LLB Law with Criminology

Start date
September
Duration
3 years
UCAS code
M2L6
Course Type
Undergraduate, Single Honours
Fees

Annual tuition fees for 2023/24:
£9,250 (UK)
£21,780 (International)
More detail.

The undergraduate LLB Law with Criminology degree is a qualifying law degree taught collaboratively between Birmingham Law School and the School of Social Policy, drawing upon the significant expertise of academic staff in both Schools to offer a wide range of specialist modules in Criminology.

With a particular emphasis on the nature, extent, causes, and control of criminal behaviour in individuals and society, this exciting undergraduate LLB Law degree provides students with a rigorous and critical understanding of these issues. It explores social responses to crime and criminality, and looks at the processes and consequences of law making, law breaking and law enforcement.

Criminology complements and contextualises legal study, and is an extremely useful addition to those looking to practice criminal law or work in the criminal justice system.

For almost 100 years Birmingham Law School have made a major contribution to teaching and scholarship, and you’ll learn from prestigious academics who are working at the top of their field influencing law and policy around the world.

Studying Law with Criminology has allowed me to develop an extensive knowledge of the law by learning how to research and critically analyse its interactions with society.

Rebecca, LLB Law with Criminology graduate

Why study this course?

  • Study at a top global law school - the University of Birmingham is in the top 20 in the UK for Law (QS World University Rankings by Subject 2022), reflecting the high quality of our undergraduate teaching and our world-leading research. 
  • Wide-ranging extra-curricular legal opportunities and professional links - our Centre for Employability, Professional Legal Education and Research (CEPLER) is what truly sets Birmingham Law School apart, running pro bono groups and mooting competitions. Opportunities also include placement schemes, the annual law fair, and visits to leading firms, all of which will prepare you for life after Law School. 
  • Extensive choice of modules - you can really tailor your undergraduate Law degree course to suit your interests in final year with our vast range of optional modules.
  • Optional year abroad opportunities - study overseas at a partner institution and experience an incredible new culture, an alternative perspective on Law, and a different academic environment. Undergraduate Law students have had the opportunity to study all over the world in countries including Canada, Australia, Singapore, Hong Kong, France, Germany and Japan.
  • Excellent graduate prospects - According to the High Fliers Research report, The Graduate Market in 2022, the University of Birmingham has been ranked as the most targeted University by the UK's top 100 graduate employers in 2021-2022. 89% of our law students are in work or further study 15 months after graduation (Graduate Outcomes Survey 2022).

Modules

Please note: You will take 120 credits of modules in each year of study. The modules listed on the website for this programme are regularly reviewed to ensure they are up-to-date and informed by the latest research and teaching methods. Unless indicated otherwise, the modules listed for this programme are for students starting in 2023. On rare occasions, we may need to make unexpected changes to compulsory modules; in this event we will contact offer holders as soon as possible to inform or consult them as appropriate.

First year

Students currently take the following compulsory modules in their first year:

  • Legal Skills and Methods
  • Criminal Law
  • Public Law
  • Contract Law

Detailed descriptions of Year 1 compulsory modules.

You will also study Criminological Theory I, and Crime and Society. 

Second year

In their second year students take modules in:

  • Land Law
  • Law of Torts
  • Legal Foundations of the European Union
  • Legal Solutions

Detailed descriptions of Year 2 compulsory modules.

You will also study Criminological Theory II, and Contemporary Issues in Policing. 

Year Abroad

You can apply to study abroad for a year in an approved university around the world. If you achieve a grade of 2.1 or above in your first year, you will be eligible to apply for a Year Abroad in your second year. If your application is successful, you will go abroad in your third year and return to us for your final year. Find out more.

Final year

In the final year you will study Equity, Trusts, Wills & Formalities. You will also study Harmful Societies: Crime, Social Harm and Social Justice; and you will  have the opportunity to study one optional criminology module and three optional law modules from the range available within the Law School.

Fees

For UK students beginning their studies in September 2023, the University of Birmingham will charge the maximum approved tuition fee per year. The fees for your first year of study will therefore be £9,250. Visit our tuition fees page for more information.

