If you are fully vaccinated
This is what you need to do if you qualify under the fully vaccinated rules for travel to England.
Before you travel to England – fully vaccinated
Before you travel to England you must:
- book and pay for a day 2 COVID-19 test – to be taken after arrival in England
- complete a passenger locator form – to be completed in the 48 hours before you arrive in England
You will need to enter your COVID-19 test booking reference number on your passenger locator form.
Approved PCR travel test provider
NHS UKHSA
Boots UK
When you arrive in England – fully vaccinated
After you arrive in England you must take a COVID-19 test on or before day 2.
You must book this test before you travel.
If you will be in England for less than 2 days you still need to book and pay for a day 2 COVID-19 test. You only need to take the test if you are still in England on day 2.
Fully vaccinated means that you have had a complete course of an approved vaccine at least 14 days before you arrive in England. The day you had your final dose does not count as one of the 14 days.
The vaccine must be administered under either:
- the UK vaccination programme
- Qatar Vaccine certificate.
Check which vaccines are approved and the list of countries and territories with approved proof of vaccination.
Approved vaccines
You must have had a complete course of one of the following vaccines at least 14 days before you arrive in England:
- Oxford/AstraZeneca
- Pfizer BioNTech
- Moderna
- Janssen
The day you have your final dose does not count as one of the 14 days.
Formulations of these vaccines, such as AstraZeneca Covishield, AstraZeneca Vaxzevria and Moderna Takeda, also qualify as approved vaccines.
Even if you are not fully vaccinated, the fully vaccinated rules apply if you:
- are under 18 and resident in the UK or one of the countries or territories with approved proof of vaccination
- are taking part in an approved COVID-19 vaccine trial in the UK or the USA (US residents only for USA trials)
- cannot have a COVID-19 vaccination for a medical reason which has been approved by a clinician under the new medical exemptions process, and you are resident in England
Read about applying for a medical exemption from vaccination using the NHS COVID Pass if you live in England.
Travelling with children
The rules for children depend on age and country of residence.
Children resident in the UK or in a country with an approved proof of vaccination
Children of all ages who are resident in the UK or a country with an approved proof of vaccination do not have to quarantine on arrival in England.
If they are aged 4 and under they do not have to take any COVID-19 travel tests.
5 to 17 year olds:
- do not have to take a COVID-19 test before travel to England
- must take a day 2 test on or before day 2 – arrival day is day 0
If you are not fully vaccinated
This is what you need to do if you do not qualify under the fully vaccinated rules for travel to England.
Check this section of this guidance to see if you qualify as fully vaccinated.
Before you travel to England – not fully vaccinated
Before you travel to England you must:
- take a COVID-19 test – to be taken in the 3 days before you travel to England
- book and pay for day 2 and day 8 COVID-19 tests – to be taken after arrival in England
- complete a passenger locator form – to be completed in the 48 hours before you arrive in England
Read more about taking a COVID-19 test before you travel to England.
When you arrive in England – not fully vaccinated
After you arrive in England you must:
- quarantine at home or in the place you are staying for 10 days
- take your pre-booked COVID-19 test on or before day 2 and on or after day 8 – you must book these tests before you travel
If you are in England for less than 10 days, you need to quarantine for the time you are here. You need to book day 2 and day 8 travel tests. You only need to take the tests if you are still in England on those days.
Test to Release scheme
If you need to quarantine, you may be able to end quarantine early if you pay for a private COVID-19 test through the Test to Release scheme.
Red list countries
There are different rules if you have been in a red list country in the 10 days before you arrive in England.
Check which countries and territories are on the red list and read the red list rules.
Travelling with children
The rules for children depend on age and country of residence.
Check the list of countries and territories with approved proof of vaccination.
Children resident in other countries not on the approved country vaccination list
Children aged 5 to 17 who are resident in any country that is not on the approved proof of vaccination list must:
- take a COVID-19 test (if aged 11 or above) before travelling to England
- take a COVID-19 test on or before day 2 in England – arrival day is day 0
- take a COVID-19 test on or after day 8 in England – arrival day is day 0
- quarantine at home or in the place they’re staying for 10 days, or for the duration of their stay if it’s less than 10 days
Children aged 4 or under from these other countries do not have to take travel tests.
They must follow quarantine rules.
You should follow separate advice if you need to self-isolate in:
Scotland
Wales
Before you travel to the UK from anywhere outside the Common Travel Area, you should provide your journey, contact details and the address where you will self-isolate. You will be able to complete the public health passenger locator form 48 hours before you arrive. You must present these details on your arrival in England.
You may be refused permission to enter the UK (if you are not a British citizen), or fined if you do not provide your contact details or do not self-isolate unless you arrive in the UK from an exempt country.
More information:
UK Government Guidance Coronavirus (COVID-19): how to self-isolate when you travel to the UK
Coronavirus (COVID-19): travellers exempt from English border rules
Coronavirus (COVID-19): red list travel ban countries
Quarantine Booking (ctmportal.co.uk)
How to quarantine when you arrive in England - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk)