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York St John is University of the Year for Social Inclusion in the Good University Guide 2025

Published: 20 September 2024

  •   Featured
  •   Awards
Four students in front of York St John in the sunshine

York St John University has been named as the University of the Year for Social Inclusion by The Times and The Sunday Times Good University Guide 2025. 

The award was given to York St John in recognition of its commitment to empowering students from all backgrounds with the opportunity to study and thrive in higher education, helping people develop skills today that will set them apart in the future.  

Characterised by a strong commitment to social justice and deep links with communities, York St John University is a supportive, people-focused institution making an important contribution to widening educational participation and enabling economic development across the region.  

Professor Karen Bryan OBE, Vice Chancellor of York St John University, said: 

“All of us at York St John University are extremely proud of our work to make university education more inclusive. We believe students from all backgrounds deserve equal access to all the opportunities that higher education offers. With the right support, students who are underrepresented in universities are often the most resilient, determined and tenacious graduates and go on to achieve excellent outcomes.    

“This accolade reflects how we support students to achieve their full potential, by providing guidance, fair access, practical support and financial scholarships to reduce the barriers that some students face. 

“I am deeply grateful to all my colleagues at York St John for their work behind the scenes that has led to York St John being recognised as The Times and Sunday Times University of the Year for Social Inclusion.”

Access to university 

As part of its commitment to widening participation, York St John’s Access and Participation Plan outlines key objectives aimed at improving equality of opportunity for students from disadvantaged backgrounds, focusing on access, success, and progression in higher education. Connections with schools and colleges support young people to make informed decisions about their future education and careers. 

Community engagement and partnerships 

The University has strong links with businesses and the community through initiatives that deliver social benefits for the wider public. These include the Institute for Social Justice, Institute for Health and Care Improvement, the Communities Centre, Law Clinic, Community Language School, Converge: Education for Recovery and The Military Human Project. 

The University also supports numerous community festivals and events, including the ground-breaking Yorkshire Young Asian Achiever Awards, in partnership with the QED Foundation. On campus, efforts to promote respect and tackle societal issues also include the All About Respect project, which secured funding from the Home Office to address sexual harm and hate crime among teenagers. 

York St John is proud of its progress towards advancing equality, with ongoing work to ensure that gender and race equality are integral to university policies, practices, and culture. 

A university that stands for inclusion 

The social inclusion rankings used by The Sunday Times are based on metrics drawn from datasets published by the Higher Education Statistics Agency (HESA) and the Universities and Colleges Admissions Service (UCAS), providing valuable insights into the diversity of the student body and the fairness of university admissions.  

The University of the Year for Social Inclusion award reflects York St John’s outstanding performance across multiple inclusion measures, reaffirming its reputation as a leader in making higher education accessible to all.  

York St John University is the University of the Year for Social Inclusion. The university opened in 1841 with a single student and last year welcomed 2,500 new undergraduates. YSJ rose 37 places up our social inclusion index last year and has shot up another 31 places to rank 16th this year.  The Times and The Sunday Times Good University Guide 2025.

Helen Davies, editor of The Times and The Sunday Times Good University Guide, said:  

“The best universities — whether they were founded in the 15th century or 2005 — are local and global powerhouses of intellectual thought and creativity, from the arts to science, that can power economic regeneration and lead the way to a better life. But what and where to study — and how to pay for it — has never been tougher. This is where our comprehensive guide can help. 

“This year we have tweaked our methodology to keep up with contemporary concerns around climate change and careers and have added in a sustainability metric, teaming up with People & Planet, and boosted the weighting of graduate prospects.  

“The higher education sector is facing unprecedented challenges, from debates on free speech to financial stability, but it is important to remember the force for good that going to university can be. See how the universities compare subject by subject, a guide on campus life, and what scholarships and bursaries may be on offer online.”  

The Times and The Sunday Times Good University Guide 2025 provides the definitive rankings for UK universities and the most comprehensive overview of higher education in Britain, making use of the latest data. It features everything you need to know about applying to university and detailed online profiles for 134 universities, covering research reputation to campus facilities, scholarships and bursaries, and nightlife.   

A fully searchable website, with 70 subject tables, full interactive tables and additional features, is available on the website thetimes.com/gooduniversityguide 

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