The University of Portsmouth has marked a significant milestone in its history with the conclusion of its 2026 graduation ceremonies, where more than 7,500 graduates crossed the stage at Portsmouth Guildhall in front of over 25,000 family members and friends. As the formal celebrations concluded, attention shifted to a new exhibition that offers a window into what academic life looked like in the city a century ago. For those who want to monitor Portsmouth University news, this development represents an important intersection of institutional heritage and public engagement.
What the Portsmouth 100 Exhibition Reveals About Early Student Life
Running throughout August and September at Ravelin Sports Centre, the free exhibition titled Town, City and Gown: College Life in 1920s Portsmouth draws from rare materials held in the University of Portsmouth Archive and the Portsmouth History Centre. Visitors can examine original photographs, prospectuses, and student records that document the daily realities of studying in Portsmouth during a decade of profound social change.
The exhibition situates student experiences within the broader context of Portsmouth achieving city status on 21 April 1926. Contemporary publications from the period capture the immediate reaction: the Portsmouth Training College magazine remarked that “a little additional glory is thereby reflected on our College!” This institutional pride rippled through college life, coinciding with significant national events including the General Strike that occurred just weeks after the city status announcement.
For those researching UK exhibition history, this display demonstrates how universities increasingly serve as custodians of local heritage, making archival collections accessible to general audiences rather than restricting them to academic researchers.
Have questions about the exhibition or the University’s heritage collections? Write to us!
The Three Institutions That Shaped Portsmouth’s Academic Foundations
Before the University of Portsmouth existed in its current form, three distinct institutions served the educational needs of the local population. The exhibition examines each of these predecessor organizations and their contributions to the city’s intellectual development.
Portsmouth Municipal College
Now recognizable as the University’s Park Building, Portsmouth Municipal College offered technical and scientific education to apprentices and aspiring professionals. The institution served students who combined work with study, a model that foreshadowed modern approaches to work-integrated learning. Engineering departments fielded sports teams, maintained social calendars, and created networks that extended beyond the classroom.
Portsmouth Training College
Dedicated to teacher education, this college prepared students for careers in elementary education across the region. Student teachers participated in sketching expeditions to Victoria Pier, engaged in practical teaching placements, and developed the pedagogical skills that would shape generations of Portsmouth schoolchildren. The college’s magazine provides candid insights into student concerns, institutional politics, and the social lives of trainee teachers.
Municipal School of Art
Art students at the Municipal School of Art included both full-time learners and those attending evening classes while working during the day. This flexible approach allowed individuals from various backgrounds to develop creative skills, with some going on to achieve national recognition in their fields.
Explore our related articles for further reading on Portsmouth’s educational heritage.
Notable Student Stories from the 1920s Archive
The strength of this exhibition lies in its focus on individual student stories Portsmouth residents can connect with personally. Rather than presenting abstract institutional history, the curators have centered the experiences of specific students whose paths illustrate the diverse opportunities available in 1920s Portsmouth.
Richard Gordon Tremlett: From Pharmacy Apprentice to Community Figure
Richard Gordon Tremlett arrived at Portsmouth Municipal College in 1926 as a pharmacy apprentice, balancing his studies with playing for the college football team. After completing his training, he established Tremlett’s Chemist in the city and served as a Red Cross volunteer during the Second World War. His memoir recounts an incident where he treated a fire with cough medicine, earning a £5 reward from the neighboring Lloyds Bank for his quick thinking. The family’s connection to Portsmouth education continues: his granddaughter, Dr Annabel Tremlett, now serves as an Associate Professor in Social Inclusion at the University.
Olivia Manning: Art Student Before Literary Fame
Before writing the acclaimed Fortunes of War trilogy, Olivia Manning studied evening classes at the Municipal School of Art during 1925 and 1926. Her artistic talents earned recognition quickly: just two years after her studies, one of her paintings was selected for exhibition in Southsea, and she received an offer for a solo exhibition. This early creative foundation preceded her transition to detective fiction and the wartime novels that established her literary reputation.
International Students and Women in 1920s Education
The exhibition also highlights international students who boarded with lecturers’ families in Southsea, creating informal cultural exchange opportunities that predated formal internationalization strategies by decades. Additionally, the presence of women students merits attention: at a time when only approximately one-quarter of UK university students were female, Portsmouth’s institutions provided educational opportunities that challenged contemporary gender norms.
Share your experiences or family connections to Portsmouth’s educational history in the comments below.
