Student Accommodation
Reading
- Student Accommodation
- Reading
Reading is a lovely city to live in and is situated right outside the UK's capital city - London! With amazing transport links both to the South West and Wales, and to the Midlands and the North, you're able to travel around the country with ease. It’s in the perfect location for students looking to experience the thrills of student life in a city of a manageable size! If you are moving to our luxury Reading student accommodation, you’ll find the perfect new home for your time studying at the University of Reading or the Reading campus of the University of West London.
Our student accommodation in Reading is located close to all of the best amenities, pubs, bars, restaurants and cafés, arts and culture, live music and fantastic transport links to explore both the local area and the surrounding areas and London. We have built the best Reading student accommodation that we can, offering comfort and luxury to all students with our studio apartments and large shared apartment spaces. You’ll be welcomed by big comfy beds, loads of storage and study space, fast Wi-Fi and great communal spaces to make new friends.
Our student accommodation in Reading is located close to all of the best amenities, pubs, bars, restaurants and cafés, arts and culture, live music and fantastic transport links to explore both the local area and the surrounding areas and London. We have built the best Reading student accommodation that we can, offering comfort and luxury to all students with our studio apartments and large shared apartment spaces. You’ll be welcomed by big comfy beds, loads of storage and study space, fast Wi-Fi and great communal spaces to make new friends.
The Collection
University of Reading
With a heavy focus on research, the University of Reading is one of the leading proponents of research-intensive teaching in the whole of the UK. It is currently ranked 194 in the QS World University Rankings 2026, and with over 165 years of history and its origins as an extension college of Christ Church, Oxford, the university is highly regarded and a great place to study and gain a glowing reputation.
As you would expect from a research-focused university, there is an extensive library and resource centre that is open to students 24 hours a day during term time. Here, students can access over one million books and 35,000 or more e-journals. There is plenty of quiet study space and areas for group meetings and discussions too.
Located in the South East of the country and close to London, the university is in one of the best locations for students to find jobs during their time as a student and graduate jobs after study. A dedicated Job Shop provides access to vacancies in the university itself and in and around Reading, while the Careers Advice service helps students make the right choices for their future career with specialist advice on all manner of things, including how to write a CV effectively and how to prepare well for job interviews. There is an extensive list of voluntary positions and work placement schemes, as well as an online resource with free videos and assessment tools to help students maximise their potential with a view to future employment.
Reading University Students’ Union (RUSU)
Reading University Students’ Union (RUSU) welcomes all students with a wide range of support services, societies and clubs to get involved with. There are over 160 clubs and societies to choose from, including every sport you can imagine, debate societies, literature, art and music societies and a whole host of other interests. If you want to get involved with your own personal passion project, the chances are you will find others with a similar interest and hobby. The SU is also home to a café, bar, nightclub, bookshop, hairdresser, student-run newspaper, radio station and online TV channel.
University of West London
There is also a Reading-based campus for the University of West London. This provides industry-standard facilities and links to fantastic industry and employment opportunities. The goal is to help all students have the best chance to make it within their chosen career, and with a great community atmosphere, it is a university committed to helping all.
There is a comprehensive careers service open to students from the day they join the university, with direct notifications from Employment Services to help find the latest work placement opportunities, volunteering posts and part-time jobs around town. The university has a heritage of over 160 years of high-standard teaching and traces its origins to the Lady Byron School, founded in Ealing in 1860.
The Best Places to Eat
Living in your brand-new luxury student accommodation in Reading, you will be keen to know where the best places are to eat around town. There is sometimes no better way to get acquainted with your new friends and find out what your new hometown is all about than to head out for a bite to eat. Reading is a pretty large town with loads going on, and this can be seen quite clearly in its range of restaurants and cafés that are friendly for students. Here, we look at just a few of the best choices for you as you start your new life studying in the city.
Caffeine and Cocktails (King’s Walk)
This is one of the best student hangouts in town as it has managed to straddle both sides of the divide. It is an exquisite place to have brunch or a hearty lunch during the day, but it is also a fantastic bar where you can enjoy a range of delicious cocktails at night. The name truly does sell the place accurately. Whether you are after a coffee and a spot of breakfast as a pick-me-up before the rest of a hard day at university, or a cocktail of your choosing to start a night out, Caffeine and Cocktails has you covered.
