TEACHING
QUALITY
University of Portsmouth
57
th
NATIONAL
RANK
RANK
71.2%
FIRSTS
2:1s
2:1s
88.1%
COMPLETION
RATE
RATE
Key Stats
n/a
42nd=
STUDENT
EXPERIENCE
EXPERIENCE
61st=
RESEARCH
QUALITY
QUALITY
60th
GRADUATE
PROSPECTS
PROSPECTS
Contact details
ADDRESS
Winston Churchill Avenue, Portsmouth, PO1 2UP View on map >
Telephone
Email
Website
Open days
October 4 and 18; November 1
University Profile
Applications to study at Portsmouth are on the rise. It is one of the few universities to release details of its applications for courses starting this month, having seen an increase roughly four times the national average this year, more than doubling the 5% growth it enjoyed in 2013.
The university is among the leading post-1992 institutions in our league table, benefiting particularly from strong student satisfaction ratings, which have helped push it up another two places in our overall ranking this year. It is now the seventh highest-ranked of the modern universities.
It has one of the largest language departments in the country, teaching six languages to degree level and offering free language courses to all students. About 1,000 Portsmouth students go abroad for part of their course, and at least as many come from the continent.
The university also has a growing reputation in health subjects. The £9m Dental Academy trains student dentists in their final year at King’s College London in a team-based setting with dental therapists and hygienists. More than 600 radiographers, paramedics, medical technologists, pharmacists, clinicians and social workers graduate
Specialist research centres include the UK’s first Brain Tumour Research Centre of Excellence, as well the Institute of Biomedical and Biomolecular Sciences and the Institute of Cosmology and Gravitation.
Teaching in all subjects is concentrated on the Guildhall campus in the centre of Portsmouth, with most residential accommodation nearby.
The campus has undergone extensive redevelopment. A new £14m wing on the Eldon building opened in 2014 created an additional 3,000 square metres of space and provided the Faculty of Creative and Cultural Industries with new purpose-built facilities. These include a 200-seat screening room and lecture theatre, exhibition space and seminar rooms, as well as fashion, textiles, architecture and interior design studios, a new café designed by the architecture students, and learning space.
Students in the faculty will also benefit from a partnership with the New Theatre Royal, which will allow them to use the facilities in an £8m building that will adjoin the original theatre. Refurbishment of the University Library will be complete in time for the start of the new academic year, with improved social learning space and IT provision.
Another refurbishment project will create new accommodation for the School of Engineering and Surveying, the Business School and Information Services, also ready for use in the new term.
Employability skills and training are embedded throughout 450 different degree programmes. A significant number are accredited by professional bodies and, wherever possible, students are given opportunities for hands-on practice in their chosen career.
Up to-date learning facilities, such as a mock courtroom, pharmacy, journalism newsroom, forensic suite and the Dental Academy provide real-life professional skills.
Forty per cent of the work submitted for the last Research Assessment Exercise was considered world-leading or internationally excellent. The university is an official centre of teaching and research about the EU.
Portsmouth has a larger working-class population than most cities in the south of England. One third of undergraduates come from the four lowest socio-economic groups, although this is just below the national average for the university’s subjects and entry qualifications.
Much of the extra income from £9,000 fees is being spent on initiatives to broaden the intake, such as the award-winning membership club that introduces teenagers to higher education through workshops, holiday courses and access to university facilities.
Unlike many other universities, Portsmouth is also maintaining its spending on bursaries for students from poor homes, having found that most of the recipients would have struggled to stay on their courses without financial support. A threshold of £25,000 family income to qualify for full bursaries (worth £1,500 in year 1, £1,000 a year thereafter) is more generous than in most such schemes, and there are extra awards for modern languages – one of the university’s strengths and an area of national decline.
The dividend of this level of support is a projected dropout rate that has improved considerably in recent years and, at 9.2%, is now significantly lower than the university’s benchmark.
A £6.5m student centre caters for the multicultural population of the university with alcohol-free areas and an international students’ bar. Modernised sport, exercise and fitness facilities include gyms, dance studios and a sports hall.
Many students live in Southsea, which has a vibrant social scene and quirky shops. Portsmouth has seen considerable regeneration, notably through the retail and entertainment complex at Gunwharf, with its 170-metre Spinnaker Tower.
The cost of living is not as high as at many southern universities, and the sea is close at hand. University-allocated accommodation is offered to around two-thirds of new first years who apply, and assistance is offered to thoseseeking accommodation in the private rented sector, including house-hunting events, online resources and regular drop-in advice sessions.
The university is among the leading post-1992 institutions in our league table, benefiting particularly from strong student satisfaction ratings, which have helped push it up another two places in our overall ranking this year. It is now the seventh highest-ranked of the modern universities.
It has one of the largest language departments in the country, teaching six languages to degree level and offering free language courses to all students. About 1,000 Portsmouth students go abroad for part of their course, and at least as many come from the continent.
