Photos of university / #uniofreading
About the University of Reading
The University of Reading is a public university located in Reading, Berkshire, United Kingdom. It was established in 1892 asUniversity College, Reading and received its Royal Charter in 1926 from King George V. It was the only university to receive its charter between the two world wars and is therefore a red brick university.
Reading is ranked as one of the top 200 universities in the world. It is ranked 156th in the latest 2015 QS World University Rankings, its highest ever position in the ranking. It is also one of the UK's leading research-intensive universities.[citation needed] It is based on three (formerly four) campuses in, and around, the town of Reading.
History of the University of Reading
University College, Reading
The university owes its first origins to the Schools of Art and Science established in Reading in 1860 and 1870. In 1892 the College at Reading was founded as an extension college by Christ Church, a college of the University of Oxford. The first President was the geographer Sir Halford John Mackinder. The Schools of Art and Science were transferred to the new college by Reading Town Council in the same year.
The new college received its first treasury grant in 1901. Three years later it was given a site, now the university's London Road Campus, by the Palmer family of Huntley & Palmers fame. The same family supported the opening of Wantage Hall in 1908, and of the Research Institute in Dairying in 1912.
University status
The college first applied for a Royal Charter in 1920 but was unsuccessful at that time. However a second petition, in 1925, was successful, and the charter was officially granted on 17 March 1926. With the charter, the college became the University of Reading, the only new university to be created in the United Kingdom between the two world wars.
In 1947 the university purchased Whiteknights Park, which was to become its principal campus. In 1984 the University started a merger with Bulmershe College of Higher Education, which was completed in 1989.
In October 2006, the Senior Management Board proposed the closure of its Physics Department to future undergraduate application. This was ascribed to financial reasons and lack of alternative ideas and caused considerable controversy, not least a debate inParliament over the closure which prompted heated discussion of higher education issues in general. On 10 October the Senate voted to close the Department of Physics, a move confirmed by the Council on 20 November. Other departments closed in recent years include Music, Sociology, Geology, and Mechanical Engineering. The university council decided in March 2009 to close the School of Health and Social Care, a school whose courses have consistently been oversubscribed.
In January 2008, the university announced its merger with the Henley Management College to create the university's new Henley Business School, bringing together Henley College's expertise in MBAs with the University's existing Business School and ICMA Centre. The merger took formal effect on 1 August 2008, with the new business school split across the university's existing Whiteknights Campus and its new Greenlands Campus that formerly housed Henley Management College.
A restructuring of the university was announced in September 2009, which would bring together all the academic schools into three faculties, these being the Faculty of Science, the Faculty of Humanities, Arts and Social sciences, and Henley Business School. The move was predicted to result in the loss of some jobs, especially in the film, theatre and television department, which will shortly be moving into a brand new £11.5 million building on Whiteknights Campus.
In late 2009 it was announced that the London Road Campus was to undergo a £30 million renovation, preparatory to becoming the new home of the university's Institute of Education. This is planned for completion in the summer of 2011, and is being partially funded by the sale of the adjoining site of Mansfield Hall, a former hall of residence, for demolition and replacement by private sector student accommodation.
The university is a lead sponsor of UTC Reading, a new university technical college which opened in September 2013.
In 2016 a move to reorganise the structure of Reading University provoked student protests. On 21 March 2016, staff announced a vote of no confidence in the Vice Chancellor Sir David Bell. 88% of those who voted backed the no confidence motion.
Accreditation
Institutional Accreditation or Recognition - Privy Council
Year of first Accreditation - 1926
Rankings
- The 2014 Research Excellence Framework (REF), coordinated by the HEFCE, placed the University 27th out of 154 institutions in the UK for Research Power, and 19th for Research Intensity.
- In total, 98% of the University's research is labelled as 'internationally recognised', 78% as 'internationally excellent and 27% as 'world leading'.
- Departments in the University have been awarded the biannual Queen's Anniversary Prize for Higher and Further Education four times: in 1998, in the Humanities, Social Sciences and Law category, for work on Shakespeare; in 2005, in the Environment category; in 2008, again in Humanities, Social Sciences and Law; and in 2011, for "teaching and design applications in typography, through print and new technologies" in the Arts.
- Reading was the first university to win a Queen's Award for Export Achievement, in 1989.
