Your time to explore, your place to thrive
Portsmouth is a university for you. And who you are about to become
Portsmouth is a great place to live and study. Here’s the proof.
1) Outstanding teaching
Portsmouth is known for providing consistently outstanding teaching, learning and outcomes for our students. You'll be taught by lecturers whose passion for their subject shines through in their teaching. Many of them carry out world-leading research in their field.
Others have a background in industry and remain active in their professions. They’ll help you develop skills, knowledge and connections.
Every student is assigned a personal tutor, who provides pastoral care and supports your academic and professional development. They’ll help you perform at your best.
2) Excellent student experience
You’re our number one priority and we put you first in all of our decision making. We want to make sure you have an excellent student experience and feel deeply connected to our university community. You’ll get outstanding teaching, excellent spaces for socialising and learning, and wide-ranging support. We also run a month-long programme of welcome events to help you settle into university life, make new friends, meet your lecturers, find your way around campus, and get to know the city. And you can attend social events throughout the year to keep you connected such as film and games nights, picnics, and quizzes.
We're also home to tonnes of societies and sports clubs – whatever you're into, you can do it here. And you'll meet like-minded people who share your interests and make friends for life.
3) Support every step of the way
Whatever support you need, we’re here for you at every stage of your university journey from the moment you start until years after you graduate. We want to help you achieve your potential and have the best university experience possible.
We offer support with health and wellbeing, academic skills, personal tutoring, disability advice, the library, IT and computers, maths, careers, accommodation, and student finance. We also give specific support to BAME students, LGBTQ+ students, care leavers, estranged students and people seeking sanctuary.
4) Exceptional career support
Your success is our priority. We focus on giving you the best chances and opportunities to excel in your career. Our highly-rated Careers and Employability Service (voted Top 20 in the UK on Student Crowd, 2021) will help you find work experience, placements and networking opportunities when you’re at uni and for five years after you graduate. That’s why 94% of our students are in work or further study 15 months after graduation (HESA Graduate Outcomes, 2019/20). If you’ve got an entrepreneurial spirit and want to work for yourself, we can help you set up your own business.
> Find out more about our careers, placements and startup support
5) A great place to live
Life as a student in Portsmouth is unbeatable. We’ve got beaches, great places to eat, heaps of independent shops and music venues, cultural and artistic hotspots, and stacks of green space. And we’re only 90 minutes by train from central London. Portsmouth is one of the most picturesque, welcoming and interesting places to live in the UK, and was voted the in the top 10 trending hotspots by Airbnb (2022). Everything you need to work, rest and play is waiting for you in Portsmouth.
6) Fabulous global opportunities
If you dream of seeing the world, we’ll give you the opportunities and skills to travel or work abroad. You can study in another country for a year on many of our degrees and you can learn a language for free while you’re here. We have over 4,000 international students from 150 countries, so you’ll meet people from all over the world. And you can join our annual Global Week to celebrate and learn about diverse cultures. Portsmouth is an international city with excellent road, rail and sea connections, so you’ll be on your journey overseas in no time.
We’re also recognised on the international stage. We’re rated 5 stars in the QS World University Rankings 2021, and we're one of the Top 150 Young Universities in the world (Times Higher Education, 2020).
Discover Portsmouth | City Guide
Portsmouth is a great place to live as well as study. We're the UK's only island city and life as a student in Portsmouth is unbeatable. We’ve got beaches, great places to eat, heaps of independent shops and music venues, cultural and artistic hotspots, and stacks of green space. Portsmouth is one of the most picturesque, welcoming and interesting places to live in the UK, and was voted the in the top 10 trending hotspots by Airbnb (2022).
I think Portsmouth is very forward thinking.
It's got such a really friendly atmosphere and even though it's a city, it’s quite a small city, so it feels really welcoming and homely.
When I first came to the open day for Portsmouth, I instantly fell in love with it.
When the sun is shining, there is nowhere better than Portsmouth.
Welcome to Portsmouth, the UK's only island city and home to the University of Portsmouth.
Join us today as we show you some of our favourite spots so you can take advantage of studying at the heart of our community.
It's a very cosmopolitan city, it's got so much to offer.
You have the commercial road, you have the city centre ar the heart where it's all lively.
Student nightlife is really, really good. You’ve got lots of nightclubs, lots of stuff to do.
But then as soon as you come to Southsea it’s more of a lazy seaside town, you get to go to the beach.
You just have to go down to the beach or the common on a sunny day and everyone's having picnics. It's just beautiful.
Fuelling up for the day, you’re absolutely spoilt for choice.
Everyone I know has a different favourite café spot.
We’ve got you covered for freshly roasted coffee, doughnuts, fish and chips, vegan food and artisan bread.
And that’s before we even get to the restaurants and bars. Cheers.
Okay, shopping. I love to shop local myself and the top spots for that are Palmerston Road, Marmion Road or here, Castle Road.
Commercial Road has you set for your shopping essentials. Or pop down to Southsea for charity shop bargains and quirky independent businesses to browse for something unique.
Or join us in Gunwharf Quays, Portsmouth's Waterfront Shopping Centre to check in on your favourite brand outlets or catch the lights at Christmas.
I love that kind of vibrancy of the city
It's got a real independent spirit about it.
I think it's got a really good mix of independent businesses.
There are so many local independent businesses.
There are entertainment activities in terms of lots of bars and restaurants and loads of cool places to eat.
There's so much to do right here in the place you live.
There's an island’s worth of beautiful coast to explore and unique green spaces like Canoe Lake and the Rose Garden to enjoy with your friends or by yourself as a space for study or reflection.
Or for something a little different, you could wander into an art gallery, try an escape room, or book a table with your friends at DICE, the local board game café.
And don't forget the nights. There's a ton of live music events happening every week as well as karaoke comedy nights and live theatre.
There are lots of cultural events, art galleries, music venues.
And there are so many shows. You've got kite festivals.
Food festivals.
The big one that really helps the town is Victorious Festival.
It is such a really lovely community.
And I think after you've been here a while, you feel part of the community.
It just makes you feel like you're at home away from home.
Portsmouth is a one of a kind place, a place for you to explore and thrive.
There's something for everyone here, and we can't wait for you to be part of it.
To find out more about our city, book an open day and get exploring, visit port.ac.uk.
See where a degree from Portsmouth could take you
We've told you all the reasons we know you'll love Portsmouth. Because these are the highlights our students rave about. Find out more in their own words...
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If you think that Portsmouth could be your new home, take a look at all our courses and find the perfect one for you.