Fees for 2023/24 are as follows:

  • UK: £9,250
  • International: £21,780

Eligibility for Home, EU or Overseas fees can be verified with Admissions. Learn more about fees for international students.

For further information on tuition fees, living costs and available financial support, please see our pages on undergraduate fees and funding.

Scholarships

  • The Law School offers subject specific scholarships for students of £3,000 p.a. Full details of how to apply can be found on our scholarships page

Tuition fees when studying abroad

For those spending a whole academic year abroad (where available):

  • Students who are classed as UK for fees purposes are required to pay 15% of their normal annual tuition fee
  • Students who are classed as International for fee purposes are required to pay 50% of their normal annual tuition fee

For those studying abroad for just one semester (where available), normal annual tuition fees apply.

Note - Study abroad opportunities vary between courses; please see the course description for details of study abroad options offered.

How To Apply

Apply through UCAS at www.ucas.com  
Learn more about applying

Standard offer

International Requirements



Typical offer:
A*AA
General Studies:
General Studies is not accepted but a good performance may be taken into account if you fail to meet the conditions of the offer.

Preferred subjects:

We prefer applications from students offering at least two A levels from our list of preferred subjects:

Accounting, Ancient History, Anthropology, Archaeology, Biology, Business Studies, Chemistry, Classical Civilisation, Computing, Drama and Theatre Studies, Economics, English Language, English Language and Literature, English Literature, Environmental Science, Environmental Studies, Further Mathematics, Geography, Geology, Government and Politics, History, History of Art, Human Biology, Law, Mathematics, Medieval History, Modern or Classical Languages, Music, Philosophy, Physics, Psychology, Religious Studies, Sociology, Statistics, World Development

We are happy to accept any subject as the third A level (excluding General Studies and Critical Thinking). If you are not studying an A level combination that includes two of these subjects, please contact the Law School.

International Baccalaureate (IB) Diploma:

7,6,6 in Higher level subjects plus 32 points overall.

BTEC and Access qualifications:

  • BTEC Extended Diploma in the following subject areas will be considered: Business and Law. Grades required - D*D*D*. Other BTEC Extended Diplomas may be considered if offered alongside an A level in one of our preferred subjects.
  • BTEC Subsidiary Diploma in Business or Law combined with two A levels (from our list of preferred subjects) and BTEC Diploma in Business or Law combined with an A level in one of our preferred subjects will be considered.
  • Other BTEC subjects combined with A levels are considered on a case by case basis provided there is an appropriate subject combination.

Access to Higher Education courses in a relevant subject are considered.

We do not require or consider the LNAT admissions test for entry onto our programmes.

We do not accept transfers into the School from any programme including other Law programmes.

Other qualifications are considered - learn more about entry requirements.

Alternative offers through our Pathways to Birmingham programmes and our Contextual Offer scheme

Students who are eligible and successfully complete a Pathways to Birmingham programme will receive special consideration from admissions tutors and an alternative offer (typically two grades below the standard offer). In addition, our Contextual Offer Scheme recognises the potential of students whose personal circumstances may have restricted achievement in school or college. If you are eligible to benefit from the contextual offer scheme, you will receive an offer which is one grade lower than the standard offer.

International Students

Birmingham Law School has a thriving community of over 400 international students across our LLB programmes. We accept a wide range of international qualifications. Our country pages show what qualifications we accept from your country.

If your first language is not English you must provide an English language qualification. Recognised qualifications include:

  • IELTS: 7.0 with no less than 6.5 in any band

If you need to improve your level of English in order to meet the minimum entry-level requirement you may be able attend one of the full-time presessional English courses run by our Birmingham International Academy.

Depending on your chosen course of study, you may also be interested in one of our foundation pathways, which offer specially structured programmes for international students whose qualifications are not accepted for direct entry to UK universities. Further details can be found on Birmingham International Academy web pages.

