York St John University (originally established as York Diocesan College), often abbreviated to YSJ, is a public university located on a large urban campus in York, England. Established in 1841, it achieved university status in 2006 and in 2015 the university was given research degree awarding powers for PhD and doctoral programmes. It is one of several higher education institutions which have religious foundations and is part of the Cathedrals Group of Universities.