Official University of Reading 2023 Applicant Thread

Accommdation portal is open to anyone who has firmed. minimum of five choices you have to do if anyone wants to know

Hi, is it best to apply for accommodation as soon as possible? I was ideally hoping to accept my offers after I've been to applicant days for Sussex and Reading (I'm in love with Reading but I'm the most indescisive person on Earth and the student satisfaction survey for my course worries me a bit). Should I firm Reading now or will I be okay if I wait a week or so longer after I've been to at least the Sussex applicant day which is this Saturday?

Hello everyone
Just wanted to see who had a confirmed place at Reading University for the Msc programme starting in September 2023

Welcome everyone! Thanks @Ghostlady for starting this off!

Please give us a shout if you have any questions about the University of Reading, a specific course, or life at Reading in general, and we will be happy to help Looking forward to chatting with you all!

Lottie
GRTUK and University of Reading alumna

Hi.
We are going to the offer holder day on Saturday 18th Feb but have had no information through at all about session times etc except to say it starts at 9.45 and ends at 2pm, and confirmation that we have a place on the offer holder day. Is there a schedule to show what events are taking place and where at what times? How do we access that schedule? I have had a look through me@reading but can't find any information about the offer holder days. It said an email would be sent closer to the day but its only 3 days away now and we've heard nothing.
Thanks

Hi, I am an international student applying for BA Economics with international foundation year at Reading.Is the foundation year in Reading hard and is foundation year student(both home and international)rare in Reading (as most of the student starts with their degree first year)?

Hi.
We are going to the offer holder day on Saturday 18th Feb but have had no information through at all about session times etc except to say it starts at 9.45 and ends at 2pm, and confirmation that we have a place on the offer holder day. Is there a schedule to show what events are taking place and where at what times? How do we access that schedule? I have had a look through me@reading but can't find any information about the offer holder days. It said an email would be sent closer to the day but its only 3 days away now and we've heard nothing.
Thanks

Hello!
It is a very common thing to do! A few of my friends have done a foundation year and they absolutely loved it! In terms of whether it is hard , it is meant to challenge you (as with all aspects of uni) but it is designed to support your learning , structured specifically to ensure you have the breadth of knowledge required to go into first year.
Hopefully this has helped! If you have any other questions please don't hesitate to ask!

Owain
2nd year Mathematics and Economics student

Thank you for such a helpful reply. I didn’t notice that I posted anonymously. It has been 3 year since my A level at a local college, so I opt for economics degree with foundation year and received offer from Swansea, Reading and Kent . I wasn’t doing very well in A level(especially in Math)back then additionally I have been out of study for 3 years thus it worries me a lot regarding the foundation year. Then a deferred offer from Swansea to a first year entry makes me think that it is uncommon to have a foundation year.I am considering to make Reading my firm choice, should I apply my accommodation as soon as possible as an international student?

Hi, Daughter has applied for Ecology/Wildlife Conservation and is currently torn between Reading and Lancaster. We had an offer holder day at Lancaster last weekend which went really well and will be at Readings on the 4th Mar (the 18th Feb one got cancelled for us). The Reading site is lovely but I am a little concerned that it is too spread out and therefore issues around safety when walking around after dark? Also can anyone tell me if there are any issues in getting decent accommodation in years 2 onwards in the private sector? I know there is a shortage in some towns/cities. Thanks

Hi @NF73,

Great questions. Firstly, we are very excited to welcome you on campus in March, and well done to your daughter for getting her applications done - I know that in itself is stressful!
I totally understand your concerns with regards to safety, these were some very similar questions that I remember asking when I came to an open day before I applied too (to which the answers are what comforted me!). Luckily, safety is paramount to the university and therefore there are so many services in place to protect students.
There is a 50+ in-house team which is on hand 24/7 and strives to maintain a safe and secure environment across the University's sites. They provide:
-security patrols,
-surveillance and emergency response for all University property,
-an extensive CCTV network,
-24-hour control room

Campus Watch is a service that operates a lot like you would expect a neighbourhood watch to, with security looking to improve campus community relations and sharing of information.

There is also a chaperone service which is completely free, whereby students, staff and visitors can book security to 'watch over them', meaning if you are ever concerned about getting back safely, security can watch you specifically, walk between destinations until you are where you need to be. I remember this being one of the things that was told to me when I was concerned, and it made me feel so much more at ease - although I have never felt like I've actually needed to use it, but it's good to know it's there!
More extensive information about the security services available at the university can be found here.

From experience, I would say it is surprising how safe I have always felt on campus. It definitely feels like a safe environment when I've been walking through in the dark and is very well lit - which helps! Even though it appears big, I think this is more the case when you are new (as expected) and it quickly becomes less daunting when you get used to it. I think I'd also advise walking in groups if you are concerned, but nothing is majorly far from anything on campus grounds which makes any walk pretty short, which is also a good thing.

In terms of housing, I have never found there to be issues in finding properties personally and have found a house off-campus for 3 years in a row fairly easily, thankfully. But, there are services in place to help you with this if you need to. RUSU have great support available for finding rented accommodation, including a guide. Although the market does fluctuate, there is sufficient housing available in Reading!

I hope this helps, but if you have any other questions, please don't hesitate to ask!

Good luck with her decisions and studies!

Skye
3rd Year Speech and Language Therapy Student & Student Ambassador

Hi, I have a question about living cost at Reading.Since the meal plan only covers for 31 weeks, for those who choose 51 week long accommodation contracts with meal plan, how much will the food costs per week on weeks that are not covered by meal plan?

Anyone heard back from Speech Therapy Msc?