Cosmo (Friar Street)
This restaurant serves up dishes from all around the world in a large all-you-can-eat buffet. It is the perfect place to go for something to eat with a group of new friends, as it has every type of cuisine for you to choose from. What better way to satisfy everyone than to head to a buffet where one person can pile up a bowl of pasta or a slice of pizza, another can have some sushi and someone else an Indian curry dish, with dishes prepared fresh throughout the day.
Royal Tandoori (Duke Street)
If you are into your Indian food, you must head on over to Duke Street and the Royal Tandoori. It is one of the favourites in Reading for delivering fresh, tasty curries that show the unique breadth of flavour in Indian cuisine. There is also a great lunchtime set menu deal available during the week, making it an excellent option for students on a budget. It is a great place for a group of people to share a range of dishes and to see what the place has to offer, including some fantastic vegetarian options.
Tutu’s Ethiopian Table (Palmer Park)
Tutu’s Ethiopian Table is a hidden gem in Palmer Park, a short distance from the town centre. The kitchen is run by Tutu Melaku, who was born and raised in Addis Ababa and has been serving her traditional Ethiopian dishes in Reading since 1991. Expect beautifully prepared meat and vegetarian stews served with injera, the light, spongy Ethiopian pancake that makes the perfect companion for soaking up rich sauces. It is a wonderfully welcoming spot for lunch, and the park setting makes it a genuinely lovely place to spend an afternoon.
Nights Out
We all have to let our hair down occasionally, and what better way to do it than to head out on the tiles with your new friends you have made at our luxury student accommodation in Reading? Reading is a pretty large town, and with London right on the doorstep too, there is quite a lot of choice for a night out, whether you are looking for cheesy music, the latest dance tracks or an alternative scene. We have taken the time to choose a few starting points for you as you head to your new life in Reading.
Lola Lo (Friar Street)
Lola Lo is widely known around town as the tiki capital of fun. It is where people go to enjoy cocktails, to sip them out of big tiki mugs and massive shared group bowls, and to dance the night away. It is a fun place to go for a night out, and there are some interesting student deals throughout the week. Every Thursday night is the student night at Lola Lo, with a House and R&B playlist and a range of guest list specials.
Club Era (Friar Street)
Club Era is one of Reading’s biggest and most exciting nightclubs, spread across two floors with two rooms of music covering house, dance, R&B, hip-hop and much more. The venue is kitted out with state-of-the-art lighting, a custom-built DJ booth, CO2 cannons, confetti cannons, pyrotechnics and a balcony area overlooking the main dancefloor, making for a genuinely spectacular night out. With a capacity of 1,000, it is one of the largest venues in the town and the place to be on a Saturday night in Reading.
Milk Bar (Merchants Place)
Rum, and lots of it! Milk Bar has over 100 rums on offer, varying from dark to white, spiced, rhum and cachaça. The bar staff are very knowledgeable and can offer the best advice on what to mix with each or just to drink on its own. Happy hour runs from 5pm to 7pm Monday to Saturday, making it a brilliant place to start a night out with well-priced cocktails.
Q Club (Friar Street)
Every single week, Q Club serves up the biggest tunes to students, from club classics to cheesy tunes, R&B anthems and indie sing-alongs. There are different themed nights throughout the week, and students can expect dancefloors exploding with confetti, fireworks indoors, drinks promotions, photographers and a VIP feel to every single night out.
Stay Fit And Healthy
Sport is a great way to get away from the stresses and strains of daily working life. Whether you want to compete in a team, keep fit and healthy with a solo sporting pursuit, or you want to go and watch professional sport, you are in the best place to take advantage of your luxury Reading student accommodation. There is loads to see and do around Reading, within the university and beyond.
Reading Football Club
Reading Football Club was founded way back in 1871 and over the years has had memorable moments, including Premier League campaigns, exciting cup runs and great promotion races. In fact, Reading FC hold the Championship record for the most points achieved in a single season, winning 106 points in the promotion-winning season of 2005/06. The club plays at the Select Car Leasing Stadium, a modern 24,161-seat ground that has been their home since 1998. Whatever league the Royals are playing in, matchday in Reading is always an experience worth having.
Reading Rockets
One of the most successful and popular basketball clubs in the UK, Reading Rockets, has been performing at these heights since they were founded in 1997. The club has won national championships and built a reputation as a genuine force in British basketball. You can head over to the Rivermead Leisure Complex to watch the games for an exciting afternoon or evening out.
