University of Portsmouth: Courses, Fees & Rankings

University profile

About University of Portsmouth

The University of Portsmouth is a public university based in Portsmouth, the UK's only island city, on the south coast of England. Its earliest incarnation dates from 1869; it opened as a municipal college in the Park Building in 1908, became Portsmouth Polytechnic in 1969 and received university status in 1992. It has research strengths ranging from cosmology and astrophysics to cyber security, forensics and sport science, and offers Connected Degrees®, three-year courses with an optional placement year taken when the student is ready.

The main campus lies in the centre of Portsmouth, with university buildings within a 15-minute walk of each other and most halls close by. A second campus, University of Portsmouth London, opened in 2023 at Juniper House on Hoe Street, Walthamstow (Waltham Forest), next to Walthamstow Central station.

Teaching and research are organised in five faculties:

Business and Law: Schools of Accounting, Economics and Finance; Law; Organisations, Systems and People; Strategy, Marketing and Innovation
Creative and Cultural Industries: Schools of Architecture, Art and Design; Film, Media and Creative Technologies
Humanities and Social Sciences: Schools of Criminology and Criminal Justice; Area Studies, Sociology, History, Politics and Literature; Education, Languages and Linguistics
Science and Health: Schools of the Environment and Life Sciences; Dental, Health and Care Professions; Medicine, Pharmacy and Biomedical Sciences; Psychology, Sport and Health Sciences; plus the Medical Degree
Technology: Schools of Civil Engineering and Surveying; Computing, Mathematics and Physics; Electrical and Mechanical Engineering; and the Institute of Cosmology and Gravitation

Notable facilities include the Dennis Sciama Building, the £12 million Future Technology Centre for engineering, the Eldon Building's creative arts wing with a 200-seat screening room, and the £57 million Ravelin Sports Centre with an 8-lane 25m pool, 8-court sports hall, climbing wall and ski simulator. The University of Portsmouth Students' Union (UPSU), an independent student-run charity, supports more than 140 student groups. University-owned and partner halls offer catered and self-catered rooms, and first-year students who meet the housing deadline are guaranteed a hall place.

The university is home to over 5,000 international students from 150 countries and has regional offices in 78 countries. International College Portsmouth (ICP), run with the Navitas Group since 2009, offers undergraduate and postgraduate pathway programmes on the city-centre campus. The university holds a Gold rating in the Teaching Excellence Framework (TEF), and its UCAS institution code is P80.

University information

Tuition fees

Full-time undergraduate fees for UK students are £9,790 a year in 2026/27 and £10,050 in 2027/28. EU residents pay £10,300 a year in 2026/27 for Portsmouth-based undergraduate courses, including the EU Scholarship. Typical international fees for 2026/27 are £17,900-£20,000 a year, with a placement year fee of £2,990-£20,000. From 2025/26 entry, international fees are fixed for the length of the course, subject to a maximum inflationary rise of 5% a year. International students pay a deposit to confirm their place, and fees can be paid in full or in two, three or six instalments through Flywire.

Scholarships for international students

Chancellor's Global Academic Merit Scholarship: a £5,000 first-year fee reduction for self-funded overseas-fee undergraduate and postgraduate taught applicants. For January 2027 entry, the application form closes on 2 November 2026. Not available to ICP students.
Vice Chancellor's Global Development Scholarship: a £2,500 first-year fee reduction for self-funded students from listed countries, including Ghana, Nigeria, Kenya, India and others, on full-time on-campus courses with annual fees of £16,200 or above (January and May 2027 entry).
EU Scholarship for EU, EEA and Swiss nationals and residents.
SQA Advanced Diploma Scholarship: £5,000 for mainland Chinese SQA graduates progressing to postgraduate study.
Sanctuary Scholarship: full undergraduate tuition fees for one asylum-seeking student each year.

The UK Government's Chevening Scholarships also fund one-year master's degrees at Portsmouth. International scholarships

Bursaries and scholarships for UK students

University of Portsmouth Bursary: £500 a year for full-time undergraduates from England with a household income of £25,000 or less. It is assessed automatically through Student Finance England.
Care Leaver Bursary: £1,700 a year. Stand Alone Bursary for estranged students under 25: £1,000 a year. Young Carer Bursary: £500 a year.
Unite Foundation Scholarship: a free hall place for up to three years for care leavers and estranged students.
Sport Scholarship: packages worth £2,000-£6,000 for about 20 national- or international-level athletes each year. Applications open in January.
Portsmouth Football Club Partnership Scholarship: £3,000 a year towards course fees. Also available: the Leverhulme Trade Charities Trust (up to £3,000 a year), the Sanctuary Language Bursary and the NHS Learning Support Fund (at least £5,000 a year) for eligible health courses.

