Law with Criminology BA (Hons)

Course Content

• Course Details

  With detailed insight into law and criminology, students are able to understand how the law relates and responds to crime and criminal acts in society and conversely how criminal acts and changes in the behaviour, organisation and types of crime have an impact on how the law is enforced and new ones developed.

  The University of Northampton’s Law with Criminology degree programme has been developed over many years to provide a contextualised study of both subjects. Students benefit from a varied and imaginative modular scheme, which is designed to offer students a wide range of options in addition to the foundation subjects identified by legal professional bodies. In addition, as the ‘problem’ of crime has increasingly become a matter of public and political concern, so the prevention of crime has been prioritised as a matter of social policy. The combination of Law and Criminology into one programme addresses each of these issues and many others in a systematic and methodical manner.

  Industry Placements

  If you meet the entry criteria for the Law with Criminology degree, and choose to take a placement year, you will find it an invaluable experience that helps you to apply your learning in your final year and prepares you for your career in finance. We offer support in helping you to find a placement, which can be in the UK or overseas.

  The Faculty of Business and Law have a dedicated Placements team who will support you through the process of taking a placement year. You can follow the Faculty of Business and Law Placements Team to hear more about their services.

  Year 1

  In the first year you will study six compulsory modules. Four of the modules are Law-based (Learning the Law, Current Legal Issues and Jurisprudence, Criminal Law and Ethics, Discrimination and Human Rights), and two are drawn from Criminology (The Science of Crime and Criminal and Crime and Society). This mix of modules will allow you to start exploring both subject areas, and identify areas where they contrast with and complement each other.

  • LAW1020 Learning the Law (20 Credits) (Compulsory)
  • LAW1023 Criminal Law (20 Credits) (Compulsory)
  • LAW1024 Ethics, Discrimination, and Human Rights (20 Credits) (Compulsory)
  • LAW1025 Current Legal Issues and Jurisprudence (20 Credits) (Compulsory)
  • CRI1002 Crime and Society (20 Credits) (Compulsory)
  • CRI1007 The Science of Crime and Criminals (20 Credits) (Compulsory)

  Year 2

  In your second year of the Criminology with Law course, you will start to have an element of choice in the modules you study. Three of the modules are compulsory – two from Law (Organised Transnational Crime and Criminal Litigation) and one from Criminology (Crime and Justice). In addition, you will need to pick three modules from the five optional modules. Three of these are modules from Law (Child and Family Law, Human Rights the State and Accountability and Green Crime) one is from Criminology (International Policing) and one is from History (Crime, Punishment and Policing in England).

  We have chosen this spread of modules to give you the opportunity to follow your own path as much as it possible, and to focus more on areas where you have an interest.

  • LAW2033 Criminal Litigation (20 Credits) (Compulsory)
  • LAW2036 Organised Transnational Crime (20 Credits) (Compulsory)
  • CRI2001 Crime and Justice (20 Credits) (Compulsory)
  • LAW2034 Child and Family Law (20 Credits) (Designated)
  • LAW2042 Green Crime (20 Credits) (Designated)
  • LAW2043 Human Rights, the State and Accountability (20 Credits) (Designated)
  • CRI2011 International Policing (20 Credits) (Designated)
  • HIS2010 Crime, Policing and Punishment in England 1700 – 1900 (20 Credits) (Designated)

  Year 3

  Your final year is your opportunity to really tailor your studies to your own particular focus. There are two compulsory modules, one of which is from Criminology (Crime and Punishment) and one is from Law (the Practice Improvement Plan). You must then choose three modules from the remaining seven. As with the second year, these are split between Law (Sentencing and Penal Policy, Global Counterterrorism, Mental Health Law), Criminology (Critiquing Criminalistics and Global International Perspectives) and History (Jack the Ripper’s East End), and we have added a module from Criminal Justice (Cyber Crime).

  The Practice Improvement Plan is what we think is the pinnacle of the degree. In it, you will decide on an area of legal or criminological practice which needs improvement, and design an intervention which will do just that – improve practice.

  • LAW4008 Practice Improvement Plan (40 Credits) (Compulsory)
  • CRI3001 Crime and Punishment (20 Credits) (Compulsory)
  • CJS3012 Cyber Crime (20 Credits) (Designated)
  • CRI3007 Critiquing Criminalistics (20 Credits) (Designated)
  • CRI3011 Global International Perspectives (20 Credits) (Designated)
  • HIS3038 Jack the Ripper’s East End: Crime and Popular Culture in Late-Victorian London (20 Credits) (Designated)
  • LAW3037 Sentencing and Penal Policy (20 Credits) (Designated)
  • LAW3042 Global Counterterrorism (20 Credits) (Designated)
  • LAW3043 Mental Health Law (20 Credits) (Designated)

   

  Please note the modules shown here relate to the academic year 24/25. The modules relating to the academic year 25/26 will be available from June 2025.

