Are you interested in the relationship between societies and crime? Do you want to explore how societies and crime develop in a global context?
Develop your knowledge and understanding of two major disciplines in the field of social sciences with a Criminology and Sociology degree.
You’ll explore traditional areas such as inequality, social stratification, deviance and punishment, as well as more contemporary concerns such as terrorism, environmentalism, global politics, sexuality and media representation.
This four-year course includes an initial full-time Foundation Year and offers an alternative route into university and gaining a degree.
This route is for you if you do not have the necessary qualifications or don’t yet feel ready to begin degree-level study, or are returning to education and would like some support to get up to speed with learning in a university setting.
The Foundation Year in Criminology, Policing and Sociology will allow you to develop your academic skills and confidence as well as introduce you to key concepts, debates and skills that will support and inform your subsequent years of undergraduate study.
Following successful completion of your Foundation Year, you’ll progress onto Year 1 of our Criminology and Sociology BA Joint (Hons) degree.
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 be introduced to key concepts and theories in criminology, policing and sociology including patterns of crime, issues in modern day policing and social inequalities. You'll also examine how policymakers are responding to key societal problems and apply sociological and criminological theories to social problems, such as criminality and inequality.
Following successful completion of the Foundation Year, you’ll progress onto the first year of our Criminology and Sociology BA Joint (Hons) degree.
We use a range of disciplinary approaches to help you develop your knowledge in contemporary sociological theory and practice, as well as a thorough understanding of the various approaches for responding to and explaining crime.
By combining both disciplines, you’ll develop a good grounding in criminology and sociology that keeps your options open for a wide range of careers. At the same time, you’ll have the flexibility to focus more closely on the issues that suit you and your career aspirations, such as crime, deviance and social control.
Professional experience is crucial, so you’ll complete professional work placements as part of your degree. We’ll work with you to match you with one of our employer partners, or we’ll support you in finding your own placement and developing your professional networks through our contacts in the sector. You could also spend a semester at one of our international partner institutions through our Study Abroad programme.
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.
During your Foundation Year, you'll study four core modules.
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 to manage your time, prioritise tasks and manage stress, and become more confident in engaging with collaborative learning, debates, discussions and critical reflection.
In the first semester you'll get support through personal tutoring and learning hub liaison.
You'll study areas of interest related to your chosen degree specialisation so subject content will be tailored to you.
You'll have workshop-based tuition covering assessments and projects.
You'll focus on existing academic literature and secondary sources in your project, and you can negotiate what format you present your work in.
You'll look at social inequalities in society, how they can be explained, and current trends and issues in modern-day policing.
You'll draw on the work of sociologists, academics and criminologists to investigate these issues.
We'll cover concepts such as socialisation, norms and values, social control, status, inequality, crime, deviance, victimisation, retribution and non-crime-related social trends.
We'll try to address social problems, including inequality and criminality, and explore topical areas related to sociology, policing and crime.
You'll look at patterns of crime, social control, deviance, victimisation, the media and punishments.
We'll examine crime statistics, self-report studies and non-crime-related social trends.
You'll try to make sense of these areas using introductory-level theories from key academics and criminologists.
You'll also review how policy-makers attempt to address social problems such as criminality.
During your first year, you'll study five core modules.
Explore and examine the origins of criminology, some of its historical debates, concepts, literature and research.
You'll look at the core perspectives and theories related to crime and criminality.
Find out about the history and development of criminology as an academic discipline.
Learn the basics of social research, academic writing, presenting and professional development.
Combine your learning from personal experience with an ability to engage in an empathic, ethical and compassionate way.
Reflect on and develop your employability profile, find and apply for placements, and complete a Professional Challenge Project or work placement at the end of semester two.
In the second semester, you'll begin to understand the importance of social research by examining how sociological data may be collected, analysed, displayed and explained effectively.
You'll look at different ways of communicating research and identify the methods used by historical and contemporary criminologists and sociologists.
You'll get advice throughout the year relating to the professional application of your skills.
You'll have regular personal tutor meetings, giving you more personal support and professional skill development.
Learn about the historical formation and contemporary experiences of identity, inequality, and division across society.
You'll focus on lived experiences and the prevalence of inequalities in the UK and globally.
You'll discover ways to conceptualise and articulate matters of race and ethnicity, gender, disability, health, age, class, and education.
