Sandra's Erasmus Experience in Portsmouth, United Kingdom

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Why did you choose to go to Portsmouth, United Kingdom?

Honestly, from all the options I was offered I chose Portsmouth because of how close it is to London (which is very handy when it comes to travelling), and since it’s by the sea the weather isn’t as horrible as in the rest of the UK.

How long did your grant last for? How much money did you receive?

I did my Erasmus 2 years ago and I received a grant of €600 a month for 8 months. However, that’s because I was from the University of Granada, I know friends from other universities that didn’t receive as much. It’s changed now though and I’m not sure how much you’re paid.

How is the student life in Portsmouth?

Portsmouth isn't a big city but there’s a lot of students, Erasmus students included, so you’ll have no problems finding things to do.

Would you recommend Portsmouth as a city and university to other students?

A friend said to me before I left “wherever you go, it will be the best year of your life”. If I had gone to another city I'm sure I would've loved it too. However, I was in Portsmouth and I wouldn't change it for the world.

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How was the food?

I knew this question was coming…

We've all heard a thousand times how the food in the UK is nothing special, however, the supermarkets have a huge variety of food, so whether you eat well or not really depends on your cooking skills. The offer is there.

That said, when you go to a restaurant forget about finding anything other than hamburgers and spicy food.

Was it difficult to find accommodation in Portsmouth?

I found my future flatmates (a French guy, an Italian girl and a guy from Gibraltar) online while looking for accommodation. Once we had decided that we would live together we spent some months looking on accommodation websites.

We had a problem though, which was that the landlord of the house where we were going to live told us a couple of months later after having agreed everything with him, that since we weren't there yet and we hadn't paid a deposit, he had offered the house to another group of students.

This happened within two or three weeks of us moving to Portsmouth, and in the days leading up to it we didn't find anything, so my Italian flatmate went a couple of days ahead of time to view some places in person that were available.

The truth is that until you see it in person, you don’t know if you really like it, the photos can be really deceptive.

In the end, we rented a house which was half an hour from the university but practically beside the sea, in Southsea. It turned out that that’s where the majority of Erasmus students lived.

What is the cost of living in Portsmouth?

Rent could be anything, but almost all my friends paid around £300 a month, not including bills.

How did you get on with the language? Did you attend a course at the University?

The good thing about the south of England is that the accent is very neutral in comparison to the north. If you speak English you’ll have no issues understanding the natives.

I study translation so the majority of my classes were languages classes anyway, so I didn't attend an English for foreigners course.

What’s the most cost-effective way to get to Portsmouth from your home town?

The most cost-effective and easiest way is to travel to London, which as I've already mentioned isn't far from Portsmouth. In fact, if you buy your ticket ahead of time you can get a cheap train which goes direct to Portsmouth from Gatwick airport.

In my case, since I'm from Algeciras, it worked well for me to fly Gibraltar-London.

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Where would you recommend for a night out in Portsmouth?

There are many streets full of pubs: Albert Road and the main University street. It’s always lively around there but there’s also some interesting clubs. You need to remember that over there if you go out at midnight like in Spain, everything will soon shut. Clubs normally open between 10pm and 11pm.

What about eating out in Portsmouth? Can you tell us your favourite places?

I ate at home, I didn't eat out anywhere in Portsmouth. Although, it is true that there are restaurants in the centre that do week-day offers which aren’t all that bad.

What is there in terms of cultural places to visit?

Portsmouth has some museums but not much more in terms of culture. It’s not a very historic city, even so, there’s always something to do if you’re with the right people.

Any advice for future students in Portsmouth?

Although the weather doesn't compare to Spain, being on the south coast of England, the climate isn't too cold in Portsmouth. I would dare to say that they get the best weather in the UK and it doesn't rain as much as in other areas.