For school-leavers who want academic stretch without urban overwhelm, York is a strong contender. The research-intensive university is based on 500 acres of parkland on the outskirts of the historic city known for its Roman roots, Viking history and must-see Minster. York’s collegiate structure is another draw for undergraduates, who are housed and hang out in their college with others from different year groups and academic disciplines. The 11 colleges reflect the university’s founding aims to integrate academic, social and residential activities.

Ranked ninth in our research quality index, York’s ambition to be a university for public good is evident in its research themes, which cover environmental, social and economic challenges. It is a member of the Russell Group, the York Maastricht Partnership, and the Association of Commonwealth Universities, which spans 50 countries. The university’s reconfiguration of academic disciplines in 2022 created three schools for research and teaching: Business and Society; Arts and Creative Technologies; and Physics, Engineering and Technology.

What is the University of York’s reputation? 

Rarely outside our top 20, York is tied on 17th place this year and does well across most of our indicators for success. Its top-ten position for research follows superb results in the latest Research Excellence Framework (REF 2021), in which 93 per cent of its work was rated world-leading or internationally excellent. Language and linguistics; education; philosophy; and sociology were the subjects that performed best. 

York’s strength in teaching is recognised with a gold rating overall in the Teaching Excellence Framework (TEF 2023), underpinned by gold for the student experience and silver for student outcomes. The panel commended the university’s “use of research in relevant disciplines, innovation, scholarship, professional practice and employer engagement”, which was found “to contribute to an outstanding academic experience for students”. Tailored approaches, the TEF panel continued, “are highly effective in ensuring students succeed in and progress beyond their studies”.

York is a year into a new semester structure. The year is divided into blocks: a week’s induction, then 11 weeks of teaching and four weeks of assessments. The shift was intended to better align with universities abroad and streamline student exchanges. Under York’s peer-assisted learning schemes, trained students facilitate small study groups from year groups below them.

Feedback in the National Student Survey (NSS) hints at discontentment with the teaching on campus, however. In our latest NSS analysis, York has fallen 42 places year-on-year to rank 94th for satisfaction with teaching quality. It remains in the upper half of UK universities for evaluations of the wider undergraduate experience (64=, down 25 places).

Work on a £35 million student centre was paused in January 2024 for at least three years, as the university gets to grips with increasing costs and a £14 million deficit reported for 2023. The centre had been due to open in September 2025 with room for collaborative study areas, students’ union clubs and societies, featuring a roof garden and large events space. For now, however, the work will be limited to wheelchair accessibility, planting and seating.

What degree courses have been discontinued and what new courses are available?

No courses are closing in 2024 or 2025, but there have been some replacements: economics/politics changed from a BA to a BSc; and physical geography and environment has replaced the integrated master's in environmental geography. 

New from 2024 are courses in data science; psychology of mental health; engineering with a foundation year; renewable energy technologies; digital media, culture and communication; politics with an applied quantitative analysis specialism; and international human rights law. York School of Architecture is due to be launched in 2025, as are a range of liberal arts courses.

What are the University of York’s entry requirements – and my chances of getting in?

York’s degree courses require BBC to A*AA at A-level. Contextual offers reduce the requirements by up to two grades. Just under 5,200 undergraduates were accepted on to courses in 2023 — the second-highest number of new starters at York in a decade. International students represented about 12 per cent of the year’s intake.

What are the graduate prospects?

York was one of the first British universities to host businesses alongside academic centres of expertise on campus. York’s Science Park houses 130 organisations ranging from start-ups to global enterprises across the creative, digital media, IT and bioscience sectors. Students enter the York Strengths programme from the first year of their degree, which gets them thinking about their existing skills, motivations and aspirations and helps them to work out which opportunities to pursue while they study and beyond. All students have the opportunity to take a placement year and host organisations have included Amazon, Warner Brothers and the Foreign and Commonwealth Office — as well as smaller digital and creative businesses. Our analysis of the latest Graduate Outcomes survey shows such initiatives are paying off: more than four in five (82.7 per cent) graduates are in highly skilled jobs or further study 15 months after leaving — a top 25 result for York.

What is the University of York campus like?

Purpose-built facilities at Campus West and Campus East are surrounded by lakes, wetlands and landscaped gardens. York’s drive to modernise its facilities continues. The Church Lane Building features flexible workspaces for the School for Business and Society and the Hull York Medical School has the latest clinical skills facilities. The £45 million York Institute for Safe Autonomy opened in 2022 with a “living lab” to test innovations such as driverless car technology and robotics.

The development of Campus East added three new colleges to the university in 2022: Langwith, Goodricke and Constantine. At Campus West, an £8 million project updated rooms in Derwent College in 2023-24.

The university is moving out of its city centre home in the historic King’s Manor, relocating facilities for archaeology and centres for medieval studies and 18th-century studies to the main Campus West by September 2025. The shift prompted a student-let petition but the university said the building was no longer fit for purpose and needed significant conservation work. 

Everything you need to know about the University of York’s student life and wellbeing support

With more than 5,000 cycle parking spaces on campus, it’s easy for students to get on their bikes and slash the 30-minute walking time to the city centre. There’s a free bus service too. York is said to have a pub for every day of the year and Leeds is within easy reach.

The university’s £9 million York Sport Village at Campus East features a 25m pool, 120-station gym, 3G pitch and five-a-side pitches. The university has the only outdoor velodrome in Yorkshire, a 1km cycling track and an athletics track, as well as its own boathouse on the River Ouse.

Fundraising and philanthropy are encouraged, and events like the Great York Walk bring students together to raise money for a good cause. The university has its own crowdfunding platform, YuStart. A fine-free library, free period products in colleges and a meal for 60p available on campus help to ease the financial burden.

York’s expanding mental health services include Talk Campus — providing peer support in 26 languages online. There is also a 24/7 phoneline staffed by clinicians. Members of the Open Door Team of psychologists and student wellbeing officers are embedded in academic departments and each college also focuses on student welfare.

What do the students say?

“Uni life can be tough for many, for all sorts of reasons, so knowing help is at hand — academically, financially, mentally — goes a long way to becoming independent as a student. We’re a family. We look out for each other. Empowerment is key to York’s mission of shaping world-ready graduates.”
Tanisha Jain, York sport union president and psychology student

What about student accommodation at the University of York?

First-years who apply by the end of July are guaranteed a room. Almost a fifth of rooms are catered.

How diverse and inclusive is the University of York?

The university was the first Russell Group member to sign the Social Mobility Pledge and its programmes continue to target left-behind communities. York’s performance in our social inclusion outdoes all but three of its Russell Group peers, ranking 91st overall in England and Wales. About a quarter of the university’s intake is drawn from selective state and independent schools and only about three in ten students are the first in their family to go to university (104th). But at 5.3 per cent, its proportion of white working-class boys  — the most underrepresented group in higher education — is 43rd.

Everything you need to know about scholarships and bursaries at the University of York

About a quarter of British undergraduates and 5 per cent of entrants from the European Union tend to qualify for financial aid. The York Bursary of £2,000 in the first year and £1,000-£1,100 in subsequent years is paid to students whose household incomes are under £35,000. Care leavers, estranged students and refugees are eligible for support and there is a range of scholarships offered by academic departments.