The University of York (abbreviated as or York for post-nominals) is a collegiate public research university in York, England. Established in 1963, the university has expanded to more than thirty departments and centres, covering a wide range of subjects.
South-east of the city of York, the university campus is about in size. The original campus, Campus West, incorporates the York Science Park and the National Science Learning Centre, and its wildlife, campus lakes and greenery are prominent. In May 2007 the university was granted permission to build an extension to its main campus, on arable land just east of the nearby village of Heslington. The second campus, Campus East, opened in 2009
York was one of the first of the plate glass universities established in the 1960s, and runs a distinctive collegiate system, which currently consists of eleven colleges. The eleventh college, David Kato, opened in 2022. The university is a member of regional research groups including the N8 Group and White Rose University Consortium as well as the national Russell Group.
History
Origins
The first petition for the establishment of a university in York was presented to James I in 1617. In 1641, a second petition was drawn up but was not delivered due to the English Civil War in 1642. A third petition was created in 1647 but was rejected by Parliament.
Oliver Sheldon a director of Rowntree's and co-founder of York Civic Trust, was a driving force behind the campaign to found the university.
Establishment
John Bowes Morrell was the driving force behind the university's establishment. The university started with six departments: Economics, Education, English, History, Mathematics, Politics. Due to the influence of Graeme Moodie, founding head of the Politics Department, students are involved in the governance of the university at all levels, and his model has since been widely adopted.
York's first two colleges, Derwent and Langwith, were founded in 1965, as was the University of York Library. These were the first residential colleges. They were followed by Alcuin and Vanbrugh in 1967 and Goodricke in 1968. In 1972 this was followed by Wentworth College. In 1993, therefore it was decided that the college should become open to undergraduates. For a number of years, the university's expansion plans were limited by planning restrictions. The City of York planning conditions stipulate that only 20% of the land area may be built upon, and the original campus was at full capacity.
In 2004, plans were finalised for a 117 hectare extension to the campus, initially called Heslington East, designed to mirror the existing Heslington West campus. They are now known as Campus East and Campus West. The plans set out that the new campus would be built on arable land between Grimston Bar park and ride car park and Heslington village. The land was removed from the green belt especially for the purpose of extending the university. After a lengthy consultation and a public inquiry into the proposals in 2006, Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government Ruth Kelly gave the go-ahead in May 2007. thumb|left|[[Constantine College, York|Constantine College was founded in 2014.]]In May 2008 the City of York planners approved the design for the residential college, Goodricke. In The Press on 28 July 2008, Shepherd Construction was named as the preferred contractor for the Goodricke College buildings. The proposal included landscaping the whole area, constructing a lake with marsh borders, planting light woodland and many specimen trees, and maximising biodiversity.
Construction began in 2008, with the first buildings, including Goodricke college, coming into use in October 2009. It was decided that rather than create a new college that an existing college should be moved. Goodricke College was selected for this and moved onto the new campus in 2009 with James taking over its building on Campus West. Goodricke was officially opened by the then Duke of York (later Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor) in April 2010. In 2012, the same process took place with Langwith moving to Campus East and Derwent taking over its previous buildings. In 2014 Campus East saw the establishment of the ninth college, named Constantine College after the Roman emperor Constantine the Great, who was proclaimed Augustus in York in 306 AD.
Campus
Campus West
thumb|right|The campus from the air looking south in September 2005
In 1964, work began on the campus facilities in the grounds of Heslington Hall. The marshy land was drained, the winding lake that dominates the campus was built, and the area was landscaped. The original buildings were designed by architects Sir Andrew Derbyshire and Sir Stirrat Johnson-Marshall, with input also from the Vice-Chancellor Lord James, Professor Patrick Nuttgens and the Registrar, John West-Taylor. The new structures were assembled using the CLASP system of prefabricated construction, hence York's inclusion among the so-called plate glass universities. It has played host to the Wailers, George Melly, Soft Machine, Pink Floyd, and Paul McCartney. Performances by big-name acts have been rarer at the university following a 1985 the Boomtown Rats concert, during which the cover of the orchestra pit was damaged. A ban on pop performances, and in particular dancing, in Central Hall was imposed by the university, although it has occasionally been relaxed. Central Hall is still used for classical concerts and since a rock concert was held there on 13 March 2010 it has been available again for full booking. Public concerts are regularly held in the music department's Sir Jack Lyons Concert Hall, the Arthur Sykes Rymer Auditorium and in some of the colleges.