Photograph of students consulting books in the University of Birmingham library

At Birmingham Law School the staff who teach you are frequent participants in legal debates and contribute regularly to the policy-making process. You will draw on their vast expertise to acquire essential skills that are highly valued in the competitive employment sector, from creativity and independence to team-working, goal-setting and problem-solving.

Critical enquiry, debate and self-motivation, which we call enquiry-based learning, is central to learning and teaching here. This places you at the centre of your own learning process so that you learn through engagement and ownership and not simply by listening.

Respondents to the National Student Survey have acknowledged the enthusiasm of our staff and their ability to explain things clearly and make material intellectually stimulating. We encourage all our students to challenge us and draw their own conclusions.

What you can expect…

Throughout your Law degree you can expect about 13 hours of contact time per week made up of approximately ten hours of lectures and three hours of seminars.

Lectures

Lectures are an important method of teaching used in the School, intended to provide a structured framework for learning and dispensing essential knowledge. They won't tell you all you need to know, but they should help you to navigate the reading you're expected to undertake to pursue your studies effectively.

Seminars

Seminars are smaller group classes, which involve the development and testing of ideas in discussion, with a high degree of student input.

Providing a forum for discussion and exchange of ideas, in all seminars you are expected to be prepared and to participate. This is tremendously important at university level and will help you to clarify and extend your understanding of the topics you are studying, as well as develop confidence in expressing yourself orally.

Seminars in Law also provide an opportunity to learn the difficult but vital skill of applying the law to factual situations. This is assessed in exams through ‘problem questions’. For some seminars you will be given the facts of problem questions in advance, and you devote time to working out your own answers beforehand, then testing those answers in argument during the seminar.

Teaching staff

Students at the University of Birmingham are taught by a mixture of professors, senior lecturers, lecturers and doctoral researchers, thereby receiving a rich diversity of academic knowledge and experience. Many of our teaching staff have published important works about their areas of expertise, whilst others have taught at international institutions and can offer unique perspectives of their subjects.

You can find out more about the members of staff (including their qualifications, publication history and specific areas of interest) in their academic profiles linked below.

Contact Hours

All Birmingham degrees are set within a credit framework designed to measure your academic achievements. We expect all students to accumulate 120 credits in each full year of study which is equivalent to 40 hours of learning a week. Learning is considered to include contact learning (lectures and seminars), private study, revision and assessment.

For this programme, those 40 hours are estimated to be broken down and split into lectures, seminars and other guided teaching opportunities and independent study. This is a general rule across the entire academic year and may change week by week. 

Year 1: 20% Lectures, Seminars or similar, 80% Independent study
Year 2: 20% Lectures, Seminars or similar, 80% Independent study
Year 3: 15% Lectures, Seminars or similar, 85% Independent study

Assessment Methods

Birmingham Law School uses a variety of methods to assess student performance, this includes exams, essays and dissertations. At the beginning of each module, you'll be given information on how and when you'll be assessed for that particular programme of study.

  • Examinations take place at the end of each semester and exam-based modules are typically assessed by a 2 or 3-hour exam.
  • Essays vary in length (1000-4000 words) depending on whether the essay is only part of the assessment for the subject or whether the subject is assessed 100% by essay.
  • The dissertation is an optional module in the final year of the LLB which is an individual research project into a specific topic which varies in length (up to 10,000 words).

Studying at degree-level is likely to be very different from your previous experience of learning and teaching. You will be expected to think, discuss and engage critically with the subject and find things out for yourself. We will enable you to make this transition to a new style of learning, and the way that you are assessed during your studies will help you develop the essential skills you need to make a success of your time at Birmingham. 

Feedback

Developing skills and enhancing academic performance is a key part of a university education and the Law School provide feedback on your work throughout your degree.

  • You'll receive feedback on each assessment within four weeks, so that you can learn from and build on what you have done
  • Individual feedback on academic performance is provided during progress review meetings with your personal tutor throughout the year.
  • All academic members of staff will have office hours during which you can see them without prior appointment and speak to them on a 1-1 basis to discuss feedback or other academic support you may require.

