This course includes the following core modules that all students complete:
Year One (Level 4)
- Introduction to Criminology
- Introduction to the English Legal System
- Representing Crime
- Researching Criminal Justice 1
- Academic and Professional Development
- Psychological Approaches
Year Two (Level 5)
- Debates in Criminal Justice
- International Contexts of Criminal Law
- Criminology and the Explanation of Crime
- Researching Criminal Justice 2
- Work Related Learning
- Psychological Interventions
Year Three (Level 6)
- Penology
- Transnational Crime
- Policing and Crime Prevention
- Researching Criminal Justice 3
- Education into Employment
Occasional changes to modules and course content may take place. Students will be notified when applicable.
Teaching and Assessment Methods
The course embraces a blended learning approach. We use both on-campus and online delivery methods. This blended approach recognises the changing nature of the working environments we inhabit and provides you with knowledge of how to navigate this. The aim is to develop and enhance your skills and general employability.
Live lectures are delivered online to provide a supportive, inclusive environment whilst also being accessible and practical. This allows us to record the live lectures, which means that you can revisit them, pause for reflection, listen more attentively, and access at a later date. This also means that you can take notes at a pace suited to your needs and engage with the material in a way suited to your learning style.
Seminars are on-campus discussions within which you will be encouraged to interact with your peers and further engage with the lecture. This also provides an essential opportunity for you to socialise with your peers and further develop collaborative skills.
The assessment methods have been carefully chosen to reflect the world of employment.
Assessments include:
- Written assignments
- Presentations
- Oral defences’
- Portfolio’s
- Case Studies
Students will receive between 4 hours and 12 hours of teaching time per week throughout this course, depending on the modules being taken. Additional one-to-one meetings with tutors will provide further support.
Entry to the course requires:
32 UCAS Points
We welcome applications from those with relevant work and life experiences ‘mature students’ which may be regarded as equivalent. A pre-assessment task will be set to ensure that there is a capacity for the applicant to pursue the course successfully.
We are committed to creating educational opportunities for people from a variety of backgrounds and situations. We welcome applications from people of any age who might not meet the standard entry criteria, but we would expect to see evidence of continuing academic and/or professional development and a capacity to pursue the course successfully.
As part of this programme of study you will be required to have a valid enhanced Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS) check. You will be required to pay the cost of this. A DBS must be in place before you start your placement. You may be able to supply an existing DBS but this must be within 3 years of issue.
This course is particularly relevant to people already working in or looking to develop a career within both the formal and informal justice system.
There are opportunities to find employment within the formal criminal justice system itself in the form of the police, the probation service, the prison service and the legal system (solicitor, court services and contract management agencies to name a few). However, the programme does not just prepare you for work within the formal criminal justice system, you will begin to recognise that most offending behaviour is a combination of factors such as personal, health and social incidents that results in someone entering the formal system. This means our students can also work within the NHS (drug and alcohol related services), with children at risk, homelessness charities, safeguarding trusts, community justice, citizens advice and within central and local government.
It is important to stress that the programme also embraces the development and cultivation of critical thinking skills and the articulation and management of a transferable skill set which prepares you for multiple opportunities in employment beyond the Criminal Justice programme. This is seen in students who progress into teaching (some of our students each year undertake the Post Graduate Certificate in Education at University Campus Doncaster upon graduation) and management roles.
You may also have the opportunity to progress into post graduate education. Currently there is an array of Masters programmes available within the UK related to the field of Criminal Justice.