University library
The University of York Library opened in 1965 two years after the university itself opened. The building was designed by Robert Mathews, Johnson-Marshall and partners. The primary site of library comprises a series of three linked buildings to the north side of the University of York's West Campus: the JB Morrell, the Raymond Burton, and the Fairhurst buildings. Originally just consisting of the JB Morrell, in 2003 the Raymond Burton library was added to the site, designed by Leach Rhodes Walker architects and houses both the Humanities research reading room and the Borthwick institute for archives. The Raymond Burton Library was also recently nominated for a SCONUL Design award. In 2012 the Library had a £20 million renovation incorporating the neighbouring Fairhurst building, now housing the majority of libraries study spaces including the postgraduate study lounge.
Grounds
The campus lake is the largest plastic-bottomed lake in Europe. The decision by Sir Andrew Derbyshire and Stirrat Johnson-Marshall to give the university a lake had two motivations: one, to give the university a distinct image and identity while also creating areas to foster community; and two, more practically to create a drainage basin for the relatively flat agricultural site as it was feared the construction of the new buildings would increase the risk of flooding. However, the use of this name varies, which challenges it's authenticity. It has been applied to the whole lake, to the Derwent fish pond, and to the end of the lake around Wentworth. No historic use of the term has been found to add support to any of these terms use.
Other parts of the campus support a large rabbit population. On at least one occasion, students have been cautioned by the university for hunting rabbits.
Campus West has both indoor and outdoor sports facilities, including an all-weather AstroTurf pitch and County standard cricket pitch. A large, tent-like structure allows for indoor sport, gymnastics and dance.
In 2013 it was reported that the university was planning a major redevelopment of Campus West, which would also result in the creation of a tenth college.
Heslington Hall
thumb|[[Heslington Hall was built in 1568]]
Heslington Hall is a Grade II* listed rebuilt manor house consisting of a central nine-bay two-storey block with attics and two two-storey wings at each end. It is built of brick in English bond with sandstone ashlar dressings. The original Manor house was constructed in 1568 for Sir Thomas Eynns, the Secretary and Keeper of the Seal to the Council of the North; and his wife Elizabeth.
At the outbreak of the Second World War, the house was vacated by the family, allowing it to be taken over by the Royal Air Force as the headquarters of No. 4 Group RAF, part of RAF Bomber Command. The hall was not re-occupied by the family after the war. In 1955 the hall was given Grade II* listed building status. When the university was founded, Sir Bernard Feilden supervised its conversion into the administrative headquarters of the university. and moved its Physics of Life group to the Science Park in winter 2019. York Conferences are located on the university campus.
King's Manor
thumb|right|King's Manor
Located in York city centre, about from the main Heslington West campus, the historic King's Manor began as the Abbot's House of St Mary's Abbey and went on to become the headquarters of the Council of the North following the dissolution of the monasteries. For many years after 1966, the King's Manor housed the Institute of Advanced Architectural Studies (IoAAS). The IoAAS was a postgraduate institute primarily specialising in providing mid-career education for architects and others. In particular, it became well known for its one-year Diploma Course in Conservation Studies.
The university announced in 2024 that it would stop using King's Manor for teaching and research due to the cost of maintaining the property and problems with accessibility, with the departments moving to the main Heslington campus. The research centres in humanities, medieval studies, renaissance and early modern studies, and eighteenth century studies, moved to Heslington Hall in 2025, while the Department of Archaeology is planned to move to the Berrick Saul Building in summer 2026. The lease for the site, owned by City of York Council, will be taken over by York St John University in 2026.
Campus East
thumb|Goodricke College, Heslington East campus
Several departments have purpose-built facilities on Campus East, including York Law School. In October 2010, several departments moved into new facilities on Campus East including the Department of Theatre, Film and Television and the Department of Computer Science.
Campus East also includes the York Sports Village and a new purpose built £1.1 million Olympic-sized outdoor velodrome, the only one in Yorkshire or the North East of England.
Other properties
The university owns several other properties including Catherine House, Constantine House, 54 Walmgate, and Fairfax House. The university publishes an annual code of practice for student accommodation to help students living off-campus.
Organisation and administration
Colleges
thumb|268x268px|Physics Block, University of York.
York is a collegiate university and has eleven colleges.
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|Langwith College||1965||Langwith Common
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|Alcuin College||1967||Alcuin of York, scholar and advisor to Charlemagne
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|Vanbrugh College||1967||Sir John Vanbrugh, designer of Castle Howard
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|Goodricke College||1968||John Goodricke, astronomer
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|Wentworth College||1972