Further to our survey (June 2020), details featured in this StudyTravel Network article, where over 500 mainland Chinese parents commented on their satisfaction with UK Boarding Schools provision of precautions related to Covid-19 and online provision during school closures. The results proved an interesting source of information to predict possible number of pupils who would return to their UK boarding school in September 2020. Last week, we held focus groups to discern any change in attitude and discovered that the majority of students still plan to return with approximately 25% of respondents delaying return until January and a small number withdrawing completely. The main causes for concern are:

• Some schools continuing to require pupils to leave school site during exeat weekends and half term holidays
• The issues surrounding flights to China which are limited, expensive and frequently cancelled making any necessary return to China very difficult
• The situation in the whole of Western Europe where cases appear to be on the rise and many UK pupils will have been on holiday in these countries during the summer so the potential for Covid-19 infection is increased.