University of Portsmouth Students' Union

Who we are

The University of Portsmouth Students’ Union (UPSU) is an independent charity that exists to advance the education of all students at the University of Portsmouth. Our vision is to have a ‘Positive Impact with every Portsmouth student’ and we aim to have both immediate and legacy impacts through our range of inspiring services and activities.

The University of Portsmouth Students’ Union (The Union or UPSU for short) is a forward thinking, friendly organisation with a vision of “delivering a positive impact with every Portsmouth student”. As a charity led by its values and guided by its members, we offer a wide range of services and activities to support and enrich the lives of our students. UPSU employs approximately 30 career staff, a further 40 student staff and we work with over 1000 registered student volunteers and over 100 student groups.

Our culture and values

Students’ Unions are bubbling with emerging leaders who are supported to cultivate their skills and experiences, act as change agents and inspire other students to do the same. Students’ Unions give a voice to University students, they provide access to often weird, wonderful and thought-provoking ideas and student activities which broaden horizons and are great networking opportunities, communities of belonging and provide access to the support and communities they need to reach their full potential. 

Our Values - how we work

• A Union you can count on
• A Union led by students
• A Union for every student
• A Union that makes a difference

Our Guiding Principles - what we stand by and will always be

• Students democratically guide us
• Equity of opportunity for students
• Our independent status is paramount
• Partnerships strengthen our work
• Relevant and resilient for current and future student
• We fight for student rights 

Equality, diversity and inclusion policy

We are strongly dedicated to embedding equality, diversity and inclusion (EDI) within our community and we are passionate about creating a welcoming and inclusive environment which supports everyone from recruitment through to appointment, regardless of your background. We welcome applications from all talented people and as part of this commitment, we are working to improve the diversity of our workforce to ensure that it is as relevant and representative of our student community as possible and are actively encouraging applications from underrepresented groups.