If you are coming from a non red list country and have not been fully vaccinated in the UK, EU, USA, or other accepted vaccination programme at least 14 days ago, you’ll need to quarantine for 10 days and take a Covid-19 PCR test on or before Day 2 and on or after Day 8 of your self-isolation. These tests are compulsory for all unvaccinated international arrivals outside of the UK, Ireland, Isle of Man and the Channel Islands.

If you want to leave quarantine early you’ll need to take a Test to Release test in addition to the Day 2 and Day 8 tests. You can book this additional test with us here.

Remember you must still conduct your Day 8 test in accordance with the government’s rules for international arrivals even if your Test to Release test is negative.

If you are coming from a non red list country and have been fully vaccinated in the UK, EU, USA, or other accepted vaccination program at least 14 days ago, you must book and pay for a Day 2 test which must be taken on or before day 2 following your arrival in England. You may take a Day 2 PCR test or a Day 2 Lateral Flow Test. Quarantine is not required when arriving to the UK while fully vaccinated.

If you are coming from a non red list country and have not been fully vaccinated in the UK, EU, USA, or other accepted vaccination program at least 14 days ago, you must take a COVID-19 test and get a negative result during the 72 hours before you travel. You must also book and pay for a Day 2 and Day 8 test package, which includes COVID-19 tests to be taken on or before Day 2 and on or after Day 8 of your quarantine.

If you are coming from a red list country regardless of vaccination status, you must pay for a 10-day stay in a managed quarantine hotel, as well as a pre-departure test and two PCR tests upon return to the UK (Day 2 & Day 8). You will only be allowed to enter the UK if you are a British or Irish national or you have residence rights in the UK.

All arrivals must complete a passenger locator form with details of where you will quarantine when you arrive and the Day 2 test package booking reference number.

You can find more information on the passenger locator form on the government website.

If you arrive from a country that is on the Gov.uk banned list during the last 10 days you must pay for a 10-day stay in a managed quarantine hotel, as well as a pre-departure test and two PCR tests upon return to the UK (Day 2 & Day 8). You will only be allowed to enter the UK if you are a British or Irish national or you have residence rights in the UK. You can find more information relating to red list countries on the UK government’s website.

If you need to use public transport to travel to the test site, you should travel alone or, if necessary, only with people from your household or support bubble. Try to avoid travelling on busy routes or during busy periods, such as rush hour. Follow guidance to keep yourself, other passengers and public transport staff safe.

Yes, the Day 2 and Day 8 tests included in the travel test package are mandatory for anyone travelling into the UK from abroad who have not been fully vaccinated in the UK, EU, USA, or other accepted vaccination programme at least 14 days ago. Failure to take the tests can result in a fine of up to £2,000.

You can take your Day 2 test any time on or before day 2 following your arrival in England. You can take your Day 8 test on or after day 8.

Yes, even if you test negative through Test to Release and finish your quarantine early, you still need to take your Day 8 test.

Negative: You do not have any evidence of an active COVID-19 infection.

Positive: The virus that causes COVID-19 has been detected on your swab. You will need to self-isolate for 10 days in accordance with government guidance.

Unclear: On rare occasions, it might not be possible to say if you had the virus when your test was done. This is because it’s possible that 1 of the genes specific to the COVID-19 (SARS-CoV-2) virus has been found.

The Day 2 & Day 8 tests are the most accurate PCR tests available and are mandatory when coming back to the UK because of the growing threat from new variants of COVID-19.

The tests look for 2 genes rather than 1 which makes it a more complicated test and, if the Day 2 test is found to be positive it is sent for genome sequencing to identify particular variants of concern.

If your Day 2 or Day 8 test results are positive then you must quarantine for an additional 10 days from the day you took the test – further advice will be provided with your test results. Please see the government website for more information.

Unclear

Your coronavirus test result is unclear. It’s not possible to say if you had the virus when the test was done. This is because it’s possible that 1 of the genes specific to the COVID-19 (SARS-CoV-2) virus has been found.

This can be due to several different reasons including inadequate sample collection, very early stage-infection, or very late stage-infection (i.e. you may have recently tested positive for COVID-19).

Both gene targets must be identified to declare a positive result. We follow retest procedures where our tests produce an unclear result, however, sometimes even with repeat testing the result remains the same.

Day 2 Unclear Result

If you took this test on day 2 of your quarantine you must continue to quarantine until you have completed the 10-day quarantine period AND received a negative test result for a test taken on day 8.

You may be contacted to check that you, and those who you live or are travelling with, are self-isolating. You must not travel, including to leave the UK, during self-isolation.

You MUST still undertake your Day 8 test.

Day 8 Unclear Result

Even if you have not had symptoms of coronavirus, you must quarantine for a further 10 days, beginning the day after the test was taken.

As this test was taken on day 8 of arriving in the UK a further 10 days means you will need to continue quarantine until day 19 after arriving in the UK.

People you live with or are travelling with will also need to quarantine for a further 10 days (until day 19), irrespective of any test result they may have recently had.

You may be contacted for contact tracing and to check that you, and those who you live or are travelling with, are self-isolating. You must not travel, including to leave the UK, during self-isolation.

We’re a leading UK government recognised provider of all private COVID-19 tests. Our tests are analysed at UKAS accredited labs that comply to ISO15189 and ISO17025 standards.

The Day 2 & Day 8 tests are mandatory for unvaccinated arrivals. Failure to take these tests can result in a fine of up to £2,000.

We are the UK’s most trusted coronavirus testing facility with more 5-star reviews than any other provider. 99% of test results are delivered on time for passengers wishing to travel.

We have facilities across the UK and offer 1,000s of appointments everyday, including Sundays. Our UK based call centre is open 7 days a week and our laboratory tests 7 days a week to ensure you get your results on time.

If you would like to see what some of the 100,000+ people we have tested have said about their experience, please click here.