Portsmouth is the home of many things – Charles Dickens, The Mary Rose, and of course the Spinnaker Tower. But for students, this cultural city is as much about snakebite, dodgy chicken and fire alarm wars as it is about these landmarks.

These six things will form an integral part of a Portsmouth student’s three years.

1. Ken’s

You can’t be a Portsmouth student without crossing paths with Ken and his fried chicken. The university community is divided between having no shame when it comes to Ken’s or being incredibly judgemental to those who cross his door.


If you’ve survived a Ken’s chicken burger or met the real Ken himself, your uni experience has been made.

2. Mice



A rite of passage of being a student in Portsmouth is rooming with rodents. If you had a fear of mice when you started as a fresher, you certainly won’t by the time you leave.

Mice just become another of life’s daily annoyances, like making a cup of tea to find there’s no milk, or shampooing your hair to discover an empty conditioner bottle.

3. The beach

Portsmouth’s beach may be pebbles, but it is a huge novelty to those of us who have come from further inland. The beach probably factored in to a lot of student’s decisions to come here at some point. From 3am drunken beach walks, to revising in the sunshine, Portsmouth’s beach has many uses and is actually quite nice with some really pretty sunsets.

The retro pier, arcades, aquarium and chip shops dotted along the seafront also make for a fun day out, a first date or a freshers’ bonding activity!

4. You can get a cab in literally seconds

Aquacars seem to know you want a taxi before you do. You call them and within seconds they will appear at your door.

Just make sure you’re ready to go when you call, because by the time you’ve hung up the phone, put your shoes on and gone downstairs, they will have come and gone.

(Picture: Andy Butterton/PA Wire)

5. Popworld

Home to the infamous Purple Wednesday, otherwise known as the night your clothes and shoes will be stained forever purple by the copious amounts of snakebite. No amount of Vanish can get that stuff out.

All oldies will forever know Popworld as Babylon, Babs or Flabs and refuse to accept it as anything else.

Only tolerable with aforementioned copious amounts of snakebite, a typical Popworld outing will be defined by cheesy 90s music, cocktails the size of your head, the Pokemon theme tune and naked sportos all swinging their tops above their heads to the Baywatch theme tune. Happy Purple Wednesday!

(Picture: Danielle Butler)

6. Flyer Island

The crossroads which link the union and the doctor’s surgery are club promoter central and best avoided at all costs, particularly in freshers’ week. This key crossing which provides access to pretty much any uni facility will leave you with approximately six billion flyers in your bag once you’ve finally waded through all the promotional teams and actually crossed the road.



Negotiating this crossing becomes a military operation and you soon learn clever tactics such as making sure both hands are full making leaflet-taking impossible.

Umbrella in one hand, phone in the other – sorted!

(Picture: Danielle Butler)

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