If you're looking into parking at Reading expecting a standard permit system most students can apply for, the reality is more restrictive than that. Here's what's actually true for 2026.
Permits are only "usually" awarded for specific reasons
This is the single most important thing to understand before you plan around having a car. Reading's own guidance states permits are only usually awarded to students with a disability or extenuating circumstances meeting specific Campus or Halls Criteria, not as something most students can simply apply for and expect to get. Disabled badge holders get a free permit. If you don't fall into one of these categories, a permit genuinely isn't the realistic plan.
What it actually costs, if you do qualify
There are two permit types, Campus and Halls, available for Semester 1 (September to February), Semester 2 (February to June), the summer vacation, or short permits up to 4 weeks. Pricing runs £37.28 per semester or £111.84 for the full year. All permits are digital now, one per student, there's no physical pass to display. Applications open 1 August, and you need to apply within 10 days of your course start date.
Two separate permit systems, easy to confuse
This genuinely trips people up. Reading Borough Council runs its own, completely separate student parking permit scheme for off-campus residential parking, distinct from the university's own system above. If you're looking into parking near where you live rather than on campus, you're looking at the council's scheme, not the university's, and the eligibility and application process are different for each.
Don't believe the "weekend pricing" claims you might see elsewhere
Worth correcting directly: the university's own visitor car park, Car Park 1A, charges £2 an hour or £12.50 a day, and this applies the same seven days a week, there's no separate official weekend rate. If you've seen weekend-specific pricing mentioned, that's coming from third-party car park finder services like JustPark listing nearby spaces, not an actual University of Reading weekend tariff.
Is it worth trying anyway?
Reading has two campuses, Whiteknights, the main one, and London Road, and buses run roughly every 10 minutes between them according to student consensus, which goes a long way toward explaining why permits aren't handed out freely. Student Room threads consistently describe parking as genuinely limited, with most students advised not to bring a car without a specific need, small car parks near individual halls, and arriving 10 to 15 minutes early as common practical advice for anyone who does have legitimate access.
Bottom line
Unless you have a disability or genuinely extenuating circumstances, don't plan around getting a University of Reading parking permit. If you're looking at parking near your house rather than campus, that's the council's separate scheme, and worth checking directly with Reading Borough Council rather than the university.