- The School of Agriculture Policy and Development was ranked top in the UK and 11th in the world, according to the QS classification of universities by subject.
Student life @the University of Reading
Campuses
The university maintains over 1.6 square kilometres (395 acres) of grounds, in four distinct campuses:
- Whiteknights Campus, at 1.3 square kilometres (321 acres), is the largest and includes Whiteknights Lake, conservation meadows and woodlands as well as most of the University's departments. The campus takes its name from the nickname of the 13th centuryknight, John De Erleigh IV or the 'White Knight', and was landscaped in the 18th century by the Marquis of Blandford. The main University library, in the middle of the campus, holds nearly a million books and subscribes to around 4,000 periodicals. It also has a lake, which is home to many Mandarin Ducks. The Whiteknights campus was voted one of the best green spaces in the United Kingdom for the fifth year running in the 2015 Green Flag People's Choice awards.
- The smaller London Road Campus is the original university site and is closer to the town centre of Reading. The London Road site is home to The Institute of Education - one of the leading providers of teacher training in the UK. The Institute moved to its new home in January 2012. The campus was refurbished at a cost of £30 million, providing it with the best and most attractive facilities in the UK. The London Road site also plays host to the University graduation ceremonies twice a year, in the Great Hall.
- The Greenlands Campus, on the banks of the River Thames in Buckinghamshire. Once the home of William Henry Smith, son of the founder of WH Smith, and latterly the site of the Henley Management College, this campus became part of the university on 1 August 2008, with the merger of that college with the university's Business School to form the Henley Business School. The school's MBA and corporate learning offerings will be based at Greenlands, with undergraduate and other postgraduate courses being based at Whiteknights.
- An Asian campus at Iskandar, Malaysia was formally opened in February 2016. It offers a range of professional programmes at foundation, undergraduate and postgraduate levels including the Henley Business School MBA. First announced in October 2012, it is the university's first overseas campus. The project was overseen by Tony Downes.
The former Bulmershe Court Campus in Woodley was the site of the former Bulmershe Teaching College, which merged with The University of Reading in 1989. The campus was sold in January 2014 as the University decided to concentrate its activity on its three other campuses. It had previously moved all teaching and research at Bulmershe either to Whiteknights or to London Road, and closed the student accommodation.
The university also owns 8.5 square kilometres (2,100 acres) of farmland in the nearby villages of Arborfield, Sonning and Shinfield. These support a mixed farming system including dairy cows, ewes and beef animals, and host research centres of which the flagship is the Centre for Dairy Research.
As part of the proposed Whiteknights Development Plan in Autumn 2007, the University proposed spending up to £250 million on its estates over 30 years, principally to focus academic activities onto the Whiteknights site. The University also announced its intention to site some functions on the London Road site, and proposed a complete withdrawal from Bulmershe Court by 2012, which was accomplished.
Food And Drink On Campus
Cafe Mondial
Café Mondial is the place to get your Starbucks fix, relax with friends, have some lunch or take advantage of free Wi-Fi. It also serves breakfast from Monday to Friday.
Dol.cHe Vita
A fully licensed modern espresso bar offering speciality coffees and a range of sandwiches and snacks, as well as a large patio area. Dol.cHe Vita is located in the Palmer building at the centre of the Whiteknights campus.
Eat & Drink London Road
This modern food court, popular bar and restaurant is open to all and features a wide range of alcoholic and soft drinks, snacks and a full restaurant menu. The venue boasts five screens with Sky and BT Sports, two full-sized pool tables, a darts board, table football, a pinball machine, two up-to-date quiz machines and an internet jukebox.
It also offers takeaway options, a full coffee bar, outside seating and free Wi-Fi – all a short walk away from Reading town centre, university accommodation and regular bus routes.
Eat at Square
Modern food court located in the centre of the Whiteknights campus offering freshly prepared hot and cold meals from the three servery counters. There's also a patio area and a new coffee shop area serving barista-made beverages and snacks.
Mojo's Bar
Mojo's is the largest bar on Whiteknights campus and serves a wide selection of pub-style food and drink. It's open six days a week and is a great place to catch up with old friends and meet new ones. It's also the venue for comedy nights and Thursday's Quiz & Karaoke evening.
