Settling in
Accommodation
As a first year student you'll probably be living in one of our Halls of Residence. This may be your first experience of shared living, but you'll soon find that your neighbours are similarly excited (or daunted!) You can find information on the individual halls, lists of what to bring, arrival information and other useful halls information via the link below
Getting to know Reading
Once you've settled in your hall you'll probably want to explore a bit. You can find some handy information about the University and the town on the following page
Support
Homesickness
It can take a little time to settle into life at university. Some students find that they get very homesick whilst they are here. This is not uncommon or insurmountable. There is a range of information available to you if you are feeling homesick. The important thing is to try and talk to someone about how you are feeling.
What to know and when
There's a lot to take in in your first weeks (and months!) here, and we don't expect you to have all the answers (let alone the questions) on your first day. Here's a link to a handy list of things you might want to prioritise
General support
There are a whole range of support services available to you and you can find details here
Studying at University
Studying at university level is different from studying at school or college. We expect you to take control of your learning and to organise yourself efficiently. We do not expect that you do all of this without any support from us! The Study Advisers have put together some top tips for successful study at university.expect you to take control of your learning and to organise yourself efficiently. We do not expect that you do all of this without any support from us! The Study Advisers have put together some top tips for successful study at university
The Study Advice team have also created some pages to help in the transition for A-level studies to University studies
You might also want to visit the page that outlines what it is like to study here
Be assured that you will be given every opportunity by your lecturers to maximise your potential and that there are dedicated support staff and resources to help you to settle into university life. The rest is up to you. You can do it; you would not be here if we didn't believe that.
Blackboard Learn
Blackboard Learn is the University's Virtual Learning Environment (VLE). You'll need to access it to get lecture materials (handouts etc), information from your hall and a whole host of other information
IT Support
The University provides a wide range of IT facilities, including PC labs, training and the readingConnect network in Halls. You can download the Welcome to ITS presentation (PDF - 112KB) to learn more.