Fees, funding, and financial support

If you're from the UK, tuition fees in 2026/27 for all full-time undergraduate courses are £9,790 a year.

Postgraduate taught fees vary depending on the course, you can find out more by visiting the relevant course page.

All fees are subject to annual increases.

If you're an EU resident, tuition fees in 2026/27 for all full-time undergraduate courses are £10,300 a year.

Postgraduate taught fees vary depending on the course, you can find out more by visiting the relevant course page.

All fees are subject to annual increases.

Tuition fees for part-time and international students vary. If you’re a part-time or international student, you can see tuition fees for specific courses on course pages.

Undergraduate students

A tuition fee loan covers your course tuition fees, which are currently £9,790 a year for 2026/27 and will be £10,050 a year for full-time UK students studying at Portsmouth in 2027/28. The loan is paid directly to the university. All fees are subject to annual increases. Fees for full-time and part-time undergraduate students from the UK and Channel Islands may increase each year, subject to conditions set by the UK or Channel Islands governments. 

The amount you can borrow isn’t based on your household income. You don’t have to borrow the full amount if you want to fund some of your tuition fees yourself.

Master's students

Most students fund their Master’s degree with a Government Postgraduate Master's Loan, which you can use to fund your tuition fees, living costs and other course costs. The loan is paid directly to you.

These loans aren’t based on your income or your family’s income, so you can choose how much you borrow, up to a maximum of £12,858 per course. You'll start repaying your loan after your course, once your annual income is more than £21,000. The loan starts accruing interest from the day you receive the first payment.

How to apply

If you’re an English national, you can apply for a Government Postgraduate Loan online through Student Finance England. If you’re a Welsh national, apply online through Student Finance Wales.

EU and international students

Student loans from the UK government aren't available to non-UK students that don't meet the residency requirements for home fee status, but other funding options may be available.

A maintenance loan helps cover your living costs, up to £13,762 a year for 2025/26 and up to £14,135 a year for 2026/27 if studying in London. It’s paid directly into your bank account in three instalments throughout the year.

The amount you get depends on where you study, where you live and your family income.

2026/27 maintenance loan amount for full-time students studying in London

The above figures are broad examples. Your actual loan amount will depend on your situation.

Care leavers

From 2026/27, care leavers will be eligible for the maximum maintenance loan support without any assessment of their household income. The minimum maintenance loan is:

• £4,013 if you live at home (for incomes of £58,387 or above).
• £7,039 if you study away from home in London (for incomes of £70,131+).

Student loans from the UK government aren't available to non-UK students that don't meet the residency requirements for home fee status, but other funding options may be available.

If you're a student from England, apply for your student loan on the Student Finance England website.

If you're from Scotland, Wales or Northern Ireland, apply through your home government:

• Scotland
• Wales
• Northern Ireland

If you're from Jersey, Guernsey or the Isle of Man, contact your local education authority:

• Jersey
• Guernsey
• Isle of Man

You can apply for student loans and other student finance in the spring before the start of your course. Don't wait until you get an offer or receive your exam results – apply as soon as you can. You can still apply after the deadline (usually in late spring), but you may not get your funding in time for the start of your degree.

Remember – you'll need to reapply before the start of each academic year, not just before your first year at uni.

If you've taken out a UK government loan, you’ll start repaying your student loans from the April after you finish your course. If you applied through Student Finance England or Wales, your repayments will start when your gross income (before tax and other deductions) is at least £25,000.

You'll repay 9% of your income over £25,000. For example, if your income is £31,000 a year you’ll repay £540 a year (9% of £6,000) or £45 a month.

These figures might be different if you live outside of the UK after your course or you’re from Scotland, Northern Ireland, Jersey, Guernsey or the Isle of Man.

You can usually only get a student loan if you're doing your first undergraduate course, although there are some exceptions. If you’re starting a course on or after 1 August 2021, you must have settled or pre-settled status under the EU Settlement Scheme to get student finance. Irish citizens do not need to apply for a visa or to the EU Settlement Scheme.
If you're over 60 years old at the start of your course, you can only get a smaller maintenance loan, which is based on your income. There's no upper age limit for the tuition fee loan.

See the Gov.uk website for full eligibility details.

This does not apply for master's students applying for the Government Postgraduate Master's Loan. Please visit the GovUk website for further information on eligibility for this loan.

If you have a disability, mental health issue or long-term illness, you can apply for Disabled Students’ Allowance (DSA) to cover the extra study costs relating to your disability.

For example, you can use it to help with:

• A non-medical helper to assist you with your academic needs
• Specialist equipment like a computer
• Assistive technology

To apply for DSA, you need to be a UK student studying an undergraduate or postgraduate degree.

The amount you get is based on your needs, not your income. It doesn’t cover costs that aren’t related to your study.

DSA allowances for 2026/2027

The amount you receive is based on your needs, not your income. A single Disabled Students’ Allowance of up to £27,783 is available for eligible new and continuing full-time and part-time undergraduate and postgraduate students to fund support costs and equipment to assist with your disability. 

How to apply for DSA

You can apply for DSA as part of your application when you apply for student finance through Student Finance England.

If you’re not applying for student finance, you can ask for a paper application form.

It can take up to three months to process your application and arrange for an assessment, so please apply as soon as possible.

