Criminology with Foundation Year

The course is a 4 year BA in Criminology including a Foundation Year. The course is aimed at students who may be critical of current criminal justice policies and who are seeking employment in either the criminal justice sector or associated fields. This course benefits from both a theoretical basis as well as a vocational and applied nature. There is a high level of face-to-face tuition delivered by practicing criminologists who are currently active in this field of study. Students will develop a comprehensive understanding of criminological theorising and will be able to apply this to current socio-economic policies and conditions. In order to achieve this, students will develop a critical understanding of the law in relation to current issues such as migration, terrorism, trafficking, drugs and mass incarceration. Criminology will be considered from a variety of different perspectives including feminist, critical, cultural, and race.

This course will be delivered over a 4 year period, with students undertaking 6 modules per year across 2 semesters. The degree programme is designed so that the Foundation Year provides an underpinning year, incorporating both academic and legal/professional related learning for applicants needing to improve their knowledge and understanding along with the necessary skills needed to participate in the undergraduate programmes at levels 4, 5 and 6. Students will be taught using a variety of digital media and resources. The final year will include a dissertation or research project and a research methods module. Students will have practical issues raised and develop relevant skills of analysis, research, problem-solving, and communication skills so as to resolve those issues but also the relevant skills to be able to communicate them.

There are two semesters per academic year. Each semester is 15 weeks long; 12 weeks face-to-face tuition, one week consolidation/revision and two weeks to complete the assessments. Students study three modules per semester. All modules are worth 20 credits. The course starts with a one week freshers/induction week.

Foundation Year:

In semester 1 students study;
• Communication Skills
• Digital and Research Skills
• Sustainability and Society

In Semester 2 students will study;
• Foundation Year Project
• Core Concepts of Criminology and Policing
• One option from the following: Core Concepts of Business; Core Concepts of Computer Science; Core Concepts of Law; Core Concepts of Psychology. Options available are indicative and available subject to numbers and the campus chosen.
• Students will also complete the Shaping Skills for Success programme

Year 1:
Semester One:
• Foundations of Criminology
• Society and Punishment
• Media Crime and Control

Semester Two:
• Drugs in the Criminal Justice System
• Criminal Justice in Modern Britain
• Contemporary Criminology

Year 2:
Semester One:
• Gender Sexuality and Crime
• The Evolution of the Prison System
• Research Methods

Semester Two:
• Cybercrime
• Zemiology - Social Harms
• Youth, Crime and Media

Year 3:
Semester One
• Urban Criminology - The City and Globalisation
• Migration

Semester Two:
• Two options from; The Politics of Policing /Race Ethnicity and Religion/Terrorism
• Dissertation (40)