Criminology and Law

During your Foundation Year, you will undertake modules to enable you to enhance your academic skills and equip you with the tools you’ll need to study with confidence. You’ll carry out a personal project so you can study an area of interest related to your chosen future subject specialisation.

You’ll develop your knowledge of law through consideration of issues and questions that are key to understanding common legal issues. You’ll gain an understanding of the English legal system and how legal precedent is achieved and explore the basic principles of common law and case law. You’ll also consider the usefulness of law reports and learn about key legal personnel and systems

Following successful completion of the Foundation Year, you’ll progress onto the first year of our Criminology and Law BA Joint (Hons) degree.

You’ll learn about the structure and nature of the legal system of England and Wales, which includes the criminal justice system. We’ll give you an overview of the processes through which criminal behaviour is addressed – from profiling and arrest, to sentencing and rehabilitation – as well as exploring important related aspects, such as family law and comparative law.

You’ll work with a range of theories and methodologies used to understand and respond to criminal behaviour, as well as gaining an understanding of the causes and consequences of crime, looking at serious and violent crime in particular.

And you’ll have the chance to examine different types of criminal groups, such as football hooligans and crime gangs, as well as different social perceptions of crime.

Professional work placements will provide you with insights into the range of professional careers available.

You’ll have the chance to specialise in your preferred area of criminology and law in a substantial research project, along with getting the option to complete a year-long professional project module with an employer in your final year.

Why study with us?

• Build your self-confidence, academic skills and core subject knowledge in preparation for progression onto degree-level study.
• Understand the criminal mind. You’ll examine criminal behaviour from a range of viewpoints: legal, social, policing and social justice.
• Study in Leeds – one of the UK’s biggest centres for legal services and the youth justice system.
• Gain industry experience without taking a sandwich year with professional work placements built into the degree.
• Learn from the experts. Our lecturers are active researchers with extensive legal experience.

You will study a variety of modules across your programme of study. The module details given below are subject to change and are the latest example of the curriculum available on this course of study.

Modules by Year

Foundation Year

Core modules (students are required to take): 

• Academic Skills and Studying with Confidence
  We'll help you develop core academic skills such as using electronic resources, planning and note-taking, communication skills related to essay and report writing and delivering presentations. You'll learn how to manage your time, how to prioritise and how to manage stress, and you’ll become more confident in engaging with collaborative learning, debates, discussions and critical reflection.
• Law Project
  You’ll study an area of interest related to your chosen future academic specialisation or area of legal practice interest. You’ll work individually on your project, whether that's a written report, a presentation and oral examination, a film or a series of blog posts. You’ll undertake problem-solving learning, with formative feedback and support provided throughout, helping develop your self-confidence.
• Law Foundations
  This module will introduce you to foundation legal principles and concepts. You will explore various fundamentals of law - including their connection with the English legal system - focusing on interesting and topical contexts, cases and principles as well as the way the law is reported, how citations work and how to research cases.
• Law and Society
  This module will encourage you to engage with the broader implications of law in society. Drawing on examples from topical legal areas and legal practice, you’ll develop an understanding of the nature of common law and legal precedent within UK Law, in distinction from civil code systems. You will take part in seminars and group work to explore selected case studies and reports and locate additional information through reference resources.
  
  

Year 1

Core modules (students are required to take):

• Introduction to Criminology
• Policing and Protecting the State
• The English Legal System
• Legal Skills
• Ethics, Society and Employability

Year 2

Core modules (students are required to take):

• Crime, Media and Culture
• Organised Crime
• Human Rights and Social Justice
• Criminal Law
• Professional Development and Placement

Year 3

Students are required to choose one option module from:

• Dissertation
• Work-Based Learning Project

Students are also required to choose up to three option modules from: 

• Justice, Punishment and Human Rights
• Crimes of the 21st Century
• Policing Priorities
• Gender and Society
• Surveillance Societies
• Employment Law
• Family Law
• Comparative Law

Professional work placements

Experience matters. That's why we include professional work placements with every undergraduate degree.

How does it work?

Our Careers, Placements and Employability team will work with you to find your perfect placement or help you arrange your own, whether that's in Leeds, another part of the UK or even abroad. You will be able to take part in a series of workshops, events and live ‘employer challenges’ to boost your confidence and prepare you for your placement.

During your placement, you will have an opportunity to gain degree-relevant work experience, build your knowledge of career sectors and secure valuable employer references and industry contacts. This experience will help you to shape your career decisions and find the right path for you.

Leeds is one of the UK’s major centres for legal services, making it an ideal setting for placement and graduate opportunities. We have links to local youth justice, policing, and penal justice placements.

To find out how we can help you make your career ambitions a reality, visit:

Professional Work Placements

At Leeds Trinity we aim to provide an excellent student experience and provide you with the tools and support to help you achieve your academic, personal and professional potential.

Our Learning, Teaching and Assessment Strategy delivers excellence by providing the framework for:

• high quality teaching
• an engaging and inclusive approach to learning, assessment and achievement
• a clear structure through which you progress in your academic studies, your personal development and towards professional-level employment or further study.

We have a strong reputation for developing student employability, supporting your development towards graduate employment, with relevant skills embedded throughout your programme of study.

