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Reading is the act of studying, particularly for an undergraduate degree at Oxford and Cambridge universities.
The phrase suggests that the gaining of knowledge is self-lead rather than taught, more akin to the tutorial system used at Oxbridge where students find information that is then presented to a tutor for discussion.
On the UK television quiz show University Challenge, compered originally by Bamber Gascoigne but more recently by Jeremy Paxman, student contestants from Oxbridge, and some of the older universities (notably St. Andrew's), introduce themselves as "Joe Bloggs, reading Mathematics" whereas contestants from less traditional universities use "Josephine Bloggs, studying Mathematics" and, on occasion, "Joey Bloggs, doing Mathematics".
Some contestants from the more traditional universities have also been known to wear their academic gowns.
This term has been widely used in the study of law (i.e. those wishing to become lawyers would "read law"), both in the UK, and in other countries prior to the advent of the modern law school.
See also
"Reading (for degree)"