Academic reading circles (ARC), through peer interaction, plays an important role in improving second language learners’ willingness to communicate (WTC) which serves as one of the core topics in second language acquisition (SLA). Although previous studies have examined WTC and ARC respectively, there’s currently limited research on the role of ARC in enhancing graduate students’ WTC in university contexts. Therefore, this study aimed to explore the levels and influencing factors of graduate students’ WTC in the university ARC setting. 50 second-year graduate students majoring in English Education were randomly selected as participants. A questionnaire was used to investigate the levels of graduate students’ WTC and semi-structured interviews were applied to explore the factors influencing their WTC. Questionnaire data were collected on-site and later analyzed using JASP, while interview data were collected online and analyzed by deductive thematic analysis. The results showed that graduate students’ overall WTC in English ARC was at a high level. Moreover, the individual psychology and cognition (confidence, proficiency, motivation and anxiety) as well as situational tasks and classroom environment (role, teacher, task, peer interaction and peer pressure) were the main factors influencing graduate students’ WTC in ARC. This study offers implications and references for promoting graduate students’ WTC through ARC and for optimizing the design of ARC activities in university settings.