Joining the University

Here's what you need to do before you arrive, to get started with University life.

Register at Uni and on your course

Pack your ID

You'll need a valid passport (mandatory for non-EU students), EU identity card, UK driving licence or UK birth certificate. You won't be able to start your course without one of these.

Complete your registration

Before you begin your course, you need to register. You'll receive instructions by email, or you can follow the steps below.

Step 1: Activate your student account 

Your student account is what you need to access your email address and other University services. Activate your student account, to receive your University username, which will consist of UP followed by your Student ID number (e.g. UP1234567).

If you have any trouble activating or logging into your account, please contact our Service Desk on (+44) 023 9284 7777 or servicedesk@port.ac.uk.

Step 2: Register for your course

Once your account has been activated, log into your Student View, the system to manage your information, and select ‘My Registration’ at the top of the screen to complete the online registration form. This includes: 

• Uploading a passport sized (and good quality) photo of yourself, clearly showing your face, and containing no other objects or people.
• If you are being charged a tuition fee yourself, you will be asked to make payment and/or set up a payment plan as part of this process. More information about how to make a payment is available online, or please contact our Income Team at income@port.ac.uk or  (+44) 023 9284 5533.

If you can't view your ‘My Registration’ tab on Student View, it's likely that you have an outstanding debt to the University. Please go to your ‘My Finance’ tab to view the outstanding balance and contact the Income team at income@port.ac.uk or (+44) 023 9284 5533 to resolve. 

Step 3: Complete a valid identity (ID) check

Once you’ve registered for your course as part of Step 2, you will receive an email with instructions on how to complete your ID check.

ID checking completes your registration for the University of Portsmouth and enables us to confirm who you are on behalf of the University to organisations such as the Student Loans Company, UKVI and some banks. 

Step 4: Apply for your student card

Once you've registered for your course you’ll receive an email within the next couple of days asking you to apply for your student card. 

There's more information on MyPort about what you can use your student card for.

Step 5: Update your term-time contact details

When you arrive in Portsmouth, or the UK, please update your term-time address and mobile phone numbers on your Student View, so that we have the correct contact information for you.

Late arrivals

If you can't make it to Portsmouth for the start of term, please let us know.

We allow late registrations, up to a certain point, on an exceptional basis.

Get your funding sorted

Our fees and funding pages have loads of useful information for undergraduates and postgraduates. You can also go directly to your national funding body website:

• Student Finance England
• Student Finance Wales
• Student Awards Agency Scotland
• Student Finance Northern Ireland

If you’re not sure what to do, you can reach out to our experts in the Student Finance Centre. Drop them an email via studentfinance@port.ac.uk, send a message via social media or give them a ring. The team will give you details on what you might be entitled to, how to apply for funding, how to pay your fees and what to do if you’ve left it late.

It's also important to double-check the information you have given to your student funding body. Make sure that details like the course name, university and course length are correct. Any incorrect information here may cause issues with you receiving your funding.

Find your new home

If you've applied for accommodation already, our Student Housing team will contact you. All you'll need to do before you leave home is work out where your new place is based.

If you haven't sorted out where you'll be living, contact student.housing@port.ac.uk right away. They're on hand to help.

Bring your papers 

If you're an international or EU student, bring your offer letter with you and any other important documents. To check what you need to pack, see our preparing to travel pages. For advice on everything from getting a visa to opening a bank account, see our international student pages.

If we've asked you to give us proof of your qualifications, find and pack those too.

Have your jabs

Make sure you’ve had your injections for mumps and meningitis before you get here – it's important. The best protection against mumps and measles is to have 2 doses of the MMR vaccination. The MenACWY vaccine protects against meningitis and septicaemia (blood poisoning), which can both be fatal.

You should also consider getting your Covid vaccination before or once you arrive for University.

Think about money

Financial independence is great, but it's a big responsibility too. We recommend bringing enough money with you for your first two weeks, just in case your maintenance loan is delayed.

Use our average weekly outgoings information to work out a budget. Also identify anything else you’ll need to spend your money on in your first few weeks, so you don't overspend. At least not by too much, anyway.

Follow our welcome ambassadors

Welcome ambassadors are current students, who share their own experiences of starting uni and put you in touch with other new students who share your interests.

Follow our welcome ambassadors on Facebook and Instagram.

Check your course induction information

You must attend your induction programme. Find your way around during induction week using the campus map.

You'll get your timetable during induction week.

Prepare for university learning

The way you learn at university will likely be different from what you're used to at school or college. Use our study skills guides to help you prepare for university learning.

It includes advice on lectures, seminars and techniques for effective independent study, and gets you to think about your digital presence and the importance of digital learning.

You can also find out about the academic and personal support your personal tutor gives you to help you make a smooth transition into uni life.

After you've arrived

Check your maintenance loan

Once you've registered for your course and we've checked your ID, you should get the first instalment of your maintenance loan in your bank account within 3 working days. If it doesn't arrive by then, contact your national funding body to see what the hold up is. You can also contact or drop into the Student Finance Centre and we'll be able to help you.

Tuition fees

If you have an undergraduate tuition fee loan, you don't need to do anything – it will be paid directly to us.

If you or a sponsor are paying your tuition fees, we'll send an invoice with details of how to pay – this includes Postgraduate students.

Register with a GP and dentist

Registering is simple – all you need to do is find a doctor's surgery and dentist near where you're living in the city, and pop in or call them to ask them about registering. 

Discover the Students' Union

One of your first visits to the Students' Union will be the Freshers' Fayre, where you can join any clubs or societies you like. The Union will also become an important part of your university life for many other reasons too. It's where you can get your TOTUM card and where a lot of fun things will happen, of course. But it's also a place where you can get important advice and support.

Play, Train, or Compete and get active

Join over 6,000 like-minded students who stay active with our Sport and Recreation department. With unbeatable student gym memberships from £7.50 a month and over 35 sports clubs to join and make friends for life.

With our memberships you can:

• Play and get involved in social sport with a focus on fun
• Train and develop your health, fitness and sport-specific skills
• Compete with yourself and smash your PB
• Compete and represent the University of Portsmouth in our BUCS competitions 

Engage with your studies

Research has shown that if you engage with your learning and take part in timetabled teaching sessions you'll get better grades and feel more like you ‘belong’ at uni.

To help you do this, we monitor your attendance when you:

• swipe your Student Card at card readers placed outside, or in, teaching rooms for face-to-face sessions
• log in and access modules and learning materials on your virtual learning environment

Any questions?

If there's anything else you'd like to know before you start with us, email myport@port.ac.uk.