Vicki Young was born in Cornwall around 1971. She grew up in Camborne, a town in Cornwall, England, developing an early awareness of how national decisions affect regional communities. Details about her parents are not publicly confirmed.

Young attended Truro High School for Girls, finishing in 1988, and during her senior years she was head girl at the school. She then attended New Hall, Cambridge. Vicki Young began her journalistic career at the BBC as a reporter for BBC Wales, where she covered regional news before advancing to the parliamentary team at Westminster.

She was a correspondent for BBC Breakfast from 2008 to 2011. In 2015, Young was promoted to the role of BBC News’ chief political correspondent, given the position in response to Norman Smith’s promotion to assistant political editor. In 2020 she was appointed as Deputy Political Editor.

In January 2022, Vicki Young withdrew from consideration for the BBC’s Political Editor position, vacated by Laura Kuenssberg, citing the need to focus on family responsibilities during her husband Rae Stewart’s cancer treatment. Stewart died on 20 June 2023 at age 56. Following his passing, Young set up a fundraiser for Royal Trinity Hospice London in his memory. She currently lives in London with her two children.