Reading university is taking in more students than ever before with more than 4,000 new undergraduates coming next year.

The new school of architecture will open its doors for the first time next month and has recruited more students than expected partly due to a £3,000 a year bursary for the first cohort.

Sir David Bell, vice-chancellor at the university welcomed the new students who will start in September.

"We congratulate all our new students on their exam results," he said.

"A-levels and other qualifications are tough - they require dedication and hard work to achieve success. I pay tribute to teachers and parents for all that they have done to support students get this far.

"We are on track for our highest-ever intake with more than 4000 new undergraduate students expected to start courses at Reading next month.

"We’ve seen a 14.4 per cent rise in applications in the last two years which is six times the national average.

"We are offering a limited number of additional places for other well qualified applicants through clearing, across the vast majority of our subjects. We also have places for students who did better than expected, and want to ‘trade up' and come to Reading.

"We are confident in what we can offer our students - world-leading teaching and research, top-class services and facilities, and an award-winning campus in which we continue to invest."