About us
At the forefront of the University's mission to be a University for public good, our pioneering and impactful interdisciplinary research and teaching is designed to help public, private and third sector organisations deliver sustainable and inclusive growth in order to improve the economic, social and ecological wellbeing of people across the world.
Our work is applied and problem-focused, using cross-disciplinary knowledge to address real-world problems and working with non-academic partners to co-produce meaningful responses to societal challenges.
Our activity deliberately transcends conventional boundaries, reflecting our view that the most pressing issues facing the world today require responses that consider the roles of public, private and third sector organisations alongside each other.
We're drawing together activity that other universities normally locate in separate Schools of Business and Schools of Public Policy. Reflecting York’s long-standing strengths in both of these areas we are the largest organisational unit at the University.
With scale comes a breadth of expertise and a diverse learning community. We offer degree programmes across a broad range of subjects.
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Worldwide reputation
39th in the world for Social Policy and Administration
QS World University Rankings by subject 2024
Largest organisational unit at York
with 3,500 students and 250 members of staff
Highly ranked
We're ranked 3rd for Social Work, 6th for Marketing in the UK according to the Complete University Guide 2025
Our subjects
"We're uniquely placed to lead business and public policy action to tackle complex social and environmental societal problems. This is urgent, as civilisation needs to start living within its planetary boundaries, reduce growing inequalities, and build an economy based on sustainable inclusive growth.
A School combining and amplifying strengths in responsible business management, social policy, social work and public management provides a unique opportunity to pioneer an interdisciplinary collaborative strategy for public good."
Professor Bob Doherty, Dean of the School for Business and Society
Equality, diversity and inclusivity
We believe that diversity strengthens the quality of our research, teaching, and student experience. Our staff and students come from all over the world, and we celebrate this by nurturing equality and inclusion, actively removing barriers and creating opportunities.
We're committed to working towards gender equality and we currently hold a Bronze Athena Swan charter award for the School for Business and Society in recognition of our work so far.
