BORIS Johnson has said that students should be able to go home this Christmas.

In a statement this afternoon, a spokesperson for the Prime Minister said: “We would expect all students to be able to go home for Christmas”.

The spokesperson, however, would not say whether the PM thought universities were taking restrictions imposed on students too far.

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Abigail Howe, 19, who studies English literature at Magdalen College, Oxford said: “While this statement is reassuring, the Government’s track record of indecision and backtracking when addressing the pandemic means I am not filled with confidence.

“I may still end up buying a turkey ready meal this December.”

The statement comes after a students and parents hit out over the Health Secretary, Matt Hancock, claimed that he would not ‘rule out’ a student lockdown over the Christmas holidays.

The potential student lockdown could mean university students would not be allowed to return to their hometowns for Christmas.

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There has already much criticism of the way some universities, including the University of Glasgow and Manchester Metropolitan University, have handled coronavirus outbreaks in student accommodation.

In Glasgow over 600 students and in Manchester over 1,700 must stay in their student accommodation to self-isolate for 14 days after large outbreaks occurred at halls of residence.

Oxford Brookes University has had 30 cases on campus, with the ‘majority’ being ‘traced back to social gatherings’.

Oxford Brookes' registrar and chief operating officer Brendan Casey said the university had ‘accelerated the process for student conduct hearings for those students who have been repeat offenders’.