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Overview

Portsmouth hopes the introduction of Connected Degrees this month will prove to be a significant draw for applicants. Uniquely, it offers flexibility around when students take their placement year. Traditionally it slots in before the final (third) year of study, but Portsmouth now offers the option of taking it after the last year. Students will remain part of the university and graduate after completing the placement. It allows students to take more time to explore their career options, study alongside friends throughout their studies rather than go off on placement after two years, and connect their studies directly with their career (as the branding implies) by using the placement year as a direct stepping stone into employment. Almost all Portsmouth degrees can be taken with this flexible placement option. Together with the opening of a London campus, the degree revamp should prompt an increase in applications, which dipped below 20,000 last year to their lowest point in the past decade and 40% below their level in 2014. The university has performed well in domestic rankings for some time, ranking once again this year among our top 10 modern universities (those founded since 1992). Set on a central campus in Portsmouth, this port city provides plenty of entertainment for the university's 26,000 students.

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Paying the bills

The University of Portsmouth bursary is worth £750 per year to all students who come from homes with an annual income of up to £25,000. Young carers get a £500 annual bursary subject to the same household income restriction. Care leavers and estranged students qualify for £1,700 and £1,000 of annual support respectively, which is not means-tested. Around 20 sports scholars receive packages of support worth between £2,000 and £6,000 each year, which include strength and conditioning sessions, physiotherapy, and lifestyle and academic support. Additionally, the university paid out £758,000 in hardship support in 2022-23. Prices have been frozen this year for wbc247가입 all university-owned accommodation, a rare and generous move in the current financial climate. Self-catered rooms cost from £4,556 to £5,972 for a 40-week tenancy, with catered rooms priced at £6,182 to £8,016 for 40 weeks. In addition to the 848 university-owned rooms, there are many more places in private student halls in the city. 

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What's new?

The introduction of Connected Degrees this month (see Overview, above) is the big new offer for students. The university believes the flexible approach to taking a placement year in business and industry will make them accessible to a wider range of students, 'empowering them to shape their own journey [and] focus on study and workplace experience in the way that best works for their growth and aspirations'. The first undergraduates enrol at the new campus in Walthamstow, north-east London, this month. It will initially offer just four undergraduate degrees in business and management; marketing; computer science; and economics, finance and banking. Adding a presence in the capital is seen as part of the university's ambition to be the top-ranked modern university (those created since 1992) by 2030. The first graduate medics have also just started their training on a four-year degree course based in Portsmouth and run in partnership with King's College London. The university is developing a new student hub, too. It is due to open in October 2025, in collaboration with the students' union. It will provide space for social learning and student services, alongside a lounge, coffee bar, shop and events venue. 

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Admissions, teaching and student support

The university uses widely available foundation years as the principal route into the university for students who might not otherwise achieve the grades needed to go straight on to a degree course. Teaching follows a 'Blended and Connected' model under which all campus-based students are taught primarily in-person with some supplementary online learning. Rather than offering lecture capture - the bulk uploading of lectures online after the session has been completed - the university offers a refinement of that called 'content capture'. This includes providing enhanced notes and activities in lecture slides; written summaries of sessions; video and audio summaries; and narrated presentations (rather than the entirety of teaching sessions) from which students can review and revise or catch up and learn, if they have been unable to attend in person. The approach, which embraces some of the key changes in course delivery wrought by the pandemic, requires students to engage both digitally and by attending in-person teaching sessions. The student wellbeing service is invited to induction lectures by academic departments, where they talk about common issues new students face, how these can impact mental health, and where to go for support. To help keep students safe on campus, the university has developed mandatory peer-to-peer training for first-years on how to be an active bystander, and what constitutes sexual misconduct and identity-based harassment.