THE BBC’s chief international correspondent will be joining thousands of students getting degrees from York St John University today.

Lyse Doucet will be joining hundreds of students graduating at York Minster ceremonies today, tomorrow and Thursday as the university celebrates its 175th year with one of the highest number of honorary degrees ever awarded - eight.

Among those picking up honoraries are wheelchair racer Hannah Cockroft, who already has an MBE, as well as road racing cyclist Lizzie Deignan (formerly Armitstead) and professional rugby league footballer Jamie Peacock.

Yorkshire-born chef and presenter James Martin and actress Julia Davis are also among those celebrating with more than 2,000 students who are graduating over the three days.

Vice Chancellor Prof Karen Stanton said: “Graduation is an exciting and rewarding time for all our students and this year we are delighted to be awarding honorary degrees to some truly inspirational people in our 175th year as an academic institution.”