Reading Beauty School

We highly recommend use of the free app – What3words which can be downloaded to your mobile device ahead of the day, to assist with locating the centre entrance on the day much more precisely than Google Maps or using SatNavs alone. What3words works alongside Waze to help avoid traffic delays also. What3words is available as a free app for iOS and Android or view online without download using the direct what3words links to the centre location below.

To locate the centre on what3words search: stove.search.cycle or visit https://what3words.com/slurs.goals.spout – this will bring you up to our entrance on London Street. See The Beauty Academy placque at the front, right by our entrance.

Parking

There is no parking directly on-site due to the central location of this training centre, however there are several car parks locally available, all within a short walk of the centre. Ensure you allow sufficient journey time to find suitable parking and walk to the centre accordingly. Some local parking options are:

• The Riverside car park, The Oracle (shopping centre), Mill Ln, Reading RG1 2AG has 1611 spaces, charged at £13.50 for up to 8 hours and is 0.3 miles (8 minutes walk) from the centre. Payment is by contactless card payment upon exit (using registration recognition upon entry).
• Queens Road car park, Queens Road, Reading RG1 4PX (satnav RG1 4AR) has 700 spaces, charged at £16.70 for up to 24 hours parking and is 0.4 miles (7 minutes walk) from the centre. Payment by contactless upon exit only.
• Reading Civic B car park, 12 Castle Street, Reading RG1 2LQ has 170 spaces, charged at £12 for up to 24 hours and is 0.9 miles (13 minutes walk) from the centre. Payment by cards, coins and RingGo telephone payment.
• Cattle Market car park, Cattle Market, Great Knolly’s Street, Reading RG1 7HN has 120 spaces, charged at £11 for up to 24 hours and is 1.2 miles (21 minutes) from the centre. Payment by card or RingGo telephone payment.

Travelling by Bus

Getting here by bus is simple, with plenty of routes stopping near the nearby Oracle shopping centre (8 minutes walk) and at Minster Street station (a 2-minute walk away). Most services run regularly throughout the day with contactless payment and step-free access.
Key routes include:

• Great Western Railway bus service
• Thames Valley routes: 4A, 850, RA1

Travelling by Train

Reading Station – one of the best-connected stations in the UK outside London. The centre is just a 14 minute walk (1.2 miles) from the station. Once you arrive at the station, just follow signs for the town centre enjoying a scenic stroll along Forbury Road. Turn right into Blagrave Street, walking along past the Reading Museum and past Town Hall Square, with St Laurence’s church on your left. Continue along Market Place until it meets High Street. Cross the Kings Road onto Duke Street and over the River Kennet as it becomes London Street. Cross over Queens Road, continuing on London Street passing South Street on your left and Church Street on your right, until you come across our entrance at 99 London Street.

Direct trains run frequently from:

• London Paddington – just 24 minutes via Great Western Railway
• London Heathrow Airport – around 40 minutes via the Elizabeth line
• Oxford – 23 minutes
• Basingstoke – 25 minutes
• Newbury – 30 minutes
• Swindon – 35 minutes

Services into Reading are run by:

• Great Western Railway – from London Paddington, Oxford, Swindon, Bristol, and the South West
• Elizabeth line – for convenient travel from Central London and Heathrow
• South Western Railway – from Basingstoke, Southampton and the south coast
• CrossCountry – connecting Reading with Birmingham, the Midlands, and the North