From 15 February onwards, everyone allowed to enter England from outside the Common Travel Area (Ireland, the Channel Islands or the Isle of Man) must:

• quarantine for 10 days
• take a coronavirus (COVID-19) test on day 2 and day 8 of quarantining unless your job permits exemption
• follow the national sociallockdown distancing rules

You should follow separate advice if you need to quarantine in:

• Scotland
• Wales
• Northern Ireland

What you must do before you travel

Everyone must:

• take a coronavirus (COVID-19) test and get a negative result during the 3 days before you travel
• book and pay for a travel test package, which will include COVID-19 tests to be taken on or before day 2 and on or after day 8 of your quarantine
• complete a passenger locator form with details of where you will home quarantine when you arrive and the travel test package booking reference number

If, within the current restrictions on travel within the Common Travel Area and the recommendation not to travel at all, you’re travelling from somewhere in the Common Travel Area (Ireland, the Channel Islands and the Isle of Man) and you have not left the Common Travel Area for the past 10 days, you do not need a test before leaving or to home quarantine and take tests after arriving.

Get a test before travelling

You must have proof of a negative coronavirus test to travel to England – this includes UK citizens. You must take the test in the 3 days before the service on which you will arrive in England departs.

For example, if you travel directly to England on Friday, you must take the test on the Tuesday, Wednesday or Thursday.

See the jobs with testing travel exemptions to find out whether your job qualifies for an exemption and what that exemption covers. You may need to show evidence of the work you will be doing at the border.

Book your travel test package

Everyone must book a travel test package. You must take a COVID-19 test on or before day 2 for variant surveillance and a test on or after day 8 to check that you do not have COVID-19.

If you’re facing significant financial hardship as a result of the cost of this travel test package, there will be an opportunity to pay later in instalments by applying for a deferred repayment plan when booking. This is only available if you already receive income-related benefits, and you will be required to pay back your debt to the government in 12 monthly instalments.

You must not apply for deferred payment if you are not eligible. If you provide false information, or omit key information which has been asked for in your application, you will be committing fraud and may be prosecuted.

You will not be able to leave quarantine until you have received both a negative result from your day-8 test and quarantined for 10 days.

If you test positive for either the day-2 or day-8 test, you must quarantine for a further 10 days from the day after you took the test – you will receive further advice alongside your test results.

If your day-2 test shows that you have a variant of coronavirus known as a ‘variant of concern’, you will get a further call and your contacts will be asked to be tested.

Provide details of where you will quarantine when you arrive (passenger locator form)

Before you travel to England you must provide your journey, contact details and the address where you will quarantine by completing the passenger locator form. You must do this within the 48 hours before you arrive.

You must provide a test package booking reference number to complete your passenger locator form.

You may be asked to show these details to immigration officers when you arrive.

Quarantine for 10 days after you arrive

When you arrive in England, you must travel directly to the place you’re staying and not leave until 10 days have passed.

The quarantine period is continuous from the day you arrive in England and lasts for the next 10 full consecutive days after the day you arrived up until midnight of day 10. For the purposes of counting days, the day after arrival is considered ‘day one’. This period is necessary because it can take up to 10 days for coronavirus symptoms to appear.

If you’re travelling to England for less than 10 days, you will need to quarantine for the whole of your stay. You must travel directly to your place of quarantine when you arrive in England and directly from your place of quarantine to the port or airport when you leave. You should follow safer travel guidance and avoid public transport if possible.

How to travel to the place where you’re quarantining

When you arrive in England, go straight to the place you’re staying to quarantine.

Only use public transport if you have no other option.

If you do use public transport, you must take all safety precautions to prevent the risk of virus transmission. These include:

• keeping your distance and observing social contact rules
• washing or sanitising your hands regularly
• wearing a face covering that covers your nose and mouth (this is required by law unless you’re exempt)
• planning ahead and avoiding the busiest routes, as well as busy times like the rush hour
• downloading the NHS COVID-19 app before you travel, if possible, and checking in on the app where you see official NHS COVID-19 QR code posters along your route (such as if you stop to buy food) and if you have to take a break – otherwise minimise all stops on your journey

If you have coronavirus symptoms, it is important that you do not travel by public transport.