You'll examine the relationship between the individual and society, and how inequalities disadvantage social groups throughout their life.
You'll examine theoretical and empirical work on identity and inequality and explore how inequalities can be challenged, resisted, or changed.
You’ll be introduced to the key field of urban sociology.
Explore the thematic, empirical and conceptual aspects of urban sociology in relation to the city of Leeds.
Learn how sociology helps us to understand large-scale social, political and cultural transformations.
Engage critically with traditional canon of west European sociology, and explore concepts such as modernity, capitalism, alienation, anomie, rationalisation and the ‘colour line’.
Consider the challenges posed to the classical canon of sociology by postcolonial and feminist theories. By exploring a diverse range of theories and theories, you’ll acquire the skills to feel confident when approaching theoretical ideas and texts and applying different perspectives to understanding the social world.
During your second year, you'll study five core modules.
Get an understanding of the history and theories of victimology, the term 'victim' and the social construction of victims.
You'll reflect on the relationship between social inequalities and victimisation in domestic violence, hate crime, sexual violence and corporate crime.
Learn about victimology theories and the experiences and interactions of the victim for both the crime and the criminal justice system.
You'll be encouraged to think critically of the term 'victim' and consider how to improve the victim's experiences.
You'll develop a critical understanding of the function and effects of digital technology on society.
We'll cover areas from our everyday digital lives to broader contemporary digital issues affecting society.
We'll explore how digital technologies are connected with the global economy and the exploitation of the global south, as well as structural inequalities perpetuated through algorithmic systems.
The content reflects current concerns, with topics including identity, politics, disinformation and big data.
Understand why we view criminals and crime in certain ways, due to cultural factors and the media.
Think critically about crime, crime control and its media coverage.
We'll look at contemporary criminological theories, exploring how crime is constructed and defined by subcultures, the nation-state, the criminal justice system and corporations.
We'll also explore how these theories help us interpret media depictions of crime and crime control.
You'll analyse how mainstream media and social media shape our collective (mis)understanding of a range of crime and crime control.
You'll explore how to collect, analyse, display and explain social science research data.
You'll find out what it means to be research literate and how to apply this to employment, policies and organisational considerations.
We'll focus on qualitative and mixed methodology in one semester and quantitative methodology in another semester.
You'll look at different ways to communicate research and identify methods used by social scientists.
You'll be able to critically evaluate the strength of research findings and identify appropriate ethical considerations.
You'll also develop skills to plan and begin an independent research project.
You'll finish the module with a six-week professional placement, using your research methods skills and knowledge to think about how research may inform the approaches taken in the workplace.
You can opt to do at least 60 hours of volunteer work instead, spreading out your placement activity over two semesters.
You’ll explore and examine a number of dimensions relating to human experience and social life, engaging with contemporary sociological theory in particular.
Enhance your knowledge and understanding of fundamental, theoretical and conceptual frameworks in the discipline of sociology.
During your final year, you will study two core modules and will be required to choose two option modules.
Your final year dissertation project is the culmination of your studies.
It's an independent project guided by the support of your supervisor.
It can either be a theoretical-based piece of work, investigating a particular issue within social sciences, or you can take on a piece of primary research.
It should bring together knowledge and understanding from other modules to create a research project that could generate new knowledge, or develops our understanding of the topic.
The proposal for the research project undertaken in SOC 6044 will have been developed and assessed within SOC 5042 Contemporary Research 2.
You'll have a flexible range of opportunities to enhance your professional skills and graduate opportunities as this module will be tailored to each student's development.
You'll apply the theoretical understanding you've been developing throughout your degree to a chosen professional context. This could include a work-based project or skills development approach where you will identify and address specific gaps in your portfolio of graduate-level skills.
Get a critical introduction to the interdisciplinary field of Genocide Studies.
You'll explore case studies relating to historical and contemporary instances of genocide, and interrogate the memorialisation of genocide.
You'll evaluate international legal mechanisms of genocide prevention.
We may address themes including the relationship of genocide to cognate categories in international legal discourse such as crimes against humanity and ‘ethnic cleansing’, sociological, criminological and social-psychological approaches to perpetration, the aftermath of genocide and the emerging concept of ecocide.
You'll analyse political and cultural texts covering historical, critical and contextual approaches to gender.
