University of Reading

History, Affiliations and Rankings

Established in 1929 in the UK, the University of Reading has been inspiring minds, pushing academic boundaries and leading social change for more than 90 years. These 90 years mark the excellence of this university not only in terms of education but also in the type of rich community it has created. The University was founded in 1892 as a University College, Reading, a University of Oxford extension college. In 1926, the college was granted the authority to offer its own degrees by royal charter from King George V, making it the only university to do so between the two world wars. The university is commonly referred to as a red brick university, owing to its 19th-century origins. Welcoming staff and students from all over the world, it is home to more than 23,000 students. The programs offered by this university are accredited by professional, statutory and regulatory bodies, such as, some of the undergraduate and postgraduate programs are accredited by the Association to Advance Collegiate Schools of Business (AACSB) and EFMD Quality Improvement System (EQUIS). The QS World University Rankings data ranked the University of Reading at #202 place and the Times Higher Education World University Ranking places it between #201-250 bracket for the year 2022. Furthermore, the university also ranks #36 in the Complete University Guide University League Tables 2022 and #61 in the Guardian's the best UK universities 2022 – rankings. 

Infrastructure, Campuses and Courses 

The University of Reading has three award-winning campuses in the UK, namely, the Whiteknights campus, the London Road campus and the Greenlands campus. Apart from this, it also has two overseas campuses, the University of Reading’s Malaysia campus and Henley Business School South Africa. Starting from stir-fries to great pub lunches, all its campus offers fun-filled and great places where one can find a wide variety of food. Since 2016, the university has been divided into 16 academic schools. In September 2009, the university announced a restructure that will combine all of the academic schools under three faculties: the Faculty of Science, the Faculty of Humanities, Arts and Social Sciences, and Henley Business School. The programs offered here give you a very vast range to choose from from Pure and Applied Sciences to Languages, Humanities, Social Sciences, Business and Arts.

Accomplishments and Alumni

The university has won awards for its sustainability achievements and has further won the prestigious Green Gown Award for reducing carbon emissions. At an awards ceremony held in Manchester in October 2017, the university was named among the top 5 universities in England for reducing its carbon emissions by the University Carbon Report 2015/16 published by sustainability consultants Brite Green. This university has a long list of alumni and their success stories. Some of them include Julian Barratt (comedian at BBC’s The Mighty Boosh), Richard Sambrook (director of the BBC World Service), Anton Apriantono (Indonesian politician) and many more.

Student Diversity and Visiting Companies 

Studying here means that you’ll be truly experiencing the international community as this place welcomes around 5,000 international students from over 140 countries every year. All the students here are given equal opportunities in terms of education, training or any co-curricular activity. The university recognises that the only way to realise its mission of being a world-class, forward-thinking, confident, and ambitious institution is to attract, support, and develop staff from a diverse range of backgrounds. Reading has a long and illustrious tradition of diversity and inclusion. The Institution of Reading was the first English university to hire a female professor (Edith Morley in 1908) and one of its past Vice-Chancellors (Lord Wolfenden) was instrumental in the decriminalisation of homosexuality in England and Wales. The university provides proper training to its students who wish to take on placement opportunities and allows them to open various pathways in their careers.