The University of York is a research-intensive plate glass university located in the city of York, England. Established in 1963, the campus university has expanded to more than thirty departments and centres, covering a wide range of subjects.

In 2012 York joined the Russell Group in recognition of the institution's world-leading research and outstanding teaching. In the 2014 Research Assessment Exercise, York was also named as the 14th best research institution in the United Kingdom. The university also places among the top 20 in the country, top 50 universities in Europe, and ranked 131st in the world, according to the 2016 Times Higher Education World University Rankings. The university attracts a student body with a wide range of backgrounds , including a large number of international students, and a relatively high number of state school students in comparison to other well-ranked universities according to The Times Good University Guide.

Situated to the south-east of the city of York, the university campus is about 200 acres in size, incorporating the York Science Park and the National Science Learning Centre. Its wildlife, campus lakes and greenery are prominent, and the institution also occupies buildings in the city of York. 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, known as Heslington East, opened in 2009 and now hosts three colleges and three departments as well as conference spaces, sports village and a business start-up "incubator".

York is a collegiate university and every student is allocated to one of the university's nine colleges. The ninth college was founded in 2014 and was named Constantine after the Roman emperor Constantine I, who was proclaimed Augustus in York in 306 AD. There are plans to build two new colleges in the near future.