We endeavour to develop curiosity, confidence, courage, ambition and aspiration in all students through the key themes in our Learning and Teaching Strategy:

• Student Involvement and Engagement
• Inclusion
• Integrated Programme and Assessment Experience
• Digital Literacy and Skills
• Employability and Enterprise

To help you achieve your potential we emphasise learning as a collaborative process, with a range of student-led and real-world activities. This approach ensures that you fully engage in shaping your own learning, developing your critical thinking and reflective skills so that you can identify your own strengths and weaknesses, and use the extensive learning support system we offer to shape your own development.

We believe the secret to great learning and teaching is simple: it is about creating an inclusive learning experience that allows all students to thrive through:

• Personalised support
• Expert lecturers
• Strong connections with employers
• An international outlook
• Understanding how to use tools and technology to support learning and development

Programme delivery

Your time on campus, learning through in-person teaching, is at the heart of your academic experience and the way we deliver our programmes. This is supported and further enhanced by additional engagement activities and opportunities provided online and through digital teaching materials. This blended approach seeks to ensure a positive learning and teaching student experience.

Your programme of study has been carefully designed around a three-phase model of delivery:

1. Preparation: You will be given clear tasks to support you in preparing for live teaching. This could include watching a short-pre-recorded lecture, reading a paper or text chapter or preparing other material for use in class.
2.  Live: All your live teaching will be designed around active learning, providing you with valuable opportunities to build on preparation tasks, interact with staff and peers, and surface any misunderstandings.
3. Post: Follow-up activities will include opportunities for you to check understanding, for staff to receive feedback from you and your peers to inform subsequent sessions, and for you to apply learning to new situations or context.

Preparation, Live and Post teaching and learning and the digital materials used will vary by course, but will be designed to help you structure your learning, take a full and active part in your course, and apply and test your developing knowledge and skills.

Assessment

A variety of assessment methods are used, matched to the learning outcomes for your programme, allowing you to apply and demonstrate the full range of knowledge and skills that you have developed.

For more details on specific assessment methods for this course contact hello@leedstrinity.ac.uk

Leeds Trinity University is committed to recruiting students with talent and potential and who we feel will benefit greatly from their academic and non-academic experiences here. We treat every application on its own merits; we value highly the experience you illustrate in your personal statement.

The following information is designed to give you a general overview of the qualifications we accept. If you are taking qualifications that are not included below, including the recently introduced T Levels, please contact our Admissions Office who will be happy to advise you.

Applications are welcome from mature students with few or no formal qualifications.

Any previous relevant work experience and learning will be assessed and, where appropriate, accredited as part of the application process.

This course is not available to students on a Student Route Visa.

UK Home Students:

Tuition fees cost £9,250 a year for this course in 2022/2023.

Tuition fees cost £9,250 a year for this course in 2023/2024*.

* This fee is subject to approval and may change depending on government policy.

Part-time tuition fees will be prorated accordingly to the number of credits you're studying.

Depending on government policy, tuition fees may change in future years.

Living costs, e.g. accommodation, travel, food, will also need to be taken into consideration.

Leeds Trinity offers a range of bursaries and scholarships to help support students while you study.

Additional costs

We advise students that there may be additional course costs in addition to annual tuition fees:

• Recommended and required reading lists will be provided at the start of your course. All the books and e-books are available from our Library to borrow but you may choose to purchase your own.
• On some courses there may be additional costs, such as field trips, equipment, accreditations, that may be part-funded by the University. More details will be provided at the start of the course.
• You'll need to include placement/s travel and associated costs too, however the University will contribute a standard amount towards your total expenditure.
• The University provides students with a £6 printing credit each academic year which can be topped up either on campus or online.

For full-time undergraduate courses, you apply through UCAS. That's the University and Colleges Admissions Service.

On your application form, you'll need to know our institution code - it's L24 - and the course code. If you click through to the UCAS website using the button below, it'll take you to the right place with all the information you need.

Clearing is now open for applications for September 2022 entry for available courses. Find out more about Clearing.

You can now register and start your application for 2023, although you cannot submit it until 6 September 2023. The UCAS application deadline for courses starting in September 2023 is 25 January 2023.

You'll need to write a personal statement - we've prepared a guide to help you.

There's lots more information about the application process on the UCAS website, or you can get in touch with our admissions team who will be happy to help:

• call 0113 283 7123 (Monday to Thursday, 9.00am to 5.00pm, or Friday 9.00am to 4.00pm)
• email admissions@leedstrinity.ac.uk 

Apply now

Graduate opportunities

Providing you with the opportunity to develop the professional skills and experience you need to launch your career is at the heart of everything we do at Leeds Trinity University.

You’ll graduate with a solid grounding in criminology and law, which will prepare you for a range of careers in youth justice, the Criminal Justice System and local government. You’ll also have the chance to develop a set of transferable skills to prepare you for the further study needed to become a barrister’s clerk.

After you graduate, our Careers, Placements and Employability team will help you as you pursue your chosen career through our mentoring scheme, support with CV and interview preparation and access to graduate employability events.

To find out how we can help you make your career ambitions a reality, visit:

Careers and Employability