Passenger locator forms and Covid tests to be scrapped for ALL UK arrivals later this week

Here's what's happening from 4am on 18 March: 

• Fully vaccinated and unvaccinated arrivals to the UK will no longer need to fill in passenger locator forms. These require people to complete their travel details, vaccination status and their address in the UK and are used to track people after outbreaks of the virus. They are currently required by all arrivals to the UK from outside Ireland, the Channel Islands or the Isle of Man.

• Unvaccinated travellers arriving into the UK will no longer need to take a pre-departure PCR test or rapid antigen test before departing for the UK. 

• Unvaccinated travellers will no longer need to take a PCR test on day two of arrival to the UK.  

If you leave/have left the UK before 4am on 18 March and return after this date, the new rules will apply on return to the UK. However, the current measures must continue to be met for arrivals into the UK before 4am on 18 March. 

Mr Shapps tweeted (see below) that the changes are being made ahead of the Easter school holidays and bank holiday weekend next month. 

Whether you can get a refund on Covid tests already booked depends on the provider

If you're unvaccinated and you've already booked and paid for Covid tests to use on arrival into the UK after 4am on 18 March, you won't necessarily be entitled to a refund. The Department of Health and Social Care says it's up to individual providers to set refund policies around changes to travel rules.

Check your terms and conditions and contact your testing provider for more info on whether you can claim a refund and if so how. 

You still need to follow any Covid testing requirements for destinations you're travelling to from the UK 

UK travellers must continue to meet any testing and/or quarantining requirements imposed by the destination they're visiting. 

For example, both vaccinated and unvaccinated travellers must take a negative test before departing to Dubai and Abu Dhabi, while vaccinated travellers can only enter the United States (US) with a negative test before arriving (non-vaccinated travellers can't currently enter the US).  

For further information, including a list of entry requirements for 20 popular holiday destinations, see our Coronavirus Travel Rights guide. If you need to take a Covid test before travelling, our guide has the latest on how to Find the Cheapest Covid Tests - you can't use the NHS tests for this purpose.