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College Varsity

Annual inter-collegiate sporting event

Wikipedia contributorsAdapted for Fathomly · View authors
1 min read
Source updated July 31, 2026

College Varsity is an annual inter-collegiate sporting event between colleges from the University of York and Durham University. Each University has qualification systems to decide which college represents each University in each sport. The host has alternated between the two universities, except for 2020 to 2022 when the University of York hosted it back to back following the event's cancellation in 2021.

The inaugural event took place at the University of York in 2014, as a replacement to the defunct White Rose Varsity Tournament between the University of York and the University of Hull.

As of May 2026, the tournament has taken place twelve times, with both universities winning six times each and the longest run of wins being three from the University of York between 2020 and 2024, including their first away win in 2024. The tournament was cancelled in 2021 due to the COVID-19 pandemic).

01Results

  • Durham = 6 wins (4 home, 2 away)
  • York = 6 wins (5 home, 1 away)
No.YearHostWinnerRunner-upRef.
12014YorkDurham 37York 27
22015DurhamDurham 60York 36
32016YorkYork 56Durham 48
42017DurhamDurham 94York 31
52018YorkYork 73Durham 55
62019DurhamDurham 65York 46
72020YorkYork 76Durham 47
, N/a2021Cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic
82022YorkYork 85Durham 43
92023DurhamYork 65Durham 63
102024YorkYork 72Durham 48
112025DurhamDurham 77York 56
122026YorkDurham 67York 51
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Sources and credits

This article is adapted from the Wikipedia article “College Varsity”, written by its contributors and licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0. Fathomly has changed the layout, removed citation markers, navigation and maintenance notices, and adjusted punctuation. This adapted version is shared under the same license. For references, see the original article.

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Related topics

List of British and Irish varsity matches

A varsity match in Britain and Ireland is a fixture, especially of a sporting event or team, between university teams, usually the highest-level team, or varsity team, in that sport. The longest-running series of varsity matches in the world is between the University of Oxford and the University of Cambridge, a key feature of Oxford-Cambridge rivalry.

White Rose Varsity Tournament

Taking its name from the 15th century Wars of the Roses where York were represented by the white rose the White Rose Varsity Tournament was a sports competition originally between the two York-based universities in the UK; University of York and York St John University and later between the University of York and the University of Hull. Started in 2005 by Athletics Union president Stuart Leslie of the University of York and his counterpart from the then York St John College, it ran annually 2008 and was revived in 2010 before Hull replaced York St John in 2011 an attempt to make the tournament more competitive.

Roses Tournament

The Roses Tournament is an annual varsity sports competition between Lancaster University and the University of York in England. It is often described as the largest inter-university sports tournament in Europe.