QuidditchUK are pleased to release our new guidance for training in England, Wales and Scotland, in accordance with roadmaps established by the relevant national governments. You can find all our most up-to-date guidance here.

The information presented by QuidditchUK for England and Wales is based on the guidelines for the general public in the respective countries. This differs in Scotland, where sport-specific guidance is in place. All guidance should be followed according to the national (England) or regional (Wales and Scotland) stage of reopening. Guidance applies at an individual level according to the person's domicile, meaning you should follow the guidance according to the country and region where you live.

Teams must still submit a risk assessment prior to training. This does not apply to teams with an active risk assessment; you can find out if your club has an active risk assessment here.

QuidditchUK will allow 6-8 weeks between the start of contact training at a national level, and running a tournament. As guidelines from the English and Welsh governments currently stand, we do not expect contact training to resume while any coronavirus restrictions are in place. A review of social distancing measures in England is due upon the introduction of Step 3, which is currently set for 17th May. Guidelines from the Welsh Government specify that in Alert Level 1, which has the fewest restrictions, social distancing should be maintained, making it unlikely that we will see contact training in Wales prior to the summer. Scottish teams can return to contact training in Levels 0-2.

If you have any queries, please get in touch with Abby Whiteley at vicepresident@quidditchuk.org.

In England, the rule of six will be in effect from the latter stage of Step 1. This is currently scheduled to be the 29th March. When the rule of six comes into effect, QuidditchUK will recommend training in groups of six; this is identical to the guidance which was in place during the summer. You can read the English guidelines in full here, and all the guidelines and resources here. We have not included the English government's proposed dates in our guidance, as these are liable to change.

Please note that the English numbering convention for Covid-19 alert levels is the inverse of the convention in Scotland and Wales, meaning the English grid reads from left to right from most to fewest restrictions. The Welsh and Scottish tables read from left to right from fewest to most restrictions.

In Wales, non-contact quidditch in groups of up to 30 will be able to resume when regions enter Alert Level 3 after the national lockdown. Travel should be limited, meaning you should play with your closest team which allows you to minimise public transport usage. You can read the Welsh guidelines in full here, and all the guidelines and resources here.

While most of our guidance for Scotland applies according to the sport-specific recommendations at the Strategic Framework Level, there is an exception for the post-lockdown period commencing Friday 12th March before the Levels system comes back into place in late April. Non-contact quidditch training can take place in groups of up to 15 people. You should not travel outside of your local area for quidditch training during this period, and you should still comply with any other guidance, including risk assessments. You can read the Scottish guidelines in full here, and all the guidelines and resources here.

We are excited to see a safe return to quidditch over the next few weeks, and we can't wait to see your pictures and videos of training! If you have any questions, please note that not all social media avenues are monitored, so get in touch with Abby Whiteley at vicepresident@quidditchuk.org.