Job density in Portsmouth is 86%, higher than the UK average of 84%. Of the 205,000 residents, 103,500 aged 16-64 years of age are estimated to be in work. Portsmouth saw the strongest growth of all comparison areas in the resident-based employment rate in the year to June 2017 compared to the previous year. The rate increased 2.2% percentage points on the previous year to 73.1%. Portsmouth’s strength is in a high proportion of people in full-time employment and employees, but a relatively low share of self-employees and people working part-time

Qualification levels in Portsmouth are also relatively high. 19.6% of residents have Level 3 qualifications, well above the national average. 34.7% of Portsmouth residents have advanced or NVQ Level 4+ (degree, higher degrees or equivalents) which increased by 4.6 percentage points in 2016, faster than in its comparator areas

Portsmouth has a particular strength in manufacturing, information and communication technology and business services. It is the home to a number of world leading companies such as BAE Systems, Airbus, and IBM.

The University of Portsmouth

The ‘Purple Door service has been renamed the Careers and Employability Service.

1. University of Portsmouth Business School holds the Small Business Charter Silver Award and is one of a small number of what the Small Business Charter describes as world-class business schools across the UK to have demonstrated their ability and promise to help grow business. Also the Small Business and Entrepreneurship Research Group provides a platform for research into business growth.

2. The University of Portsmouth holds ‘Gold’ rating in the Teaching Excellence Framework, the UK government’s assessment of teaching excellence in higher education, one of only four universities in the South East region to be rated gold, along with the Universities of Kent, Oxford and Surrey.

Local learning providers

The Solent Apprenticeship Hub (SAH) is a partnership project working across the Solent LEP area delivering free and impartial advice on Apprenticeships.  Visit the Solent Apprenticeship Hub website for more information and support on how Apprenticeships can work for individuals and businesses:

Portsmouth has 2 local colleges based in the city

And works closely with these colleges and our travel to learn college partners below to meet the cities skills needs

A wide range of other providers support the skills development of individuals and employers – details of the wide range of training providers can be found through: