University of Portsmouth Stadium

The University of Portsmouth (formerly known as Portsmouth Polytechnic) is a public university in the city of Portsmouth, Hampshire, England. In the 2022 edition of the Good University Guide – compiled by The Times and Sunday Times – the university was ranked near the bottom at 88 out of 132. It is one of only four universities in the South-East to be rated Gold in the Government Teaching Excellence Framework.

Portsmouth has educated a wide range of people, including Tim Peake, Grayson Perry, Poet Laureate Simon Armitage, Sir John Armitt, Baroness Diana Maddock, and CEO of HSBC John Flint. Its alumni can be found worldwide, holding senior and executive positions in banking, politics, and civil engineering. Staff at the University include Alessandro Melis, curator of the Italian Pavilione at the XVII Venice Biennale, and astrophysicist and Eddington Medal winner Prof Claudia Maraston.

The University is a member of the University Alliance and The Channel Islands Universities Consortium. The University offers a range of disciplines, including Pharmacy, International Relations, Mechanical Engineering, Mathematics, Paleontology, Criminology, and Criminal Justice.

History

The roots of the University can be traced back to the Portsmouth and Gosport School of Science and Art. which opened in 1870 and was funded by subscription. Technical education (including science-based subjects) later became the responsibility of the local authority, which founded Portsmouth Municipal Technical Institute in 1894 to fulfil this function. However, the city required a permanent purpose-built home for technical education and as a consequence Portsmouth Municipal College was constructed on a site behind Portsmouth Guildhall. Portsmouth Municipal College opened in 1908 (the new college replaced Portsmouth Municipal Technical Institute, although many of the staff transferred to the new institution) and the building also incorporated the College of Art, Portsmouth Day Training College for