You'll examine the way gender is performed, consumed and contested.
We'll look at issues concerning power, gender and identity, examining debates on the social construction of gender.
Critically explore concepts, debates, literature and research on justice, punishment and human rights.
You'll consider whether the criminal justice system balances these three elements.
In the first semester, you'll explore the history of punishment. You'll assess the importance of protecting human rights within punishment and look at the work of philosophers including John Locke, Jeremy Bentham and Michel Foucault.
In the second semester, you'll critically analyse the philosophies of punishment -
deterrence, incapacitation, rehabilitation and retribution - underpinning the criminal justice system.
We'll explore how much criminological theory can help us understand criminality and harm in the 21st century.
We've already seen dramatic transformations with protests and uprisings, climate change, a global financial crisis and the birth of social media and the dark web.
You'll critically assess which theories can help us understand and respond to the negative consequences of these changes, and why we are willing to inflict harm on others and ourselves.
You'll develop an in-depth understand of 21st century policing issues such as cybercrime and terrorism.
We'll explore the role of intelligence agencies and how effective they are at fighting security issues in Britain.
You'll get a critical awareness of the role of police and agencies such as the National Crime Agency and British Security Service (MI5).
Explore how police, partner agencies and government bodies combat transnational and corporate crime that transcend regional, national and international boundaries.
You'll discover how law enforcement and government bodies have to work together to prevent and detect these often clandestine crimes.
We'll explore the exchange of weapons, drugs and stolen property, and the exploitation of people through human trafficking and modern day slavery.
Scrutinise the infiltration of governments and businesses through fraud, corruption and money laundering.
We'll also look at how technology and the internet facilitate transnational crimes.
Develop a critical understanding of the definitions, explanations and responses related to youth justice and crime.
Understand how to critically appreciate the impact of ethic, gendered, political and cultural inequality and difference in the experience of youth justice and crime control.
Explore issues pertinent to social justice and injustice with regards to children and young people’s lives, through a variety of contemporary theoretical and policy related lenses.
Explore the lives and experiences of criminalised women, often a marginalised and unheard demographic of the criminal justice system.
With a growing body of work, underpinned by feminist thought, aiming to recognise the gendered experiences and challenges of criminalised women, you’ll unpick and offer a space to develop critical thought and challenge the patriarchal and neo-liberal agendas within society.
You’ll discuss the intersecting layers of system failure, marginalisation and stigma which saturate women’s experiences, alongside the gendered stereotypes the women face. You’ll consider what can influence both women’s offending and desistance from crime, drawing upon research, policy and practice.
Experience matters. That's why we embed professional work placements within the majority of our standard undergraduate degrees.
Careers and Placements will work with you to find a placement or help you to 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 could 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.
Our students have completed placements at HM Prison Service, Leeds City Council anti-social behaviour projects, crime prevention projects and with charities that support ex-offenders, the homeless, and drug and alcohol abusers.
To find out how we can help you make your career ambitions a reality, visit:
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
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:
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.
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:
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:
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:
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.
Information about the large range of qualifications we accept, including A-Levels, BTECs and T Levels, can be found on our entry requirements page. If you need additional advice or are taking qualifications that are not covered in the information supplied, please contact our Admissions Office.
| Qualification | Grade |
|---|---|
| UCAS tariff | 48 |
| GCSE requirements | GCSE English Language at grade C or 4 (or higher) will be required |
Applications are welcome from mature students with few formal qualifications.
Any previous relevant work experience and learning will be assessed and, where appropriate, we may offer an alternative way to assess suitability to study.
This course is not available to students on a Student Route Visa.
Tuition fees cost £5,760 a year for this course in 2025/2026.
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.
Tuition fees for 2026/2027 entry will be set in summer 2025.
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.
We advise students that there may be additional course costs in addition to annual tuition fees. These include:
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.
You'll need to write a personal statement - we've prepared a guide to help you.
Applications are now open for courses starting in September 2025. The UCAS application deadline for courses starting in September 2025 is 29 January 2025.
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:
This course is not available to students on a Student Route Visa.
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.
Your degree will prepare you for roles within a wide range of organisations and sectors, including the police service, HM Prison Service, rehabilitation services, emergency and security services, local government, public relations, community work, charities and education.
After you graduate, Careers and Placements 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:
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