Reading

University of Reading 

With a heavy focus on research, the University of Reading is one of the leading proponents of research-intensive teaching in the whole of the UK. It is ranked 205 in the QS World University Rankings for 2020 and with over 150 years of history and ties to the University of Oxford as an extension college originally, the university is highly regarded and a great place to study and gain a glowing reputation.

As you would expect from a research-focused university, there is an extensive library and resource centre that is open to students 24 hours a day during term time. Here, students can access over 1 million books and 35,000+ e-journals. There is plenty of quiet study space and areas for group meetings and discussions also.

Located in the South East of the country and close to London, means that the university is in one of the best locations for students to find jobs during their time as a student and graduate jobs post-study. A dedicated Job Shop provides access to vacancies in the university itself and in and around Reading, whilst the Careers Advice service helps students make the right choices for their future career with specialist advice on all manner of things, including how to write a CV effectively and how to prepare well for job interviews. There is an extensive list of voluntary positions and work placement schemes. There is also an online resource with free videos and other assessment tools to help students maximise their potential with a view to future employment.

Reading University Students’ Union (RUSU)

Reading University Students’ Union (RUSU) welcomes all students with a plethora of support services, societies and clubs to get involved with. In fact, there are over 160 clubs and societies to choose from, including every sport you can imagine, debate societies, literature, art and music societies and a whole host of weird and wonderful interests. If you want to get involved with your own personal passion project, the chances are you’ll find others with a similar interest and hobby. The SU is also home to a café, bar, nightclub, bookshop, hairdresser, student-run newspaper, radio station and online TV channel.

University of West London

There is also a Reading-based campus for the University of West London. This provides industry-standard facilities and links to fantastic industry and employment opportunities. The goal is to help all students have the best chance to make it within their chosen career and with a great community atmosphere it is a university committed to helping all.

There is a comprehensive careers service open to students from the day they join the university, with direct notifications from Employment Services to help find the latest work placement opportunities, volunteering posts and part-time jobs around town. The university has a long history of over 150 years of high standard teaching and was first founded as the Lady Byron School in 1860.

The Best Places to Eat

Living in your brand-new luxury student accommodation in Reading, you’ll be keen to know where the best places are to eat around town. There is sometimes no better way than to get acquainted with your new friends and to find out what your new hometown is all about than to head out for a bite to eat. Reading is a pretty large town with loads going on and this can be seen quite clearly in its range of restaurants and cafés that are friendly for students. Here, we look at just a few of the best choices for you as you start your new life studying in the city.

Caffeine & Cocktails (Kings Walk)

This is one of the best student hangouts in town as it has managed to straddle both sides of the divide – it is an exquisite place to have brunch or a hearty lunch during the day, but it is also a fantastic bar where you can have a range of delicious cocktails at night. The name truly does sell the place accurately. Whether you are after a coffee and a spot of breakfast as a pick me up before the rest of a hard day at uni, or a cocktail of your choosing to start a night out, Caffeine & Cocktails has you covered.

Cosmo (Friar Street)

This restaurant serves up dishes from all around the world in a large buffet style. It is the perfect place to go for something to eat with a group of new friends, as it literally has every type of cuisine for you to choose from. What better way to satisfy everyone than to head to a buffet where one person can pile up a bowl of pasta or a slice of pizza, another can have some sushi, someone else an Indian curry dish, whilst the food is prepared in front of your very eyes.

Royal Tandoori (Duke Street)

If you are into your Indian food, you must head on over to Duke Street and the Royal Tandoori. It is one of the favourites in Reading for delivering fresh, tasty curries that show the unique breadth of flavour in Indian cuisine. During the week there is also an amazing two course lunch deal, where you can get two courses for under a tenner. It is also a great place for a group of people to share a range of smaller plates and to see what the place has to offer – including some fantastic veggie dishes.

Tutu’s Ethiopian Table (Palmer Park)

The Global Café, which is the public side of the Reading International Solidarity Centre has promoted some of the finest cuisine to come out of Ethiopia with Tutu’s Ethiopian Table. The kitchen is run by Tutu Melaku, serving up some of the best spicy dishes straight out of Addis Ababa. During the week, a lunch that costs a little over a fiver can be purchased, which includes two dishes and injera (which is a tasty Ethiopian pancake), we recommend trying some of the succulent lamb dishes as a good way to get started.