Berkshire Renegades
If you would prefer to watch some British American Football, the Berkshire Renegades play at the South Reading Leisure Centre. Since returning to the BAFA (British American Football Association) leagues in 2005, the men’s senior team has developed a strong setup and has won titles at senior and youth levels.
Reading Hockey Club
Hockey has always played a big part in British sport, and there is certainly a place for you to call home if you are into the sport. Reading Hockey Club is one of the leading clubs since its founding in 1904. Playing at Sonning Lane, the hockey club supports the development of over 400 senior players and 500 junior members, with a wide variety of skills and experience.
Palmer Park Stadium
Palmer Park Stadium can be found in the parkland of Palmer Park. The stadium has some of the very best sporting facilities around for those looking to get fit and to become more experienced at certain sports, and especially for those aiming to compete at an elite level. There are both indoor and outdoor leisure activities to take part in, as well as a fully functioning athletics stadium and velodrome.
Where To Shop
Shopping is an essential part of everyday life, and when you first move into your new student accommodation in Reading, you will want to get out and about and search for the best shopping facilities in town. Some people like the familiarity of high street shops, others want to explore local markets and independent boutiques. Reading has plenty of every type of shopping experience for you to explore.
Food Markets
A food market is a fantastic way to take a look at the reality of a town when you first move there. There are some fantastic markets not far from your luxury Reading student accommodation. Blue Collar Street Food runs every Wednesday and Friday lunchtime in Market Place, with a rotating lineup of eight or more traders serving amazing food from around the world, from Jamaican jerk chicken and Peruvian dishes to vegan options and much more. Blue Collar also has a permanent street food arena and bar at their Hosier Street venue, which hosts events, live music and cook-off contests throughout the year.
Shopping Centres
Retail therapy should never be hard work, and in Reading there are a few shopping centres that allow you to truly indulge. The Oracle is the largest, with an array of indoor shops ranging from high street favourites and restaurants to a Hollywood Bowl and other leisure attractions. It has undergone significant investment and expansion in recent years and continues to grow its offer. Broad Street Mall can be found in central Reading, and on top of the many shops and high street names you will find there, it is also home to cafés, coffee shops and fast food restaurants.
Independent Shopping
It is not all about the big shopping centres and high street brand names when you live in Reading as a student, though. Reading is also home to a wide selection of independent stores, fashion boutiques, bookshops, antique furniture shops and so much more. Anything you could desire is here, but also remember that London is just a short hop away, so you have got one of the best cities in the world right there for a shopping experience. Standout independent stores in Reading include the classic game shop Eclectic Games on Market Place and Frock and Roll on Watlington Street, selling some of the best vintage men’s and women’s fashion in the area.
Thames River Cruise
River cruises run from Reading to Goring and Henley between March and November every year. It is a really pleasant way to spend a few hours, especially if you include an attraction such as the private tour of Mapledurham Watermill. The scheduled public cruises can also include lunch or afternoon tea.
Reading Festival
When most students first think about moving to luxury student accommodation in Reading, they will have some understanding of Reading Festival. Considered the oldest annual popular music festival in existence, it has evolved since first starting in 1961 as the National Jazz Festival, growing into the enormous music festival it is today. It runs alongside Leeds Festival every August Bank Holiday weekend, and over three days is home to some of the biggest bands and artists from across the world, performing live across multiple stages and tents, as well as DJs and comedians. It is one of the biggest festival weekends on the national calendar and certainly worth attending if you are staying in Reading over the summer holidays and love your music.
Vaudeville Electric Theatre
Now a popular events space and bar in Reading town centre, the Vaudeville Electric Theatre has a fascinating history. First opened in 1909 on Broad Street with seating for around 500 people, it was expanded in 1921 into a grand new 1,500-seat auditorium with a barrel-vaulted ceiling and seating arranged on stalls and circle levels. It operated as a cinema until 1957 and has since found a new life as one of Reading’s most characterful venues.
Arts and Live Music
Away from the big festival, Reading has always had a strong arts and culture community. The Reading International Solidarity Centre hosts live poetry and music nights, while the South Street Arts Centre has a collaboration with the Department of Film, Theatre and Television at the University of Reading. Sub89 and The Hexagon are the great live music venues in the city, hosting touring bands from many genres.