If you develop coronavirus symptoms when you’re travelling to England, you should tell one of the crew on your plane, boat, train or bus. They’ll let staff in the airport, port or station know, so they can tell you what you should do next when you arrive.

Long journeys to your quarantine accommodation

If you have a long journey within the UK to arrive at the place where you will be quarantining, you may be able to stop overnight in accommodation where you can quarantine yourself from others before continuing your journey.

Before doing so, you should check that the overnight stay is necessary and permitted under the national sociallockdown distancing‘stay at home’ rules. If so, you must quarantine and provide the address of your overnight stop on your passenger locator form in addition to your declared accommodation address.

What you can and cannot do in quarantine

Quarantine can include staying:

• in your own home
• with friends or family
• in a hotel or other temporary accommodation that is not a managed quarantine hotel

You must quarantine in one place for the full quarantine period, where you can have food and other necessities delivered.

You must quarantine at the address you provided on the passenger locator form.

Visitors

You cannot have visitors, including friends and family, unless they’re providing:

• emergency assistance
• care or assistance, including personal care
• medical assistance
• veterinary services
• certain critical public services

Going out

You cannot leave the premises where you’re in quarantine. You cannot go out to work or school. You cannot visit family or friends who do not live in the premises where you quarantine. You must only exercise inside the place where you’re quarantining or garden. You cannot leave the place where you’re quarantining to walk your dog. You will need to ask friends or relatives to help you with this.

You must not go shopping. If you need help buying groceries, other shopping or picking up medication, you should ask friends or relatives or order a delivery or ask for help from NHS Volunteer Responders.

You can leave to escape risk of harm (for example, domestic abuse).

NHS Volunteer Responders are available if you need help collecting shopping, medication or would like a telephone ‘check-in and chat’. Call 0808 196 3646 (8am to 8pm) to arrange support. You can arrange one-off support, or schedule more regular help while you’re quarantining.

Where your testing provider conducts the day 2 and day 8 tests at a testing facility you may leave the house for your test. Where your tests are delivered and self-administered, if there is no one in your household or bubble who can post the test for processing, you may leave the premises to post your test. If you have to leave the premises, please apply the guidance on the ‘How to travel to the place where you’re quarantining’ section of this page.

Jobs that mean you do not have to quarantine

Some jobs exempt you from needing to quarantine and/or take a test. See the list of jobs that are exempt.

Exceptional circumstances

You may also be allowed to leave your accommodation in exceptional circumstances. This includes purposes such as:

• accessing basic urgent necessities like food and medicines where you cannot arrange for these to be delivered or travelling to a COVID-19 testing site
• accessing critical public services including social services and services provided to victims (such as victims of crime)
• moving to a different place for quarantine where you can no longer remain where you are

There may be other exceptional circumstances which permit you to leave your place of quarantine. You will need to consider carefully whether your circumstances are exceptional circumstances that require you to leave your place of quarantine. You could seek advice from a medical or other professional to discuss your circumstances so that you can decide whether, for example, you have a health condition or a disability that would be seriously exacerbated if you were not able to leave the accommodation (and its outdoor areas) where you’re quarantining to take exercise.

Even if you have an exception, you must continue to follow the general restrictions that apply.

What to do if you get coronavirus symptoms

You should order a test if you develop at least one of these 3 coronavirus symptoms at any point:

• a high temperature
• a new, continuous cough
• you’ve lost your sense of smell or taste or it’s changed

If you develop coronavirus symptoms when you’re travelling to England, you should tell one of the crew on your plane, boat, train or bus. They’ll let staff in the airport, port or station know, so they can tell you what you should do next when you arrive.

