopening of their building and campuses in September, but they should continue to make their decisions based on health and safety advice and their local context."

He said there was no doubt that much of the teaching in colleges would need to be a blend of online and on-campus delivery, and colleges had learned a lot about how that mix can work best for different groups of students. "Colleges will all be facing different challenges in September and will know what works best for them in regards to the amount of teaching and learning to keep online and the students or provision that have an urgent need for face-to-face delivery.

 "It is right that the government has focused on getting young people back into education and training as quickly as possible, but there remains a gap that needs to be plugged. Students leaving school face an uphill challenge to get back on track with their learning, colleges are preparing to help them as much as they can but they need the same catch up support that have been given to their peers in schools. Anything less is indefensible.

 "Government must also look urgently into how they safely bring adults back into education and training. It cannot be right that an adult can now go to the pub with their mates, but they cannot undertake an assessment to complete their construction course, even when things have been put in place to make it safe to do so.

 "Colleges are working extremely hard to ensure they are ready to offer the best experience to their new and returning students. There are still questions that will need clarification ahead of September, including around transport, minimising contact and mixing and for students with a work experience or placement element to their studies. They also need to clarify funding rules that will allow colleges to deliver all that is being asked."

Bill Watkin, chief executive of the Sixth Form Colleges Association said: “The guidance published today provides sixth form colleges with some welcome flexibilities. We are pleased to see that colleges can continue to deliver a blend of online and face to face learning if that is what is best for students. Some colleges will want all students to return in the autumn, but transport remains a major barrier to that.

"The guidance makes a helpful distinction between public transport and dedicated college transport, and it is right that social distancing does not apply on the latter. This will help up to a point, but students at many colleges are still heavily reliant on public transport. The guidance on forming groups is likely to be a lot harder to implement in colleges than schools, given there are often thousands of students in individual year groups, but again the flexibility in the guidance is welcome.

"Colleges will ensure that students learning remotely will continue to maintain the outstanding quality of online learning and meet the number of hours required by funding regulations, but as we set out last month, the Department for Education should make a commitment not to retrospectively penalise institutions for how they deliver education in these unprecedented times.”