During the summer months you can take advantage of Mojo's huge outside patio, and enjoy a cold drink whilst watching the ducks and the geese on Whiteknights Lake.
3Sixty
3sixty is one of the best Student Union venues in the country and is certainly the largest nightclub in Reading. With a capacity of over 2000, 3sixty hosts a wide variety of events day and night and to suit all tastes. The lively venue has hosted conferences, comedians, club nights and live bands. Pendulum, Zane Lowe, Scott Mills, Wretch 32, Tinie Tempah, Chipmunk, Professor Green and Greg James have all performed on stage here.
Museums, libraries and botanical gardens
Reading University maintains four museums, a main campus library, a range of inter-departmental libraries, and a botanical garden. The largest and best known of these museums is the Museum of English Rural Life, which has recently relocated from a location on Whiteknights Campus to a site nearer the town centre next to the London Road Campus. The Ure Museum of Greek Archaeology, theCole Museum of Zoology, the University of Reading Herbarium and the Harris Garden are all on the Whiteknights Campus.
The University Library at Whiteknights makes available over 1 million physical resources, as well as a range of electronic online resources, from 14,000 square metres of space across seven floors. The secondary site library at the University's Bulmershe Campus closed in 2011 and its operative collections were transferred. There is also a library in the University's Meteorology department.
Reading University Students' Union (RUSU)
Reading University Students' Union (RUSU) is an independent body ran by students, for students, and provides facilities, entertainment and opportunities to help you make the most of your time at University.
RUSU is a fully-inclusive community and is led by five full-time Student Officers who are voted into office by students each year. The Union acts as a collective voice for all students on campus, representing their needs and desires.
As well as a democratically elected body, the Students' Union is also the name given to the buildings on Whiteknights campus housing the RUSU offices, shops, cafes, bar and nightclub.
Services of the University of Reading
Halls and accommodation
Student accommodation is provided in a number of halls of residence offering a mix of partially catered (19 meals per week) and self-catering accommodation, along with other self-catering accommodation. Following a major review the University is now proceeding with the integrated Halls and Catering Strategy, that will see several halls replaced as well as new ones created with social, catering & welfare facilities provided in hub areas. Most of the halls of residence lie close to the northern campus periphery and in residential areas close by.
Halls are managed in the following groups: Lakeside, comprising Bridges, Bulmershe and Wessex; Northcourt, comprising Sibly, Sherfield, Benyon and St Patrick's Hall; Park, comprising Childs, Greenow, McCombie, Mackinder, Stenton, Windsor and Dunsden Crescent; Redlands, comprising Hillside, Martindale, St. George's, St Andrew's (formerly), Wells and Wantage; and Estates Management, comprising 35 Upper Redlands Road, Mansfield and St. David's. Other privately managed halls include Kendrick Hall and Crown House (by Unite Students), Saxon Court Apartments (by Collegiate AC), Loddon House and Kings Road (by Fawley Bridge Student Accommodation) and Reading Central Studios (by Fresh Student Living). Wantage Hall is thought to be the oldest purpose built hall in England outside of 'Oxbridge' and is built in the style of an 'Oxbridge' college.
St. Andrews Hall closed in 2001, and is now the home of the Museum of English Rural Life.
St. George's Hall and the Reading Student Village (renamed Benyon) are leased back to the University from UPP. The cost of leasing back the Student Village to the University, according to the University accounts, was £1.3 million in 2002–03 and £1.5 million for 2003–04.
In 2011 the management of the mature and international halls, Hillside and Martindale, was taken over by the "Estates management team", as was Bulmershe Hall in 2012, the sale of which was finalised in 2014. In the same year the new Kendrick Halls were opened on the ground of halls which had not been in use for many years. These are not managed by the university.
In 2012, UPP and the University announced that they would be redeveloping Bridges Hall and Sibly Hall. Bridges Hall reopened for the 2014–15 academic year.
The Library
Our Library is open 24 hours a day, 7 days a week during term time, and gives you access to:
- more than 1 million books
- a fully equipped IT suite
- group discussion spaces
- quiet and silent areas.
The Library goes beyond Google and provides free 24/7 online access to academic resources including around 35,000 ejournals, 300,000 ebooks and 200 databases.
Currency
EUR
GBP
KZT
INR
RUB