Pepe Sale (Queens Walk)

Now, most of us like Italian food, don’t we? It is one of the most popular cuisines on earth, but it is difficult sometimes to find a truly authentic take on the variations of regional Italian cuisine. Fear not, if you love a little bit of adventure in your quest for the best Italian food as you leave then door of your student accommodation in Reading, this lovely Sardinian restaurant on Queens Walk will tick all the boxes. Pasta is cooked fresh every single morning, and the lunchtime menu includes pasta dishes that are huge and yet cost only a little over a fiver each.

Nights Out

We all have to let our hair down occasionally and what better way to do it than to head out on the tiles with your new friends you’ve made at our luxury student accommodation in Reading? Reading is a pretty large town, and with London right on the doorstep too there is quite a lot of choice for a night out, whether you are looking for cheesy music, the latest dance tracks or an alternative scene. We’ve taken the time to choose a few starting points for you as you head to your new life in Reading.

Lola Lo (Friar Street)

Lola Lo is widely known around town as the tiki capital of fun. It’s where punters go to make cocktails, to sup them out of big Tiki mugs and massive shared group bowls of cocktails. It’s a fun place to go for a night out and there are some interesting student deals throughout the week (£2.95 for cocktails, £1 shots of sambuca and £5.95 cocktail sharers every Monday to Thursday). Every Thursday night is the student night at Lola Lo, with a House and RnB playlist and a range of VUP and Guest List specials.

Smash (Gun Street)

Smash is home to all manner of fun and games. It has a wide range of specialist craft beer, the best in authentic artisan pizza, but is also home to some incredible Olympic-sized ping pong tables for you to get all competitive on! The cocktail menu makes a nod to the ping pong with drinks like Match Point and Fruit Bat, and you can also sample the Jager Shake – Jagermeister, milk, cream and Oreo cookies making the best alcoholic shake around. There are big screens in place for all the best sporting action and Smash also plays host to live music and DJ sets at the weekend.

Milk Bar (Merchants Place)

Rum – lots of it! Milk Bar has over 80 rums on offer, varying from dark to white, spices, Rhum and Cachaca. The bar staff are very knowledgeable and can offer the best advice on what to mix with each (or just to drink on its own). 4-7 every Monday to Friday is a good time to go, starting you off on a night out with selected cocktails priced at just a fiver.

Q Club (Friar Street)

Every single week Q Club serves up the biggest tunes to students, from club classics to cheesy tunes, RnB anthems and indie singalongs. There are different themed nights throughout the week, and students can expect dancefloors exploding with confetti, fireworks indoors, film crews, drinks for just £2, photographers and a VIP edge to every single night out.

Revolution (Station Road)

Revolution is always a tasty affair, and at the Station Road bar in Reading you’ll have your choice of over 30 flavours of vodka, including the famous Birthday Cake flavour as well as a range of seasonal limited-edition flavours throughout the year. On top of that there is always a good offer for students to take advantage of, including 2 for 1 cocktails during certain hours, cocktail sharers and pitchers to share with your group of mates.

Stay Fit And Healthy

Sport is a great way to get away from the stresses and strains of daily working life. Whether you want to compete in a team, keep fit and healthy with a solo sporting pursuit or you want to go and watch professional sport, you are in the best place to take advantage from your luxury Reading student accommodation. There is loads to see and do around Reading, within the university and beyond.

Reading Football Club

Reading Football Club was founded way back in 1871 and over recent years has been in the Premier League on a couple of occasions, gone on great cup runs and won exciting promotion races. In fact, Reading FC hold the European record for the most points achieved in a single season, winning 106 points in the promotion winning season of 2005/06. Since moving to the modern Madejski Stadium, the 24,000-seat capacity has spurred on the team to consistent highs.

Reading Rockets

One of the most successful and popular basketball clubs in the UK, Reading Rockets have been performing to these heights since they were founded in 1997, winning all four national championships and every single game during the 2008/09 season. The women’s team has also become a successful team in its own right in recent years, winning the Division 2 Southern League as recently as 2013/14. You can head over to the Rivermead Leisure Complex to watch the games, it’s an exciting watch of those squeaky shoes on the court.