Undergraduate scholarships and bursaries

Postgraduate funding

UK master's students can use the Government Postgraduate Master's Loan of up to £12,858. Portsmouth graduates receive a 20% alumni discount on master's and PhD fees, and university staff and their children receive a 30% discount. Bursaries are also available for MSc Social Work and for PGCE and further education teacher training. Master's loans, scholarships and bursaries

London campus

The London campus offers the E17 Degree for people who live, work or study in Waltham Forest, the Sanctuary Scholarship, and referral awards of up to £400. EU residents pay international fees at UoP London. London scholarships and bursaries

Chancellor's Global Academic Merit Scholarship →

EU Scholarship →

Sanctuary Language Bursary →

Estée Lauder Companies - Whitman Scholarship →

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Undergraduate entry (UK applicants)

Full-time bachelor's and integrated master's degrees are applied for through UCAS (institution code P80), or directly on the course page when Portsmouth is the only choice or for credit transfer. Entry requirements are set for each course. Typical offers are often given as a range of A level grades, BTEC grades and UCAS points, for example AAB-ABB, 128-136 UCAS points, BTEC Extended Diploma DDD-DDM, IB 30-31 or T level Merit-Distinction, with offers at the higher end for the most popular courses. Access to HE, Scottish Highers and Advanced Highers, the Welsh Baccalaureate and the Irish Leaving Certificate are also accepted, as are other qualifications and professional experience on many courses.

Some courses also require an admissions test, audition, interview, portfolio, health check or criminal records check. Applications are assessed on past and predicted results, the personal statement, references, extra-curricular activity and volunteering. Adjusted (lower) offers are made using widening participation data and to applicants from the region. For 2027 entry, the UCAS equal consideration deadline is 6pm on 13 January 2027, and applications can be submitted from September of the year before entry.

International undergraduate entry

International applicants follow the same process, submitting certified and translated school qualifications, proof of English, a personal statement and one academic reference. Country-specific requirements are set on country pages, and video credibility interviews are required for applicants from certain countries. International College Portsmouth (ICP), with the Navitas Group, offers foundation and pathway programmes into all faculties, with undergraduate starts in September, January and May.

For January 2027 at the Portsmouth campus, application deadlines run from 2 November 2026 (Nigeria, Bangladesh, Pakistan, Iran, Iraq, Syria, Palestine, Yemen) and 16 November 2026 (Sri Lanka, Nepal, Ghana, Uganda, Vietnam, Kenya-Eldoret) to 30 November 2026 (India, Kenya) and 7 December 2026 (rest of the world). Deposit and conditions deadlines follow two to three weeks later. London campus deadlines are earlier, from 19 October 2026, with no late registration. Teaching for January 2027 starts on 18 January 2027.

English language requirements

IELTS Academic: foundation/pathway 5.5 with no component below 5.5; most bachelor's degrees 6.0 with no component below 5.5; most master's degrees 6.5-7.0 with no component below 6.0. IELTS Academic Online and General Training are not accepted.
TOEFL iBT (institution code 3234): 72 for foundation, 79 for most bachelor's and 91 for most master's degrees, with component minimums.
PTE Academic: 59 (foundation), 62 with 59 in each component (bachelor's), 65 with 62 in each component (master's); PTE Academic Online is not accepted.
Cambridge C1 Advanced: 162, 169 and 176 overall for foundation, bachelor's and master's respectively. Duolingo, LanguageCert (SELT only) and other tests are also accepted.

Tests must be valid for two years at the course start date. Pre-sessional English programmes are available for applicants who do not yet meet the requirement.

Postgraduate taught entry

Applications for master's courses are made online through the course page and are free. Applicants need qualification certificates or transcripts, a personal statement and usually one reference (two for international applicants). PGCE applications go through the Department for Education service, MSc Social Work through UCAS, and MRes applications need a short research proposal. Most September courses start on 16 September, with no guarantee for applications after 30 September; most January courses start on 15 January, with a cut-off of 26 January. Current Portsmouth students can use a Fast Track route.

Postgraduate research entry

Research degree applicants typically need at least an upper second-class honours degree or a master's from an internationally recognised university. English requirements are IELTS 6.5 with no component below 6.0, or 7.0 with no component below 6.5 for linguistically demanding subjects. Applications go through the PhD subject area page or a pre-approved project and need degree evidence, a personal statement, a research proposal or project code, two referees and a CV. Applicants should contact a potential supervisor first.

Visas and CAS

Applicants need an offer before applying for a Student visa. A Confirmation of Acceptance for Studies (CAS) is issued once the deposit is paid and offer conditions are met, no earlier than three months before the course starts.

Portsmouth campus (city centre, Portsmouth): the main campus, home to all five faculties, International College Portsmouth, the University Library (with an £11m expansion completed in 2006), the Dennis Sciama Building, the Future Technology Centre, the Eldon Building creative arts facilities, lab and testing facilities, a device loans library, the Eldon Art Shop and a drama equipment loan store. Every university building is within a 15-minute walk.
Ravelin Sports Centre (Portsmouth): 8-court sports hall, 8-lane 25m swimming pool, 175-station fitness suite, multipurpose studios, squash courts, climbing wall and ski simulator, open to staff, students and the community.
Halls of residence (central Portsmouth): Trust Hall, Bateson Hall, Langstone Flats, Harry Law Hall, Trafalgar Hall, Burrell House (catered), Rosalind Franklin Hall, Catherine House, Margaret Rule Hall, Greetham Street Hall and Rees Hall (catered), with 2026-27 weekly prices from £120 to £205. Harry Law Hall and Rees Hall have accessible rooms; there is no family or couples accommodation.
University of Portsmouth London (Juniper House, Hoe Street, Walthamstow): career-focused undergraduate and postgraduate courses, with its own Students' Union, wellbeing services and careers support, next to Walthamstow Central (Victoria line and London Overground).

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