Sir David Bell has said that European students coming to the university will not be affected by the referendum result

In a statement released on Friday morning, Sir David Bell said that European students studying at the university and with offers for the 2017/18 academic year would be unaffected by Britain's decision to leave the European Union.

He went on to say that European staff and the university's EU research grants and European partnerships would not be affected.

Sir David's statements were checked with caution however.

“At this point, there is no change to immigration status,” the Vice-chancellor said.

“The University will continue to market itself and recruit as normal from EU member states and internationally for 2016/17 onwards.

“The priority for the sector in the negotiations will be protecting freedom of movement for EU students.”

Sir David went on to say that he questioned the apolitical nature of the university, as a place of debate and discussion, during the campaign, whereby no official line was taken.

“We enshrine our values of academic freedom and freedom of speech in our Royal Charter, our constitution and governance policies,” he said.

“I wanted the UK to remain part of the EU. We believed, very strongly, that it was in the best interests of the University of Reading and the country more generally.

“However, we have to respect the democratic will of the British people and plan for the future.”