[15] Following the conclusion of the 2014–15 season, Reading announced that they would not be renewing the contracts of Daniel Lincoln, Jonathan Henly, Aleksandar Gogic, Zat Knight, Jure Travner, George McLennan, Danny Guthrie, Ryan Edwards and Yakubu.

[17] 12 days later, on 8 June 2015, Derby County announced that they had signed Alex Pearce on a three-year contract, ending his 14-year stay with Reading.

[20] On 8 July, Galatasaray confirmed the signing of Jem Karacan on a free transfer, following the expiration of his Reading contract at the end of the previous season.

[21] Jure Travner re-signed for NK Celje on 15 July,[22] whilst Danny Guthrie joined Blackburn Rovers on 5 August 2015.

[33] On 29 July 2015, Kuhl joined RCD Mallorca on trial with a view to a season-long loan deal with the Spanish Segunda División side.

[34] Sultan Al Harthy from Arsenal Soccer School Oman joined the club on trial at the end of July.

Birmingham went 2–0 up through goals from David Cotterill and Jon Toral either side of half-time, before Nick Blackman just before the hour mark and Orlando Sá had a 98th-minute penalty saved.

[52] Three days later, Reading defeated Colchester United 1–0, after extra time, in the League Cup with the goal coming from Chris Gunter.

[53] On 16 August, Reading hosted Leeds United in a scoreless draw,[54] before visiting Sheffield Wednesday three days later in a game that finished 1–1.

Portsmouth took the lead in the 40th minute through Conor Chaplin, before second half goals from Nick Blackman and Garath McCleary gave Reading the victory.

Tom Ince scored the winner for Derby in the 69th minute after Sá received a red card for an off-the-ball incident during first-half stoppage time.

A 76th-minute header by Blackman was the only goal of the game, giving Reading three points and moving the club up to second place in the league.

[81] Top-of-the-league Brighton gained the lead shortly after half-time, before Matěj Vydra scored his first Reading goal to equalise.

A second Huddersfield goal took the score to 1–2 by half time; Reading substitute Ola John equalised in the 84th minute to gain the club a point for the 2–2 draw and remain 7th in the league.

[87] On 11 November, Tarique Fosu moved to League One side Fleetwood Town on loan until 2 January 2016,[88] with Dominic Samuel joining Gillingham F.C.

[82] On 3 December Reading suffered a 1–0 home defeat to Queens Park Rangers,[98] dropping to 11th but remaining within one win of the play-offs.

[123] The next day, 6 January, Nick Blackman moved to Derby County for an undisclosed fee,[124][125] and Craig Tanner extended his loan deal at Plymouth Argyle until the end of the season.

[129] The following week, on 25 January, Jake Taylor's loan with Motherwell was cancelled, going on to join Exeter City permanently later the same day.

[136] In early January, Bosnian U-17 international Seid Behram, who had been with the academy for a few months, signed permanently for the club from Željezničar,[137] whilst Andrija Novakovich,[138] Tariqe Fosu, Sean Long,[139] Rob Dickie, Dominic Hyam, Lewis Collins, Bogdan Vaštšuk, Jake Sheppard, Noor Husin and Zak Jules all returned from their respective loan spells.

Despite conceding after the half-time break, goals from McShane, Hector and Piazon gave a 3–1 victory and secured Reading's place in the quarter-finals for the second year running.

[154] Reading's FA Cup quarter final match against Crystal Palace took place on 11 March at the Madejski Stadium.

After a goalless draw for 85 minutes, Reading conceded a penalty that also saw Cooper receive his second yellow card of the game.

Despite Al Habsi's touch to the ball, Yohan Cabaye's spot kick gave Crystal Palace the lead before Fraizer Campbell increased the score to 2–0, knocking Reading out of the competition.

[156] A second consecutive league defeat occurred away to promotion hopefuls Brighton and Hove Albion on 15 March,[157] with Reading subsequently placed 15th in the division.

[163] Reading's three-match winning streak came to an end on 9 April with a 0–2 home defeat to Birmingham City, in a game that was described as "disappointing".

[164] This was followed by a 2–1 away defeat to Middlesbrough on 12 April,[165] during which an on-pitch incident between McShane and Williams resulted them both receiving a three-match ban from the FA for violent conduct.

[171] On 2 May, Turkish U20 international midfielder, Anil Capkin, joined the club on a week long trial with a view to a summer move.

[175] On 9 May, it was confirmed that Reading would not be renewing the contracts of Anton Ferdinand, Hal Robson-Kanu, Simon Cox, Nana Owusu, Pierce Sweeney, Lewis Collins, Noor Husin, Hammad Lawal, Samúel Friðjónsson, Conor Shaughnessy and Bogdan Vaštšuk.

[176] It was also confirmed that Dominic Hyam, Robert Dickie, Shane Griffin, Sean Long, Aaron Kuhl, Liam Kelly, Zak Jules, George Legg had all been offered new contacts, alongside Under-18 players Omar Richards, Harrison Bennett, Ryan East, Sam Smith, Luke Southwood, Billy Collings and Joe Tupper.

[177] On 25 May, Reading announced the signing of Danzell Gravenberch for the upcoming 2016–17 season,[178] and First Team Coach Chris Davies was leaving to be Brendan Rodgers Assistant Manager at Celtic on 1 June.