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Criminology and Law BA (Hons)

UCAS code: C5L6

Are you interested in learning about crime and criminal justice alongside key legal principles? Perhaps you’re thinking ahead to becoming a solicitor or barrister? Criminology and law go hand in hand in this dynamic degree.

Overview

Course length: 3 years full-time
5 years part-time
Start dates: September 2024
September 2025
Location: Edge Hill University
Example offers: BBC-BBB (A Level) or DMM (BTEC) View full entry criteria
Subject(s): Criminology
Faculty: Arts and Sciences
Department: Law, Criminology and Policing
Students enter a Harvard-style lecture theatre in the Law and Psychology building.

What is the relationship between crime and the criminal justice system? How do perspectives differ on the causes of crime? And how do key legal principles work? On this course you’ll examine the complex relationship between crime, justice and the law.

Studying on our criminology and law degree gives you the opportunity to gain exemptions in the academic stage of training to become a solicitor or barrister, depending on the modules you choose.

Criminology and law students are based in our £6 million Law and Psychology building, which provides ultra-modern teaching and learning facilities. There is even a mooting room where students can practice their advocacy and cross-examination techniques.

You’ll also get the chance to visit important legal institutions such as: the Old Bailey, the Supreme Court and Parliament in London, the European Court of Human Rights in Strasbourg, and the European Parliament and European Commission in Brussels.

Course features

  • International students can apply

  • Sandwich year option available

  • Studying abroad option available

  • Work placement opportunity

What you'll study

You’ll study modules on theoretical perspectives using contemporary case studies. This will help you to develop a good understanding of how the criminal justice system works. We’ll introduce you to the legal system and its institutions and teach you legal reasoning and analysis skills. You’ll apply this knowledge to distinct areas of law, including those which regulate legally binding agreements, and be introduced to the law of civil liabilities.

Compulsory modules:

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Criminology and the Modern World
Introduction to Criminological Theory
Introduction to the Criminal Justice Process
Legal Methods and Systems
Law of Contract
Law of Torts

In your second year, you’ll study modules which will develop your understanding of crime, harm, disorder and conflict. You’ll learn about theoretical debates and the process of conducting social research. You’ll also consider what has to be proven against defendants in criminal trials in England and Wales before they can be convicted, and the laws which govern the relationships between individual citizens, groups and the state.

Compulsory modules:

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Critical Criminological Theory

Two of:

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Challenging Childhoods
Crime, Law and Society
Crime, Media and Criminology
Gender, Sex and Violence
Generating Reputations
‘Race’, Crime and Criminology
Violence and Society
Work Experience Module
Youth Justice

Three of:

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Business and Company Law
Criminal Law
Equity and Trusts
European Union Constitutional Law
European Union Substantive Law
External Law Competitions
International Law
Land Law
Media Law
Public Law 1
Public Law 2
Public Law in Practice
Sports Law

If you wish to graduate with exemptions from the academic stage of legal training to become a solicitor or a barrister, you must study Criminal Law, Land Law and Public Law 1.

Your final year gives you the opportunity to choose from a range of optional modules covering criminology topics from the criminological imagination, to crimes of the powerful, to the relationship between crime and place. You’ll also pick from an array of law and policing modules. Depending on your choices, you’ll have the option to graduate with exemptions from the academic stage of legal training to become a solicitor or a barrister.

Three of:

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Criminology and Philosophy
Crime and Place
Crimes of the Powerful 1
Crimes of the Powerful 2
Expanding the Criminological Imagination
Justice, Rights and the State
Learning Together: The Sociological Imagination
The Politics of Imprisonment
The Politics of Policing

Three of:

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Child Law
Company Law
Consumer Law
Counter Terrorism
Criminal Law in Practice
Digital Policing and Cybercrime
Employment Law
Equity and Trusts
European Union Constitutional Law
European Union Substantive Law
External Law Competitions
Family Law
Human Rights
Intellectual Property Law
International Business Law
International Criminal Law
International Peace and Security
International Sports Law
Jurisprudence
Law Clinic Experience Module
Law of Evidence
Media Law
Mediation
Property Law in Practice
Public International Law
Refugee Law
Sports Law
Tax Law

If you wish to graduate with exemptions from the academic stage of legal training to become a solicitor or a barrister, you must study European Union Constitutional Law, European Union Substantive Law, and Equity and Trusts.

Where your course includes optional modules, these are to provide an element of choice within the course curriculum. The availability of optional modules may vary from year to year and will be subject to minimum student numbers being achieved. This means that the availability of specific optional modules cannot be guaranteed. Optional module selection may also be affected by timetabling requirements. Some restrictions on optional module choice or combinations of optional modules may apply.

How you'll study

Learning involves lectures and seminars in which you will express your ideas and develop your criminological and legal analysis skills, supplemented by independent study. You will also participate in debates, and visit legal and criminologically significant institutions. We are committed to focused teaching where tutors concentrate primarily on areas of specialism.

Timetables for your first week are normally available at the end of August prior to enrolment in September. You can expect to receive your timetable for the rest of the academic year during your first week. Please note that while we make every effort to ensure that timetables are as student-friendly as possible, scheduled teaching can take place on any day of the week. Wednesday afternoons are normally reserved for sports and cultural activities.

