The University of Reading celebrated the 90th anniversary of its Royal Charter in 2016. The celebrations' focus 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. Founded in the 19th century as an extension College of the University of Oxford, Reading was the only University awarded a charter between the two world wars. Upon granting the Charter, Dr. W. M. Childs became the University's first vice-chancellor. Students carried him through the grounds in celebration.
The University of Reading is now recognized as one of the top 200 universities globally and is home to 17,000 students from over 150 countries.
We offer a wide range of programs 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 expert fields. We remain one of the most popular higher education choices in the UK.
Our vision for 2026 is that the University of Reading will be a vibrant, thriving, sustainable, global, and broad-based institution, responsive to, stimulated by, and informing changes in the world around us. As a result, we will also be significantly larger in students, global reach and presence, and revenue.
Our ambition, now and towards 2026, is to enhance our standing as a leader in research and higher education that defines and responds to individuals and societies' needs and, by so doing, to be counted among the very best universities in the UK and internationally.
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