Legal Skills Academic Support (LSAS)

In addition to the feedback you will receive from academic staff, our Legal Skills Academic Support team will help you to develop skills which are crucial to legal study. We run daily drop-in sessions and weekly workshops open to all undergraduate Law students. Workshops include:

  • How to prepare for seminars and lectures
  • How to answer essay and problem questions
  • How to read cases and articles
  • How to learn from feedback and tackling common mistakes
  • How to manage your time effectively
  • How to prepare for exams

Student support

You will have access to a comprehensive support system to help you make the transition to higher education when you start at Birmingham:

Personal tutors – You will be assigned your own personal tutor who will get to know you as you progress through your studies. They will provide academic support and advice to enable you to make the most of your time here at Birmingham.

Wellbeing Officers – Alongside your personal tutor, you will also have access to dedicated wellbeing officers who provide professional support, advice and guidance to students across a range of issues. They can meet with you to discuss extensions, disabilities, reasonable adjustments, extenuating circumstances, or talk through any problems you might be experiencing, and help you access wider support on campus and beyond if you need it.

Our Student Experience Team will help you get the most out of your academic experience. They offer research opportunities, study skills support, and help you prepare for your post-university career. They also organise social events, such as field trips, to help you meet fellow students from your course.

Birmingham Law School's Centre for Employability, Professional Legal Education and Research (CEPLER) provides a diverse range of opportunities and activities to enhance knowledge, skills, confidence and employability - all the things that help graduates to stand out from the crowd in a competitive jobs market.

Our students can benefit from activities, opportunities, help and resources in areas including:

Careers

  • CEPLER's extensive provision of careers lectures and skills workshops offers advice and guidance on a range of specialist areas of law and legally-related careers, in addition to practical skills sessions on how to present yourself and succeed at interview. View information on our careers lectures provision. Or find out about other careers activities.
    • We are forging links right across the legal community and beyond to public, third sector and non-law commercial organisations to provide valuable work experience placements. 

Pro Bono

  • CEPLER's Pro Bono Group began in 2009 and has grown from one Street Law Project to a diverse portfolio of opportunities to build your experience and serve the community. Visit the Pro Bono Group page for full details on the range of projects.

Mooting & Advocacy

  • Being able to evidence your experience of advocacy is a key advantage in the over-subscribed legal profession. CEPLER offers skills sessions and three Mooting competitions, as well as Debating and Negotiation.

Education

  • CEPLER is developing new and innovative approaches to teaching to give you experience of real world law. So far, we have introduced two new practice-based modules: Regulation of the Legal Profession, which will encourage you to question assumptions about lawyers and their role in society; and Advocacy, which covers a range of skills such as mooting, negotiation and mediation, along with court observations and presentation skills development.

Professional Accreditation

This degree is a ‘qualifying’ degree; this means that it provides exemption from the first or academic stage of the examinations required by the Solicitors Regulation Authority and Bar Standards Board before you can qualify as a solicitor or barrister.

Barristers

In order to practise in England and Wales the intending barrister must first join an Inn of Court. Many students do this while taking their degree. The School has its own Inns of Court Students’ Association from which details can be obtained about joining an Inn. On successful completion of the degree intending barristers must take a further one-year full-time course, the Bar Professional Training Course, leading to the second part of the Bar examination. There then follows a one-year period of Pupillage – a form of apprenticeship in a barrister’s chambers.

Solicitors

On completion of their degree intending solicitors  take a one-year full-time course. This is called the Legal Practice Course (LPC). Thereafter, there is a two-year training contract (apprenticeship in a firm of solicitors), all or most of which must be taken after completing the LPC. Fuller information on both the Bar and the Solicitors’ professions is given in the Law School Handbook. The official bodies, from which complete particulars should be sought, are as follows:

The Council of Legal Education
4 Gray’s Inn Place
London
WC1R 5DX

The Education and Training Team
Solicitors Regulation Authority
The Cube
Wharfside Street
Birmingham
B1 1RN
ETUQS@sra.org.uk

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