  • Stage 1

    In the first year you will study six compulsory modules. Four of the modules are Law-based (Learning the Law, Current Legal Issues and Jurisprudence, Criminal Law and Ethics, Discrimination and Human Rights), and two are drawn from Criminology (The Science of Crime and Criminal and Crime and Society). This mix of modules will allow you to start exploring both subject areas, and identify areas where they contrast with and complement each other.

    • Crime and Society (20 Credits)
      Module code: CRI1002

      Status: Compulsory
      The purpose of this module is to explore a range of theories relating to crime and criminality and to locate these within the broader contexts of social divisions and structural inequalities.
    • The Science of Crime and Criminals (20 Credits)
      Module code: CRI1007

      Status: Compulsory
      The purpose of this module is to explore the scientific evidence used in relation to questions of crime. A combination of perspectives from positivist, biological, anthropological all the way to forensics will be explored in order to understand of the roots and motivation of criminal behaviour.
    • Crime and Punishment (20 Credits)
      Module code: CRI3001

      Status: Compulsory
      Paradigms of punishment have evolved in the context of broader strategies of 'care' and 'control'. These contribute to and occur within the broader study of criminal justice and social regulation. The module is concerned to examine and evaluate the fundamental features of the system of penalties that operates in Britain.
    • Critiquing Criminalistics (20 Credits)
      Module code: CRI3007

      Status: Designate
      The purpose of this module is to provide students with an overview of criminalistics, the theoretical critiques, the practical issues encountered and the various public and private agencies involved. The module also offers a critical examination of criminalistic approaches and examines the aetiology of miscarriages of justice against a backdrop of organisational and political motivations.
    • Global Perspectives of Crime
      Module code: CRI3011

      Status: Designate
    • Jack the Ripper's London: Crime & Popular Culture in the Late Victorian City (20 Credits)
      Module code: HIS3038

      Status: Designate
      The purpose of this module is to explore the nature of late Victorian urban society through a number of social and cultural historical themes.
    • Learning the Law (20 Credits)
      Module code: LAW1020

      Status: Compulsory
      The module provides a basic introduction to the legal system and key skills to encourage criticality and reflection. Specifically the module will introduce students? to the nature of law, how it is made and applied (both statute and case law) and the courts and legal professionals involved in those processes.
    • Criminal Law (20 Credits)
      Module code: LAW1023

      Status: Compulsory
      The purpose of this module is to enable students to develop an understanding of the general principles which underpin criminal liability before progressing to consider specific crimal offences and defences. The module will benefit students working towards the Solicitors Qualifying Exam.
    • Ethics, Discrimination and Human Rights (20 Credits)
      Module code: LAW1024

      Status: Compulsory
      The purpose of this module is to give students an understanding of basic principles relating to human rights, discrimination and ethical behaviour. This will be of benefit to all students as these principles are pervasive throughout their legal studies.
    • Current Legal Issues and Jurisprudence (20 Credits)
      Module code: LAW1025

      Status: Compulsory
      This module provides students with an accessible introduction to jurisprudence and legal theory. It aims to develop a theoretically informed introduction to some of the key theories that inform the development and application of law from classical theories such as Natural Law Theory to more mdern, critical approaches such as critical legal theory and feminism.
    • Sentencing and Penal Policy (20 Credits)
      Module code: LAW3037

      Status: Designate
      The purpose of this module is to explore sentencing procedure and different aspects of imprisonment. Throughout the module students are encouraged to consider the realities of life inside our prisons and how sentencing and penal policy can be influenced by political, financial and social factors.
    • Global Counterterrorism
      Module code: LAW3042

      Status: Designate
    • Mental Health Law
      Module code: LAW3043

      Status: Designate
    • Practice Improvement Plan
      Module code: LAW4008

      Status: Compulsory
  • Stage 2

    In your second year, you will start to have an element of choice in the modules you study. Three of the modules are compulsory – two from Law (Organised Transnational Crime and Criminal Litigation) and one from Criminology (Crime and Justice). In addition, you will need to pick three modules from the five optional modules. Three of these are modules from Law (Child and Family Law, Human Rights the State and Accountability and Green Crime) one is from Criminology (International Policing) and one is from History (Crime, Punishment and Policing in England).

    We have chosen this spread of modules to give you the opportunity to follow your own path as much as it possible, and to focus more on areas where you have an interest.

