90 years of excellence
Receiving our Charter – 1926
Founded in the 19th century as an extension College of the University of Oxford, Reading was the only University to be awarded a charter between the two world wars.
Upon the granting of the Charter, Dr W. M. Childs became the University’s first Vice-Chancellor and students carried him through the grounds in celebration.
Upon the granting of the Charter, Dr W. M. Childs became the University’s first Vice-Chancellor and students carried him through the grounds in celebration.
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THE UNIVERSITY'S COAT OF ARMS
The arms of the University of Reading were granted on 7 August 1896 when the newly incorporated University Extension College at Reading was still part of Oxford University. This was thirty years before it was granted a Royal charter and became a university in its own right.
Our campuses
These include Whiteknights, Greenlands, London Road, and our new campus in Malaysia.
The University today
The University of Reading is among the top 30 UK universities in world rankings (ranked 26th out of 107 UK universities featured in the Times Higher Education World University Rankings 2025) and is home to 23,000 students from over 160 countries.
We offer a wide range of programmes from the pure and applied sciences to languages, humanities, social sciences, business and arts. New research and the latest thinking continually feed into our teaching, with our academic staff working at the forefront of their fields of expertise, and we remain one of the most popular higher education choices in the UK.
Research
In 1972, Reading was the first British university to integrate an industrial Research and Development Group on its campus.
Reading is now one of the foremost research-led universities in the UK.
The University features more than 50 research centres, many of which are recognised as international centres of excellence in areas including agriculture, biological and physical sciences, European histories and cultures, and meteorology.
awards
The University is now a five-time winner of the Queen’s Anniversary Prize for Higher Education, winning in 1998, 2006, 2009, 2012 and 2021.
In 1989 the University of Reading became the first university to win the Queen’s Award for Export Achievement.
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Subjects A-B
Subjects C-E
Subjects F-G
Subjects H-M
Subjects N-T
Subjects U-Z
Subjects A-C
Subjects D-G
Subjects H-P
Subjects Q-Z
Subjects A-B
Subjects C-E
Subjects F-G
Subjects H-M
Subjects N-T
Subjects U-Z
We are in the process of finalising our postgraduate taught courses for 2026/27 entry. In the meantime, you can view our 2025/26 courses.