Located on England’s south coast, Portsmouth is one of the country’s most significant historical sites and is technically also the UK’s only island city. It is home to around 200,000 residents, with a large student population numbering around 27,000, making it a very student-friendly place to study.
Portsmouth is brimming with world-class attractions, natural beaches, and fresh seafood. In this article, we cover the fundamental aspects of how to experience Portsmouth on a modest student budget, as well as some of our favourite cost-saving tips and tricks.
Read more about the University of Portsmouth.
Undergraduate degrees at the University of Portsmouth are typically priced at £9,250 per year (this will be rising to £9,535 from the 2025/26 academic year) and are payable at the start of first term.
If you’re thinking that this is too much to afford, then think again! Most students offset the cost of their tuition by taking out a tuition fee loan from Student Finance, and as a UK student, you can readily secure a loan to cover the full tuition fee amount. The loan is paid directly to the university at the start of the year, and you won’t even need to start paying it back until you’ve graduated and are earning over the annual threshold for your loan plan.
What's more, there’s maintenance loans available too, which help to subsidise your cost of living, and you could receive up to almost £10,000 depending on your household income (this will be rising to up to £10,544 from the 2025/26 academic year).
Scholarships and bursaries are another effective way to reduce your uni costs, and fortunately there are many available in Portsmouth. Scholarships are offered for things like academic or sporting achievements, and there are a number of bursaries to ensure that all students have the funds needed to succeed.
One such award is the University of Portsmouth Bursary, which is valued at £750 a year if you’re a full-time undergraduate student from England with a household income of £25,000 a year or less.
Additionally, the university’s financial services department can help you to source external funding opportunities from national scholarship schemes and sponsors.
Read more about student finance.
Students in Portsmouth have a variety of cost-effective options when it comes to housing. One of the most popular and convenient places to start your university experience is in halls of residence. They’re lively, social, and offer many convenient perks.
The University of Portsmouth owns and manages 10 halls of residence buildings, where you’ll find a prime selection of room types and packages. In most places, accommodation is organised into a series of shared apartments with between 3-10 students in each unit. These range in price between £114 - £186 for self-catered flats with communal kitchen and living room facilities, and there are also catered rooms available in Burrell House and Rees Hall locations between £155 - £200 per week.
While this can seem like a significant additional expense, it’s worth weighing up your priorities. Calculate how much money you estimate you’ll spend on groceries per week, and then consider the time you’ll save each day by not needing to shop for ingredients, cook and clean up after your meals. You might decide that it’s a worthwhile expense. Remember, it’s less about saving money and more about making your spending have the most value for you.
Renting privately is something you’ll likely be doing in your second and third years. In Portsmouth's housing market, a studio flat costs on average £1,022 per month in the city centre, and a three-bedroom apartment costs £1,545, which is around £515 per person each month, and around two thirds less than what you’d expect to pay in London. Portsmouth has average energy prices of £320 per month for a three-bedroom apartment, so be sure to factor this in too.
Portsmouth is a large and densely populated city, so there’s no shortage of grocery shops and supermarket chains to be found, such as Asda, Tesco and Sainsburys. Portsmouth has plenty of low-cost alternatives too, like Costcutter, Aldi and Lidl, so check these out for top savings.
Average prices for often purchased items are as follows:
Milk (1L): £1.26
Bread Loaf: £1.12
Rice (1kg): £1.81
Eggs (12): £2.40
Cheese (1kg): £6.40
Chicken fillets (1kg): £5.44
Apples (1kg): £3.12
Potatoes (1kg): £0.92
You can save money on groceries by buying at wholesale outlets, or you can use discounted food apps such as ‘Too Good to Go’ to find daily bargains if you are flexible in what you like to eat.
Portsmouth is a great city for entertainment, and offers a highly walkable environment, buzzing with live music, craft breweries, restaurants, taverns, pubs and clubs. Eating out is inexpensive, and a meal for one at a café or restaurant generally costs around £15. A three-course meal for two, somewhere a little more mid-range averages only £60, which makes it easy to go out on the town while staying within budget. Portsmouth is well represented by local brewhouses and the average cost of a pint of beer is only £5, so get out there and try something local.
Your students’ union will probably have some of the lowest priced drinks in town, and they’ll also organise regular events such as quiz night and DJ’s, making it a great place to start the evening before heading out into the city.
Getting around Portsmouth is simple and straightforward. Much of the city is walkable, and if you're living in halls then you’re already going to be very close to your uni campus which is a huge plus.
For longer trips, there are several bus services including Stagecoach and First Bus where you’ll find one-way tickets costing around £2, and monthly passes costing £65. Our top tip is to make use of the two free student bus services which stop at the Portsmouth campus. The U1 takes a circular route around Portsmouth, and the U2 services Langstone campus and back. Cycling is also a fast and very cost-effective way of navigating the city, and you’ll have the additional benefit of free exercise and a lower environmental impact.
There’s so much to discover in Portsmouth, and there are many world-class attractions which are worth dedicating some of your monthly budget to visit. This includes Portsmouth’s historic dockyard, home to Nelson’s flagship the HMS Victory, the HMS Warrior, and the Mary Rose Museum. You can also visit the house where famous writer Charles Dickens was born, or you can visit the D-Day museum.
There’ll be loads of clubs and societies available to join through the uni, and these may require regular costs for things like equipment, fields trips or social events. Depending on your degree course, you might also benefit from keeping a small fund aside for unforeseen expenditures such as printing and photocopying or buying extra reading material.
Overall, we'd recommend a budget of around £1,200 per month living in Portsmouth as a student. This will depend on the cost of your rent, and it also depends on your lifestyle.