The university also has a growing reputation in health subjects. The £9m Dental Academy trains student dentists in their final year at King’s College London in a team-based setting with dental therapists and hygienists. More than 600 radiographers, paramedics, medical technologists, pharmacists, clinicians and social workers graduate
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each year.Specialist research centres include the UK’s first Brain Tumour Research Centre of Excellence, as well the Institute of Biomedical and Biomolecular Sciences and the Institute of Cosmology and Gravitation.
Teaching in all subjects is concentrated on the Guildhall campus in the centre of Portsmouth, with most residential accommodation nearby.
The campus has undergone extensive redevelopment. A new £14m wing on the Eldon building opened in 2014 created an additional 3,000 square metres of space and provided the Faculty of Creative and Cultural Industries with new purpose-built facilities. These include a 200-seat screening room and lecture theatre, exhibition space and seminar rooms, as well as fashion, textiles, architecture and interior design studios, a new café designed by the architecture students, and learning space.
Students in the faculty will also benefit from a partnership with the New Theatre Royal, which will allow them to use the facilities in an £8m building that will adjoin the original theatre. Refurbishment of the University Library will be complete in time for the start of the new academic year, with improved social learning space and IT provision.
Another refurbishment project will create new accommodation for the School of Engineering and Surveying, the Business School and Information Services, also ready for use in the new term.
Employability skills and training are embedded throughout 450 different degree programmes. A significant number are accredited by professional bodies and, wherever possible, students are given opportunities for hands-on practice in their chosen career.
Up to-date learning facilities, such as a mock courtroom, pharmacy, journalism newsroom, forensic suite and the Dental Academy provide real-life professional skills.
Portsmouth has a larger working-class population than most cities in the south of England. One third of undergraduates come from the four lowest socio-economic groups, although this is just below the national average for the university’s subjects and entry qualifications.
Much of the extra income from £9,000 fees is being spent on initiatives to broaden the intake, such as the award-winning membership club that introduces teenagers to higher education through workshops, holiday courses and access to university facilities.
Unlike many other universities, Portsmouth is also maintaining its spending on bursaries for students from poor homes, having found that most of the recipients would have struggled to stay on their courses without financial support. A threshold of £25,000 family income to qualify for full bursaries (worth £1,500 in year 1, £1,000 a year thereafter) is more generous than in most such schemes, and there are extra awards for modern languages – one of the university’s strengths and an area of national decline.
The dividend of this level of support is a projected dropout rate that has improved considerably in recent years and, at 9.2%, is now significantly lower than the university’s benchmark.
A £6.5m student centre caters for the multicultural population of the university with alcohol-free areas and an international students’ bar. Modernised sport, exercise and fitness facilities include gyms, dance studios and a sports hall.
Many students live in Southsea, which has a vibrant social scene and quirky shops. Portsmouth has seen considerable regeneration, notably through the retail and entertainment complex at Gunwharf, with its 170-metre Spinnaker Tower.
The cost of living is not as high as at many southern universities, and the sea is close at hand. University-allocated accommodation is offered to around two-thirds of new first years who apply, and assistance is offered to thoseseeking accommodation in the private rented sector, including house-hunting events, online resources and regular drop-in advice sessions.
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Detailed Statistics
PERFORMANCE
PERFORMANCE
CATEGORY
SCORE
RANK
Ranking
-
57 (55)
Student experience
83
42nd=
Research quality
5.3
61st=
Ucas entry points
314
84th
Graduate prospects
66.3
60th
Firsts and 2:1s
71.2
41st
Completion rate
88.1
46th
Student-staff ratio
18.6:1
76th=
Services/facilities spend (£)
1,431
74th
VITAL STATISTICS
Undergraduates
(Full-time)
17,015
Undergraduates
(Part-time)
1,965
Postgraduates
(Full-time)
1,705
Postgraduates
(Part-time)
2,005
Applications/places
29,890/5,240
Applications/places ratio
5.7:1
STUDENT CITIES
Grant Chapman-Clarke, students’ union president
With a welcome pack and introductions from students during lectures it’s easy to slot in to university life.
I don’t come from a family of means so money issues kept me awake at night but there are hardship funds and employment help.
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Cost of living
Nightlife
Transport
Culture
ACCOMMODATION
Places in accommodation
3,000
Accommodation costs
£81-£128
Catered costs
£98-£126
Accommodation contact
FEES
UK/EU fees
£9,000
Fees (placement year)
£900
Fees (overseas year)
£900
Fees (international)
£11,000-£12,500
Finance website
Graduate salaries
£19,644
BURSARIES/SCHOLARSHIPS
>
English students (excluding those at partner colleges) with household income below £25K, a bursary of £1,500 in year 1, £1,000 all other years; £25K–£32K, £500 a year.
>
A range of scholarships, including music and sports, and bursaries are available.
SPORT
Sports points/rank
938.5, 32nd
Sport website
Student satisfaction
90.5%
90.2%
89.4%
88.6%
85.6%
85.1%
85.0%
85.0%
84.9%
84.9%
84.6%
84.6%
84.6%
84.6%
84.0%
84.0%
83.2%
83.1%
82.9%
81.2%
80.7%
80.4%
80.2%
79.9%
79.5%
79.4%
78.5%
77.1%