    • Crime and Justice (20 Credits)
      Module code: CRI2001

      Status: Compulsory
      This module is designed to develop an understanding of the criminal justice system in England and Wales. Perceived breaches of criminal law evoke responses from multiple agencies which in turn dispute the notion of 'justice'. The emergent gaps between the principles and practices of criminal justice will be explored in-depth.
    • International Policing (20 Credits)
      Module code: CRI2011

      Status: Designate
      The purpose of this module is to enable students gain an in-depth knowledge of the roles, functions and practices of the police in societies. From Europe to Africa and from Asia to America, this module will adopt a comparative approach to appreciate and appraise police operations, cases and models from other jurisdictions at the international level, while critiquing what works and ways forward.
    • Crime, Policing and Punishment in England, 1700-1900 (20 Credits)
      Module code: HIS2010

      Status: Designate
      The purpose of this module is explore the fundamental changes that occurred in attitudes to, and policies towards crime, policing and punishment in Britain during a period of fundamental economic and social change.
    • Criminal Litigation (20 Credits)
      Module code: LAW2033

      Status: Compulsory
      The purpose of this module is to enable students to develop an understanding of the rules and processes that govern the conduct of criminal litigation in England and Wales. The module will equip students with the necessary knowledge that can be applied to situations encountered in criminal practice. The module will benefit students who are working towards the SQE.
    • Child and Family Law (20 Credits)
      Module code: LAW2034

      Status: Designate
      The purpose of this module is to provide an understanding of the socio-cultural context for child and family law, and to analyse current legal issues impacting on child and family relationships. The module will consider the changing nature of children and families and proposals for law reform.
    • Organised Transnational Crime (20 Credits)
      Module code: LAW2036

      Status: Compulsory
      The purpose of this module is to enable students to develop an understanding of the nature and impact of organised transnational criminal behaviour and their interrelationship with law enforcement investigation and prosecution.
    • Green Crime (20 Credits)
      Module code: LAW2042

      Status: Designate
      The purpose of this module is to allow students to develop an awareness and understanding of the scope and nature of environmental crimes, the reasons why they are committed, and the legal and societal measures of controlling them.

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• Student Perks

  At the University of Northampton, everything we do, from funded trips to paid internships, is to give you everything you need to make a difference when you leave.

  If you join our full-time BA Law with Criminology degree at the University of Northampton, you will receive a laptop when your course begins*. The laptops are built to a bespoke custom specification ideal for use in the seminar room, collaborative group work or studying at home.

  Whatever your ambitions, we’re here to help you to achieve them. We’ll support you to identify the skills you’re learning during your course, find your strengths and secure practical experience so that when it comes to applying for jobs or further study you’ll feel confident in standing out from the crowd. We’ve created the Northampton Employment Promise because we are so confident that if you focus on your studies and complete one of our awards you’ll be highly employable by the time you graduate. Putting you in a great position to secure employment or continue your studies.

  To check out the full list of perks, visit our Student Perks page or dedicated International Perks page.

  *UK fee payers only (see Terms and Conditions for further details).

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• Integrated Foundation Year (IFY)

  The Integrated Foundation Year (IFY) offers a new and exciting route into studying for a Law with Criminology degree, attracting ambitious and driven students who are willing to learn and advance.

  If you have non-standard qualifications or do not quite meet the admissions requirements for Law with Criminology we can offer you a fantastic opportunity to study a four year Law with Criminology programme which includes a Integrated Foundation Year. The Integrated Foundation Year will help you develop the theoretical/practical and academic skills you need, in order to successfully progress to the full award.

  Our four-year courses will enable you to successfully follow the degree pathway of your choice while gaining essential study skills. The foundation year of your chosen degree will be studied on a full-time basis and is aimed at supporting the transition to higher education. Years two, three and four are then studied as a standard degree programme.

  Please see our Integrated Foundation Year page for more details.

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• Optional Work Placement Year

  The optional placement year enables you to put into practice what you have learned on your degree and gain practical industry experience. Your Law with Criminology degree is extended to four years and the placement is undertaken at the end of your penultimate year, this is for one year (48 weeks) and paid. If you meet the entry criteria, and choose to take up a placement year, you will find it an invaluable experience that helps you to apply your learning in your final year and prepares you for your career. We offer a lot of support in helping you to find a placement, which can be in the UK or overseas.

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• FAQs

  How will I learn on the Law with Criminology degree?

  Our Law with Criminology degree is delivered through a combination of lectures, seminars, tutorials and research workshops, student-chaired debates and problem-solving exercises as well as directed private study. Students are also expected to work independently and to actively participate in seminar discussion through individual presentations and small group activities.

  How will I be assessed?

  We use a mix of formative (practice) and summative (graded) assignments across the module, and these have been designed to enable you develop key academic and employability skills which will be of use to you in your chosen career. The key element across all the assessment is the importance of balancing assessments between those which allow you to demonstrate their understanding of the theoretical underpinnings of the subject, and those in which you will apply your knowledge. The assessments also reflect as far as is possible the types of work to which students will be exposed in employment, and the team is committed to using authentic assessments.

  We will use a range of written work, presentations, time-constrained work and examinations, reflective work and the longer Practice Improvement Plan element.

  Who are the Student Support Team?

  The Student Experience Support Team are a team of previous graduates of the University of Northampton, they are here to support all Faculty of Business and Law students by offering a friendly listening ear and ensuring students are aware of the numerous support systems that the University has to offer. The team provide confidential 1-1 meetings in person and online where they will signpost the students to the relevant support teams to ensure they are aware of the support available for them throughout their studies. You can follow the Student Experience Support Team to see the services they offer.

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