Further help and support if you have a disability

You can also get help and support from our Disability Advice team, which can offer advice and help with your DSA application.

The Disability Advice team supports all students who have a condition which may impact their ability to access our campus, curriculum, teaching, learning, assessments and any other student-focused service.

The services and support they offer include:

• Confidential advice from disability professionals for all students, UK, EU and International
• Advice on funding to cover disability-related support costs
• Discussion and agreement on reasonable adjustments
• Liaison with other University services and facilities, eg, Library
• Sign posting for note-taking, mentoring and other academic support services
• Specialist interim study skills tuition
• Screening for Specific Learning Difficulties such as dyslexia
• Liaison with DSA needs assessors

To contact the Disability Advice team, email disabilityadvice@port.ac.uk or call +44 (0)23 9284 3462.

If you have children or support a dependent adult, you could get extra financial support while you study.

Take a look at the summary below. If you’d like us to put together a financial statement of the support available to you, contact our Student Finance Centre.

Student finance for full-time students with dependants

If you’re a full-time student from England and have a dependent child or adult, you could get the following extra funding on top of a tuition fee loan and maintenance loan.

Parents Learning Allowance 2024/2025

The Parents’ Learning Allowance is a payment of up to £1,963 a year for students with dependent children. It’s based on your household income.

You don’t have to pay it back and it won’t affect your benefits or tax credits.

Adult Dependants’ Grant 2024/2025

The Adult Dependants’ Grant is a payment of up to £3,438 a year for students who support a dependent adult who has no income of their own.

It's based on your household income and you don’t have to pay it back.

Childcare Grant 2024/2025

The Childcare Grant is a payment that covers up to 85% of your childcare costs. It’s based on your household income and childcare costs. You don’t have to pay it back.

If eligible, you can get up to:

• £193.62 a week for 1 child
• £331.95 a week for 2 or more children

Applying for statutory funding

You can apply for the Parent’s Learning Allowance, Adult Dependants’ Grant and Childcare Grant at the same time you apply for your tuition fee and maintenance loans through Student Finance England.

Universal Credit

You can apply for Universal Credit (UC) as a full-time student if at least one of the following applies to you:

• you're a lone parent (including foster parents)
• you're living as a couple and your partner is also a student, and you have at least 1 dependent child
• you're getting Personal Independence Payment or Disability Living Allowance
• you're making a joint claim with a non-student partner who is eligible for UC in their own right

To receive support for housing costs, you must be living in rented accommodation and have a formal tenancy agreement in your name. This includes halls of residence. Support for those with a mortgage is not covered.

Applying for Universal Credit

Applications can be made online.

Universal Credit applications are administered by the Department for Work & Pensions and have replaced the support that was previously available via Tax Credits and Housing Benefit.

If you have any queries regarding eligibility whilst attending a course please contact the Student Finance Centre.

Child Benefit

Becoming a student doesn’t affect your entitlement to Child Benefit.

To get care leaver support, you just need to declare your care status on your UCAS application. If not applying through UCAS, such as for postgraduate UK students, or if you haven't applied yet or you've already submitted your application, you can contact us to let us know you're a care leaver by email at independent@port.ac.uk or by phoning 023 9284 3076. We'll only use this information to give you the support you need — it won't affect how we assess your application.

You'll get a designated member of staff who'll advise and guide you on your support needs the whole time you're at university. Our named adviser is Paula Bailey who can be contacted at independent@port.ac.uk

Care Leaver Bursary

It isn't based on your income and you don't need to pay this back.

An award of £1,700 a year if you’re a full-time undergraduate or postgraduate UK student and any of the following applies:

• You've spent at least 13 weeks in care, some of which was during your teens, and you're leaving the care system in the 12 months before you start university
• You're a 'former relevant child pursuing education' – this usually means you've spent at least 13 weeks in care, some of which was during your teens, but may depend on your local authority

Recipients can also receive the University Bursary of £500 a year.

Students who are estranged from their parents (and have been assessed by Student Finance England as independent because of this) can apply for our Stand Alone bursary of £1,000 a year. 

Please note you can only receive either the Care Leaver or the Stand Alone bursary.

If you're aged 18–24 and have had a breakdown in your relationship with your parents that's unlikely to change, you're considered an estranged student.

Getting support as an estranged student

To find out how to get support, contact us by email at independent@port.ac.uk or by phone on +44 (0)23 9284 3076.

We'll only use this information to give you the support you need — it will not affect how we assess your university application.

You could get a Stand Alone Bursary of £1,000 to help you cover your study costs.

As a registered undergraduate or postgraduate taught student, if you get into financial difficulty while studying with us or need emergency help to pay living costs, you can apply for help from our University Support Fund.

How to apply

You can request an application form by emailing studentmoney@port.ac.uk. 

You'll be asked for:

• Your Student Finance England notification letter (if applicable)
• 3 months up-to-date bank statements from all accounts including savings
• A copy of your tenancy agreement or halls invoice

For more information, read our application guidance notes.

Our team may contact you if we need to discuss your application further. A successful award is usually paid by electronic bank transfer.

If your application is unsuccessful and you're unhappy with the outcome, there is a review procedure. To find out more, email our team studentmoney@port.ac.uk.