BA Criminology

at Durham University

Year 1

Students will develop knowledge and understanding of foundational concepts and issues related to crime, criminal justice and Criminological research, as a platform for study in years 2 and 3.

Compulsory modules:
 

• Criminal Justice Landscape

• Critical Scholarship in the Social Sciences

• Introduction to Criminological Theory

• Social Research Methods

Optional module:
 

• Any open module to the value of 40 credits offered elsewhere in the Department (e.g. Classical Sociological Theory or Societies in Transition) or by another Board of Studies, including appropriate credit-bearing language modules offered by the Centre for Foreign Language Study.

Year 2

Students will develop their understanding of key issues in Criminological theory and research building on work completed during the first year of study. Students will also begin to study in detail various topics of substantive Criminological relevance that relate to the Department’s major research themes.

Compulsory modules:
 

• Contemporary Criminological Theory

• Research Methods in Action

Examples of optional modules:
 

• Communities and Social Justice

• Crime, Power and Social Inequalities

• Modern and Contemporary Sociological Theory

• Police and Policing

• Self, Identity and Society

• Sociology of Education and Social Inequalities

• Sociology of Health and Medicine

• Violence and Abuse in Society

• Any open module to the value of 20 credits offered elsewhere by another Board of Studies, including appropriate credit-bearing language modules offered by the Centre for Foreign Language Study.

Year 3

In the final year of study, students focus on detailed critical analysis and evaluation of salient social issues drawing upon conceptual knowledge and understanding developed over the previous two years of study. Students will also undertake an independent research project related to a specific area of Sociological interest through their dissertation thesis.

Compulsory module:
 

• Dissertation

Examples of optional modules:
 

• Community Placement

• Crime, Justice and the Sex Industry

• Cyberculture and Cybercrime

• Inside Out: Issues in Criminal Justice

• Social Policy

• Sociology of Forensic Science and Criminal Investigation

• Sociology of Work and Professions

• Feminist Anti-Violence Activism (short module)

• Justice, Violence and Abuse (short module)

• Youth in Crisis (short module)

• Sociology of Mental Health (short module)

• Sociology of Reproduction and Parenthood (short module)

• Any open module to the value of 20 credits offered by another Board of Studies, including appropriate credit-bearing language modules offered by the Centre for Foreign Language Study.

A level offer – AAB.

BTEC Level 3 National Extended Diploma/OCR Cambridge Technical Extended Diploma – DDD.

IB Diploma score – 36 with 665 in higher level subjects.

In addition to satisfying the University’s general entry requirements, please note:
 

• While not essential, applicants who have studied at least one strongly essay-based subject prior to entry will be better prepared for this course and preference may be given to such applicants over those who have not. A non-exhaustive list of example essay-based subjects includes: Business Studies, Criminology, English, Geography, History, Politics, Psychology, Religion/Philosophy and Sociology

• We also welcome applications from those holding or studying for qualifications equivalent to those standard requirements, such as an Access to HE Diploma, Cambridge Pre-U Diplomas, etc.

• We do not include General Studies, Critical Thinking or the Extended Project Qualification (EPQ) as part of an offer, although any of these (especially the EPQ) may strengthen the overall quality of an application

• Offers one grade down from the standard A level offer may be made to applicants who show special merit and potential in their applications, while offers up to two grades down from the standard offer will be made in line with the University’s Guaranteed Contextual Offer policy.

• If you do not satisfy our general entry requirements, the Foundation Programme offers multidisciplinary degrees to prepare you for a range of specified degree courses

• If you are an international student who does not meet the requirements for direct entry to this degree, you may be eligible to take an International Foundation Year pathway programme at the Durham University International Study Centre

• We are pleased to consider applications for deferred entry

We endeavour to make offers as quickly as possible, however, we are committed to the principle of equal consideration, which means that any application made to us through UCAS by the deadline of the 25th January has a chance of being considered for an offer. Because of this, we cannot make all our decisions straight away when they reach us, so we may not inform some applicants who applied as early as September of our decision until March. However, we do this because each application really matters to us and we want to make offers to those applicants who show the strongest merit and potential in their application.

The tuition fees shown for students are for one complete academic year of full time study and are set according to the academic year of entry. Fees for subsequent years of your course may rise in line with an inflationary uplift as determined by the government.

Sociology and Criminology

Of those students who graduated:
 

• 90% are in paid employment or further study 15 months after graduation across all our programmes

Of those in employment:
 

• 65% are in high skilled employment

• With an average salary of £24,000.