Rules for the people you stay with

The people you’re staying with do not need to quarantine, unless:

• they travelled with you
• you or someone in the place where you’re staying develop symptoms of coronavirus

As far as possible, avoid contact with other people in the place where you’re quarantining to reduce the risk of transmitting coronavirus. You should stay in a well ventilated room with an outside window that can be opened, separate from other people in your home.

If you’re staying in a hotel or guest house, you must stay away from others who did not travel with you, so it’s important that you do not use shared areas such as bars, restaurants, health clubs and sports facilities. Stay 2 metres apart from other people staying there at all times.

Support to help you quarantine

Quarantining may be difficult, frustrating or lonely, but there are things that you can do to help make staying at home easier.

NHS Volunteer Responders are also available if:

• you need help collecting shopping or medication
• you’d like a friendly chat

Call 0808 196 3646 (8am to 8pm) to arrange support. You can arrange one-off support, or schedule more regular help while you’re quarantining.

Testing in quarantine

Day-2 test

You will need to take a COVID-19 test on or before day 2 of your quarantine period. The day of arrival in England will be treated as day zero. This first test is designed to help identify any potentially harmful variants of COVID-19 at the earliest opportunity. Tests will be taken in your own accommodation.

-If you get a positive result from your day-2 test, you must quarantine for 10 days beginning the day after the test is taken and for the next 10 days after the test was taken (this means until day 13). Your household will also need to quarantine until day 13.

If you get a positive result from your day-2 test, you do not need to take a test on day 8.

Day-8 test

You need to take a COVID-19 test on or after day 8, unless you got a positive result from your day-2 test.

If you get a positive test result from your day-8 test you will need to quarantine until day 19. Your household will also need to quarantine until day 19.

Ending quarantine

If you’ve quarantined for 10 full days (where day 0 is the day you took the test or had symptoms) and received a negative result to both your day-2 and day-8 tests, and you are well, you may leave the place where you’re quarantining.

You can see if you can end your quarantine early through the Test to Release scheme, below.

Children under 5 do not need to take the day-2 or day-8 test

Ending your quarantine early: Test to Release

You can still use the Test to Release for international travel scheme. The scheme lets you choose to pay for a private COVID-19 test. If the result is negative, you can stop quarantining.

You cannot take a test to release test until you have been in England for 5 full days.

The scheme is voluntary and applies to those quarantining in England only.

If you do not want to opt into the Test to Release scheme, you will need to self-isolate for 10 days.

You cannot use the Test to Release scheme if you have been in or through any country that is on the travel ban red list in the 10 days before you arrive in England.

If you’re planning to use the Test to Release scheme, you must still take a test on or before day 2 and on or after day 8, unless you’re exempt. Even if you get a negative result from your Test to Release and are released from self-isolation, you still need to take a test on or after day 8 to check that you do not have COVID-19.

Changing the place where you’re quarantining

You are not allowed to change the place where you’re quarantining except in very limited circumstances, including where:

• a legal obligation requires you to change address, such as when you’re a child whose parents live separately, and you need to move between homes as part of a shared custody agreement
• it’s necessary and permissible for you to stay overnight at accommodation before travelling to the place where you will be quarantining for the remaining period

If this happens, you must provide full details of each address where you will quarantine on the passenger locator form. If, in exceptional circumstances, you cannot remain where you’re staying, you can move to a new place to quarantine and you must complete a new passenger locator form as soon as possible.

Leaving quarantine

If you’ve quarantined for 10 full days (where day 0 is the day you took the test or had symptoms) and received a negative result to both your day-2 and day-8 tests, and you are well, you may leave the place where you’re quarantining.

You can also end your quarantine early through the Test to Release scheme.

Once you leave quarantine, you must still follow the national restrictions that apply.

Circumstances not covered by this guidance

If you’re intending to travel to the UK in the next 7 days and facing a set of circumstances that are not covered by this guidance, please email your enquiry to dhsctesttrace.customerfeedbackteam@nhs.net.

Please make sure you include your date of travel.