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.

[1] 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.

[16] 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.

[19] 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.

In 2003, the university set out plans to create a campus for 5,000 additional students, and to introduce a number of new subjects such as law and dentistry.

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.

After a lengthy consultation and a public inquiry into the proposals[31] in 2006, the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government gave the go-ahead in May 2007.

[33] The proposal included landscaping the whole area, constructing a lake with marsh borders, planting light woodland and many specimen trees, and maximising biodiversity.

The university says that "development has been designed to optimise the beautiful landscape and will be built with respect for the existing ecological diversity around the lake".

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.

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.

[23] 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.

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.

Located in York city centre, about 2 miles (3 km) 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.

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.

[87] On 25 November 2010 York was named "University of the Year" at the Times Higher Education Awards, achieving praise from the judges for its "success in combining academic excellence with social inclusion, as well as its record in scientific discovery".

[103] In the 2016–17 academic year, the university had a domicile breakdown of 80:5:16 of UK:EU:non-EU students respectively with a female to male ratio of 56:44.

Provisions for lesbian, gay, bisexual, trans and queer (LGBT) students at the university are divided among two distinct organisations.

The university's Students' Union run a number of bars and venues across both campuses, namely The Courtyard, The Kitchen, The Glasshouse, The Lounge and Vanbrugh Arms.

[108] Additionally, the Union also ran a venue known as D-Bar (located in Derwent College) but had to temporarily close it due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

[110] Shortly after reopening as a bar, D-Bar was hosting an LGBTQ+ event when it was gate crashed by Derwent College Rugby team[111] which was called out by the then-LGBTQ+ Officers, Matt Rogan and Daniel Loyd.

[112][113] In 2020, Patrick O'Donnell, the president of YUSU, unveiled a new, purpose built venue named The Forest which would be used for a wide variety of events.

[123] It has also won multiple Guardian Student Newspaper awards throughout the past decade, for both its pioneering website[124] and outstanding individual journalists.

[129] The venue of the event alternates each year between York and Lancaster, and involves numerous sports clubs, including the conventional (football, hockey) and the more unusual (octopush, ultimate frisbee).

Long Boi was a 70-cm tall Indian Runner-Mallard Duck cross that lived by Derwent College, and became an unofficial mascot to the university.

[139] A fundraising campaign raised enough money to commission a life-size bronze statue of Long Boi by sculptor Neil Mason.

[140][141] The statue was formally unveiled by BBC Radio Presenter Greg James in The University of York's Central Hall on 26 September 2024.

[144] The Senior Vice President of the World Bank Group Dr Mahmoud Mohieldin holds a master's degree in Economic and Social Policy Analysis from York.

The university is also represented by alumni educated in the liberal arts such as English literature, social sciences, economics, philosophy, medieval history, and music.

[145] Greg Dyke, Chair of the Football Association and British Film Institute, is a former student, and graduated in 1974 with a BA in Politics, returning to York as university Chancellor from 2004 to 2015.