International Orientation September 2026

The English with Specific Purposes programme is designed to support students in their academic English. It is a provision that offers short, practical modules that are meant to help students with their academic, professional, and workplace communication skills alongside their degrees. ESP has two strands. One is your English for academic purposes to support students during the degree programmes. So this is things like how to take notes  effectively, how to write engaging assessments, how to target and figure out plagiarism and making sure you're  referencing properly. The other is English for occupational purposes, which supports students for employability, so how to interact in the workplace, how communicate effectively. We've got a number of different modules available. Students are going to be able to mix and match according to their own priorities and what they really want to learn. We have one on presentation skills, for example. Academic writing, note taking, Using AI effectively, and we also have a couple of modules specifically targeting dissertations and end-of-year projects. The modules are designed for all university students regardless of their discipline or level of studies, regardless whether they are home or international students, undergrad, postgraduate, so it's for everyone. Academic language and academic English is nobody's first language, so it is a skill that everybody needs to grapple with. And everyone will have their own different ambitions and types of work that they want to go into. So we're keeping it broad and open, but helping the students to figure out which style will be right for their ambitions. One of the big changes that we see from students who have completed the programme is predominantly one of confidence. They'll have a clearer and more confident understanding of what it takes to get recognised as a professional. I think the best thing about the ESP provision is that students join from everywhere around the university. You get to learn different ways of approaching problems, different skills that you can pick up, and it's a great way to network as well with people in other areas.

The University Library is a busy and lively building which reflects the multicultural nature of the University and Portsmouth as a whole. Please remember your student card to scan in and out when you visit the Library. The Library is an essential source of information for staff and students. We hold an extensive range of books and other printed materials, and our online holdings of electronic resources, including ebooks, ejournals and specialist databases are more expansive still! You can use your mobile phone or our touchscreen information kiosks to find books and look up all manner of other useful information about what is happening on campus. 

By searching the Discovery Service, you can quickly find useful, high quality academic journal articles on any subject. The subject pages on the Library website offer almost everything you need for your studies in one place.

The Library is open 24/7 during term time, our electronic resources are available around the clock, and all our borrowing and return services are self-service so you can study where and when suits you best. You can borrow laptops from the lockers on the ground floor to use in the Library and book group study rooms up to two weeks in advance, where you can work in groups and practice presentations. You can also bring in your own laptop or mobile devices, plug into our power sockets and connect to the fast and secure university wireless network.  You can even connect your laptop or tablet to a large curved desktop monitor and work from your mobile device while enjoying all the comforts of using a desktop computer.

You can borrow and return books and other materials using the self-service kiosks. The library catalogue shows you where to find books within the library. If you need any help, please ask a friendly member of staff. You can also request books be picked off the shelves by library staff and moved to the collection point using our Click & Collect service for added convenience.

If you need help with anything from finding a book to research for your thesis, pop into the Library Skills Drop-in office off the atrium, or click the chat button on the library website 24/7, and chat to a librarian. We look forward to seeing you soon!