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90 years of excellence
The University of Reading celebrated the 90th anniversary of its Royal Charter in 2016. The focus of the celebrations took place on Thursday 17 March 2016, which marked 90 years since the Royal Charter was granted on the same date in 1926.
Over the decades we have become innovators and pioneers, pushing academic boundaries and leading social change.
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.
Our campuses
These include Whiteknights, Greenlands, London Road, and our new campus in Malaysia.
The University today
The University of Reading is now recognised as one of the top 200 Universities in the world, and is home to 19,000 students from over 150 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.
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 four-time winner of the Queen’s Anniversary Prize for Higher Education, winning in 1998, 2006, 2009 and 2012.
In 1989 the University of Reading became the first university to win the Queen’s Award for Export Achievement.
In 1989 the University of Reading became the first university to win the Queen’s Award for Export Achievement.