How the University of Portsmouth Archive Preserves Local History
The materials featured in this exhibition represent a fraction of the holdings maintained by the University of Portsmouth Archive. Anna Delaney, University Archivist, emphasizes that graduation ceremonies create a natural moment for reflection on institutional continuity. “Graduation is always a highlight of our academic year—a chance to celebrate our graduates’ success, and to send them off with our very best wishes for the future,” she explains. “This exhibition lets us look back at our students from a hundred years ago, and we hope visitors will come away recognizing streets, buildings and even surnames from their own family histories.”
The archive actively seeks contributions from the public. Individuals possessing photographs, documents, or memorabilia relating to student life from the 1920s through more recent decades can contact the archive team directly. This collaborative approach ensures that institutional memory extends beyond official records to include the personal perspectives that bring history to life.
For researchers tracking Portsmouth graduates 2026 and comparing contemporary graduation experiences with historical precedents, the archive provides valuable comparative material. The shift from 1920s apprentice-based education to today’s diverse degree offerings reflects broader changes in British higher education, while certain elements—ceremonial pageantry, family pride, community celebration—remain remarkably consistent.
Submit your application today if you’re interested in joining the next generation of Portsmouth graduates.
Heritage Innovation Beyond the Exhibition
The 1920s student life exhibition forms part of a broader heritage initiative led by the University’s Centre of Excellence for Heritage Innovation (CoE-HI), which launched in December 2025. The Centre develops projects that identify, interpret, and preserve both tangible and intangible heritage in partnership with communities across Portsmouth and the surrounding region.
Railway Workers Exhibition
A recent touring exhibition documented the lives of Portsmouth’s railway workers from the 1850s through the Second World War. This project gained additional visibility when it featured aboard the national Railway 200 exhibition train during its first South Coast stop, bringing local history to audiences who might never visit a traditional museum setting.
African and Caribbean Community Stories
Working with the Portsmouth Black History Group, the Centre has supported a project to record the post-war experiences of Portsmouth’s African and Caribbean community. These oral histories document the challenges and contributions of individuals who settled in the city after the Second World War, preserving perspectives that might otherwise be lost to time.
Dr Tarek Teba, Associate Professor in Architectural Heritage and Co-director of the Centre of Excellence for Heritage Innovation, articulates the guiding philosophy: “Exhibitions like this show exactly what the Centre is here to do—taking the rich heritage held in our archives and collections and making it meaningful for people in Portsmouth today. Whether it’s a 1920s student timetable or the memories of railway workers a century ago, we want communities to see themselves in this history and to help shape how it’s told.”
Practical Information for Visitors
Town, City and Gown: College Life in 1920s Portsmouth runs at Ravelin Sports Centre on the University of Portsmouth campus during normal opening hours throughout August and September. Admission is free, and the exhibition is designed to be accessible and engaging for families as well as individual visitors.
The Ravelin Sports Centre itself represents the University’s continued investment in facilities that serve both the campus community and the wider public. Visitors attending the exhibition can also explore the venue’s modern amenities, creating a natural connection between historical reflection and contemporary university life.
For those unable to visit in person, the University of Portsmouth Archive remains accessible for research inquiries by appointment. The archive team can be reached via email or telephone for those seeking specific information about institutional history, individual students, or the broader context of education in 1920s Portsmouth.
Schedule a free consultation to learn more about the University’s heritage collections and research opportunities.
Why This Exhibition Matters for Portsmouth’s Identity
The Portsmouth 100 celebrations provide a framework for examining how the city’s institutions have evolved over the past century. Education has played a central role in Portsmouth’s development, from the technical training that supported the naval dockyard and local industries to the research excellence that characterizes the modern university. By making archival materials accessible to public audiences, the University demonstrates its commitment to serving as a civic institution that contributes to shared understanding of local identity.
The exhibition also prompts reflection on the purposes of education. The 1920s students featured in the display pursued learning for practical reasons—career advancement, professional qualification, personal enrichment—motivations that remain recognizable to today’s students. The specific subjects and delivery methods have changed, but the fundamental relationship between education and opportunity persists across the century that separates the Class of 1926 from the Portsmouth graduates of 2026.
As Portsmouth continues to develop as a city, exhibitions like this one ensure that historical awareness informs future planning. The streets where 1920s students walked, the buildings where they studied, and the communities they inhabited form the physical and social context that current residents inherit. Understanding this heritage enriches contemporary life and provides perspective on the changes yet to come.
