Overview
York St John (YSJ) occupies a site close to the historic city centre of York and a stone’s throw from York Minster, where graduation ceremonies take place in spectacular surroundings. Applications and admissions in 2023 both hit records for the second successive year, and the university’s courses are proving a hit with today’s careers-focused sixth-formers – with teacher training, nursing and allied health programmes to the fore. YSJ is one of the smaller universities in this guide, and so is more capable of delivering a university experience with a personal touch. Last year’s gold rating for student experience in the Teaching Excellence Framework bears this out, as does the university’s high ranking for student support under our analysis of this year’s National Student Survey results. YSJ caters for a more local student population than its city neighbour, with 60% of last year’s intake coming from Yorkshire and the North East. The opening of a health simulation suite has boosted facilities for the growing number of nursing and healthcare students, while degree apprenticeships for creative digital design professionals and broadcast and media systems engineers introduced from next September enhance YSJ’s presence in this key area, too.
Paying the bills
Bursaries of £800 for every year of study are offered to a number of student groups including black, Asian and minority ethnic students from homes with a residual family income of less than £42,000, as well as care leavers, estranged students, and those who earn four points or more under YSJ’s contextual offers scheme (see Student support and campus culture, below). Low-income scholarships worth £250 annually are offered to students from homes where annual income is less than £25,000. If students qualify for more than one scholarship, they will usually receive only the one with the higher value. Students who progress to the university from York College receive a one-off £200 cash payment, which can be taken with other scholarships. A student support fund provides emergency help. YSJ also has a number of alumni-funded scholarships, worth £1,000 in each year of study. University-owned student accommodation is priced from £125 per week in The Grange, or £4,625 for a 37-week term-time contract, rising to £170 per week in St John Central, or £6,970 for a 41-week tenancy. Partner providers offer 44-week deals for £8,360, equivalent to £190 per week.
What’s new?
Several significant infrastructure projects have come on stream in the past two years to further improve the YSJ student experience, which earned a gold rating in the most recent Teaching Excellence Framework. More than 500 nursing, paramedic science, physiotherapy and occupational therapy students are making good use of the new health simulation suite, which opened last year. It features two hospital wards, a mock flat to recreate a realistic setting for community-based nursing, two large clinical skills rooms for paramedic science, and specialist physiotherapy and occupational therapy skills rooms. Simulation is used in clinical teaching on all courses, alongside theory work and placements. The university has also expanded the premises on its Docklands campus in London, where it provides mostly courses for 2,000 postgraduates in business management, healthcare management, computer science and data science. Back in York, a further 210 rooms have been added recently to the university’s stock of accommodation. Following on from the introduction of a new BSc in paramedic science this month, York St John plans to add degrees in midwifery and radiography from September 2025. At the same time, it will expand its degree apprenticeship programme to include two new level 6 apprenticeships for creative digital design professionals and broadcast and media systems engineers.
Admissions, teaching and student support
The university uses a points-based system to determine qualification for contextual offers, which are made across many, but not all, courses. A single point is earned from being a mature entrant, disabled or the first in your immediate family to go to university; living in a postcode among the 40% with the highest rates of deprivation; or attending a school among the 40% with the lowest attainment levels. Two points are awarded for living in a postcode among the 20% with the highest rates of deprivation or attending a school in the bottom 20% for performance. Three points are awarded for care leavers. Applicants who score two or three points qualify for reduced offers which are made at 88 Ucas tariff points, equivalent to CCD at A-level (as long as they have predicted grades of at least 80 Ucas tariff points). This is 16 tariff points below the university’s standard offer of 104 points, or BCC at A-level. The 6% to 9% of applicants with multiple indicators of disadvantage, who score four points or more, can even receive an unconditional offer of a place, as long as they have predicted grades of at least 96 Ucas tariff points. Mental health advisers, counsellors and welfare advisers are available for students who encounter difficulties, and the university is working on creating better pathways to cut waiting times for students who require external NHS mental health support. YSJ has also held the meningitis aware recognition mark for several years and raises awareness of the illness with new students each year.