Staff and student safety must be guaranteed before colleges can reopen, college staff unions have said today.

The University and College Union (UCU), GMB, the NEU teaching union, Unison and Unite have come together to set out five tests that they say must be met by the government and colleges before they should welcome more students back.

In order to avoid colleges becoming “Covid-19 hotspots”, they call for stringent hygiene measures, protection for vulnerable people and isolation for all suspected cases.

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On Monday, the government released guidance setting out how some students may return to college for “face-to-face support” from 1 June.

The guidance stated that: “We will ask secondary schools, sixth form and further education colleges to offer some face-to-face support to supplement the remote education of Year 10 and Year 12 students who are due to take key exams next year, alongside the full-time provision they are offering to priority groups.”

University and College Union general secretary Jo Grady said: “Staff and student health is the number one priority and nobody should be going back to college until it is safe to do so. The government needs to work to address the national challenges, while individual colleges should work with their local union reps to address the unique challenges they will face.”

The unions say that social distancing plans must extend beyond the classroom to cover things like travelling to and from college and socialising. To help deal with those challenges, they said that staff and students who can work from home should continue to do so. 

Unison national education officer Leigh Powell said: "Managers and unions must work together to make colleges safe places to work and study. Cutting corners by skimping on full risk assessments and rigorous cleaning regimes, or limiting provision of protective equipment, risk pushing us back to square one. Staff and students need to know that everything that can be done to protect their health has been done." 

NUS National President, Zamzam Ibrahim, and Vice President (Further Education), Juliana Mohamad-Noor, said that no student should be forced to go back to face-to-face teaching before the government can guarantee the health and safety of students and staff.

They said: “Our recent Coronavirus and Students Survey shows four in five students rank their health as the number one priority during the Covid-19 outbreak.

“Many students are missing out on a crucial education due to a lack of learning resources, caring responsibilities, and they are struggling to pay their bills. This is why we need the government to provide a Student Safety Net which ensures all students, at all levels of education, have access to a national hardship fund, plus the option to retake this year of their qualifications, at no additional cost, while receiving full maintenance support. For fee-paying students who do not wish to take this up, the government must commit to writing off this year of debt or reimbursing this year of their fees.”

The five tests 

Test 1: Much lower numbers of Covid-19 cases

"The new case count must be much lower than it is now, with a sustained downward trend and confidence that new cases are known and counted promptly. And the government must have extensive, open and transparent arrangements in place for testing, contact tracing and isolating those with Covid-19 symptoms."

Test 2: A national plan for social distancing

"The government must have a national plan in place which includes parameters for both appropriate physical distancing and safe levels of social mixing in all further education settings. To help ensure physical distancing during travel and at colleges, all staff and students who can work and study from home must continue to do so."

Test 3: Comprehensive testing

"Comprehensive access to regular testing for students and staff, with isolation for all suspected cases, to ensure colleges don’t become hotspots for Covid-19. In addition to routine testing, protocols to be in place to ensure testing across whole college sites and other non-college work-based learning sites whenever a confirmed case of Covid-19 occurs."

Test 4: A whole-college strategy for health and safety

"Risk assessments and safe ways of working for all tasks and spaces within a college should be established with relevant staff and unions in advance. This should include regular deep cleaning and stringent hygiene measures. Where PPE is identified as required by risk assessments, supplies of these are secured before reopening of affected areas. Strategy to be clearly communicated to all stakeholders." 

Test 5: Protection for the vulnerable

"Vulnerable staff, and staff who live with vulnerable people, must work from home, fulfilling their professional duties to the extent that is possible. Plans must specifically address the protection of all staff, students and members of their households who are vulnerable to Covid-19."