How you'll be assessed

Methods of assessment are designed to ensure that you acquire a wide range of skills, particularly those required by future employers. You will write essays and case reports, critically analyse legal documents, give oral presentations, defend and advise clients and take examinations. Most modules are assessed by a combination of coursework and examination, or by coursework alone. Feedback will be given on all of your work so that you can develop your criminological and legal skills.

Who will be teaching you

You will be taught by tutors whose research and teaching has a well-established national and international reputation. We are committed to ‘focused teaching’ where tutors concentrate primarily on areas of specialism. You will benefit from studying in a highly committed and research-active department.

Entry criteria

Entry requirements

Typical offer 112-120 UCAS Tariff points. No specific subjects are required.

Example offers

Qualification Requirement
A Level BBC-BBB.
BTEC Extended Diploma (or combination of BTEC QCF qualifications) Distinction, Merit, Merit (DMM).
T Level Overall grade of Merit.
International Baccalaureate (IB) We are happy to accept IB qualifications which achieve the required number of UCAS Tariff points.
Access to Higher Education Diploma 45 credits at Level 3, for example 15 credits at Distinction and 30 credits at Merit or 24 credits at Distinction and 21 credits at Merit. The required total can be attained from various credit combinations.

Please note, the above examples may differ from actual offers made. A combination of A Level and BTEC awards may also be accepted.

If you have a minimum of two A Levels (or equivalent), there is no maximum number of qualifications that we will accept UCAS points from. This includes additional qualifications such as Extended Project Qualification (EPQ), AS Levels that haven't been continued to A Level, and General Studies AS or A Level awards.

English language requirements

International students require IELTS 6.0, with a score no lower than 5.5 in each individual component, or an equivalent English language qualification.

If your current level of English is half a band, one band, or one-and-a-half bands lower, either overall or in one or two elements, you may want to consider our Pre-Sessional English course.

How to apply

Apply full-time

Apply online through UCAS

Read our guide to applying through UCAS to find out more about the application process.

International

Apply as an international student

Please see our international student pages for further information about how to apply as a prospective international student.

Part-time applications require a direct application to Edge Hill. Please select the year of entry that you wish to apply for.

Apply for September 2024 part-time.

Apply for September 2025 part-time.

Should you accept an offer of a place to study with us and formally enrol as a student, you will be subject to the provisions of the regulations, rules, codes, conditions and policies which apply to our students. These are available at www.edgehill.ac.uk/studentterms.

Did you know?

If you join a full time undergraduate degree at Edge Hill University, we will guarantee you the offer of a room in our halls of residence for the first year of your course.

Discover our accommodation

Facilities

Law and Psychology buildingThe £6million Law and Psychology building provides contemporary teaching and learning facilities for students in the School of Law, Criminology and Policing and the Department of Psychology.

The three-storey building includes a 250-seat lecture theatre, seminar and tutorial rooms, and social learning areas which encourage a more informal and interactive style of learning. Elsewhere on campus, there is a mooting room (a mock courtroom) and Police Training and Simulation Facility.

Where you'll study

Law and Psychology

Mooting Room

Learning resources

The mooting room is where Law and Policing students can train and practice their advocacy skills and cross-examination techniques, as well as preparing for giving evidence in court, in a mock courtroom setting.

The EHU Police Training and Simulation Facility, part of which is furbished as a police station, is used to simulate a wide range of crime scenes. This will enable Law and Policing students to work together in areas such as gathering and analysing evidence, including forensic evidence at crime scenes, as well as practicing interview techniques used by the police through role play, while also ensuring that the rights of suspects are upheld.

Finance

Tuition fees

UK Full-Time

£9,250

a year

UK Part-Time

£77 per credit

for 360 credits

International

£16,500

a year

EU/EEA and Swiss students who have settled or pre-settled status under the EU Settlement Scheme, as well as Irish nationals, may be eligible for the UK tuition fee rate.

Financial support

Subject to eligibility, UK students joining this course can apply for a Tuition Fee Loan from the Government to cover the full cost of tuition fees. UK students enrolling on the course may also be eligible to apply for additional maintenance loan funding to help with living costs. Please view the relevant Money Matters guide for comprehensive information about the financial support available to eligible UK students, together with details of how to apply for potential funding.

EU/EEA and Swiss students who have settled or pre-settled status under the EU Settlement Scheme may be eligible to apply for financial support. Irish nationals can ordinarily apply to Student Universal Support Ireland (SUSI). If you are an EU student who does not have settled or pre-settled status, or are an international student from a non-EU country, please see our international student finance pages.

Your future career

By the time you achieve your criminology and law degree, you’ll have a wide range of transferable skills that will equip you for a graduate role or further study.

What can I do with a criminology and law degree?

Our graduates go on to have exciting careers in the police service, HM prison service and the Home Office, as well as in these areas:

  • criminal or youth justice agencies
  • youth and community work
  • law and research
  • offender management
  • social work
  • outreach

Other students continue on to postgraduate study, or train to become teachers, solicitors or barristers.

Course changes

Every effort has been made to ensure the accuracy of this information, however our courses are subject to ongoing review and development. Changing circumstances may necessitate alteration to, or the cancellation of, courses.

Changes may be necessary to comply with the requirements of professional bodies, revisions to subject benchmarks statements, to keep courses updated and contemporary, or as a result of student feedback. We reserve the right to make variations if we consider such action to be necessary or in the best interests of students.

Track changes to this course

Discover Uni: Full-Time Study

Discover Uni: Part-Time Study

Download our course leaflet