Black History Month 2026

Posted on Tuesday 29 September 2026

Black History Month in the UK is in its 39th year and is celebrated and recognised across the country in schools, city centres, cinemas, festivals and more.

The theme for 2026 is Honouring Our Communities.

Here at the University, we will be hosting a variety of online and in-person events to celebrate Black History. In addition to the celebrations, the month presents an engaging space of reflection on the achievements and innovative contributions of Black people to the social, political and cultural development of the United Kingdom. There are also opportunities for members of our community to learn more about the issues that continue to impact societies and people of colour in the UK and on an international level.

At a time of increasing divisions and conflicts in the UK and worldwide, we invite everyone to learn with us the diverse stories, aspirations and activism that tackle racial inequality and bring us together as a community. To reinforce our commitment to fostering a safe and respectful campus, we have released summary guidance and information on inclusion and race equality. 

Our actions

In 2025, we launched the Race Equity module for staff on the Learning Management System (LMS). The module covers topics including racism and equality in UK Higher Education, different forms of racism, understanding privilege and a toolkit for belonging. We strongly encourage our staff members to take this module.

University of York is part of the Equity in Leadership Programme, launched across the White Rose universities, supporting the career development of Black, Asian and minority ethnic staff aiming to advance into senior leadership positions. The programme is highly praised and colleagues at York have shared its positive impact. This year’s application is now open until Sunday 22 November 2026. 

Our activities

The University has implemented actions that address the underrepresentation of the Black, Asian and Minoritised Ethnic student population in York and the UK Higher Education. Some of our race equality initiatives include:

• Our Black Access scheme
• Yorkshire Consortium for Equity in Doctoral Education (YCEDE), dedicated to widening access to postgraduate research for people of colour, offers an online toolkit providing advice throughout a student’s journey from pre-application to post-doc and careers.
• The toolkit also guides staff from recruitment to evaluating impact to foster an anti-racist research culture. 
  Our status as a University of Sanctuary

Since 2022, we have published our ethnicity pay gap report to promote transparency. Our Staff Race Equality Forum (SREF) expands and brings positive influence on the University’s anti-racism agenda. SREF organised listening exercises in 2019 and 2022 with senior managers to gather feedback and develop action plans, and it aims to build better connections with different communities. Collaborating with the University of York Students’ Union, we have previously organised joint events including socials, a discussion of ‘where are you really from?’, and sharing stories of individuals’ names to highlight intersectional experiences. 

Between 2020 and 2024, our Race Equality Coordination Group oversaw activities to challenge and to redress systemic inequalities and disadvantages experienced by Black, Asian and Minority Ethnic staff and students. The Group is now closed as it fulfilled its original purpose. The webpage remains to showcase our actions. 

Read our anti-racism statement 

What's on?

On campus

City-wide events

Further resources