Berkshire Renegades

If you’d prefer to watch some British American Football, the Berkshire Renegades play at The South Reading Leisure Centre. Since returning to the BAFL (British American Football League) in 2005, the men’s senior team has developed a cracking youth setup (if you would like to play or become a coach whilst studying in Reading) and has won a title.

Reading Hockey Club

Hockey has always played a big part in British sport and there is certainly a place for you to call home if you are into the sport. Reading Hockey Club is one of the leading clubs since its founding in 1904. Playing at Sonning Lane, the hockey club supports the development of over 400 senior players and 500 junior members – with a wide variety of skills and experience.

Palmer Park Stadium

Palmer Park Stadium can be found in the luscious parkland of Palmer Park. The stadium has some of the very best sporting facilities around for those looking to get fit and to become more experienced at certain sports, and especially for those people aiming to compete at an elite level. There are both indoor and outdoor leisure activities to take part in, as well as a fully functioning athletics stadium and velodrome.

Where To Shop

Shopping is an essential part of everyday life, and when you first move into your new student accommodation in Reading, you’ll want to get out and about and search for the best shopping facilities in town. Some people like the familiarity of high street shops, others want to explore local markets and independent boutiques. Reading has plenty of every type of shopping experience for you to explore.

Food Markets

A food market is a fantastic way to take a look at the reality of a town when you first move there. There are some fantastic markets, not far from your luxury Reading student accommodation, Blue Collar Street Food is where the best street food traders congregate, with amazing food and meals to be had from around the world – including Greek wraps, Jerk chicken and Georgian classic dishes. CHOW is another great large food market that runs at Reading market place every Friday, whilst there is a vegan food market at Station Hill on the last Saturday of every month, serving delicious produce from local traders.

Shopping Centres

Retail therapy should never be hard work, and in Reading there are a few shopping centres that allow you to truly indulge in some shopping that’ll make you happy. The Oracle is the largest of the shopping centres around, with an array of indoor shops that number 80+, ranging from your Apple and Debenhams to a choice of stylish chain restaurants. There is something for everyone at The Oracle. Broad Street Mall can be found in central Reading and on top of the many shops and high street names you’ll find there, it is also home to some cafés, coffee shops and fast food restaurants.

Independent Shopping

It’s not all about the big shopping centres and high street brand names when you live in Reading as a student though. Reading is also home to a massive selection of independent stores, fashion boutiques, bookshops, antique furniture shops and so much more. Anything you could desire is here, but also remember, that London is just a short hop away, so you’ve got one of the best cities in the world right there for a shopping experience. Some of the standout independent stores in Reading include the classic game shop Eclectic Games on Market Place, Frock&Roll on Watlington Street, selling the best vintage men and women’s fashion, and the independent ale supplier The Grumpy Goat in the Harris Arcade.

Events And Attractions

Thames River Cruise

River cruises run from Reading to Goring and Henley between March and November every year. It is a really pleasant way to spend a few hours, especially if you include an attraction such as the private tour of Mapledurham Watermill. The scheduled public cruises can also include lunch or afternoon tea.

Reading Festival

When most students first think about moving to luxury student accommodation in Reading, they’ll have some understanding of The Reading Festival. The world’s oldest music festival has evolved since first starting in 1961 as The National Jazz Festival but has since grown into the behemoth music festival that it is today, running alongside Leeds Festival every August Bank Holiday weekend. For 3-days, the outdoor music festival is home to some of the biggest bands and artists from across the world, with over 200 chart-topping acts performing live over 10 stages and tents, as well as DJs and comedians. It is one of the biggest festival weekends on the national calendar and certainly worth attending if you are staying in Reading over the summer holidays and love your music.

Vaudeville Electric Theatre

This amazing place is the oldest cinema in Reading, first opened with a capacity of 500 people back in 1909 on Broad Street. It was expanded in 1921 to hold up to 1500 people and is a truly impressive auditorium that has split seating in stalls and circle levels and a barrel-vaulted ceiling.

Arts and Live Music

Away from the big festival, Reading as a city has always had a strong arts and culture community. The Reading International Solidarity Centre hosts live poetry and music nights, whilst the South Street Arts Centre has a collaboration with the Department of Film, Theatre and Television at the University of Reading. Sub89 and The Hexagon are the great live music venues in the city, hosting touring bands from many genres.