Sociology and Criminology with a Foundation Year - BSc (Hons) *
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Our BSc (Hons) Sociology and Criminology with a Foundation Year course has been specifically designed to support your transition to degree-level study in sociology and criminology. You will take a foundation year of Level 3 study, which has been designed to provide a sound basis for further study by developing your knowledge, skills and understanding.
- Level Foundation
- Study mode Full Time
- Award BSc (Hons)
- Start date September 2027
- Fees View course fees
- Subject
- Location City Centre
This course is:
Open to International Students
Overview
Our BSc (Hons) Sociology and Criminology with a Foundation Year course has been specifically designed to support your transition to degree-level study in sociology and criminology. You will take a foundation year of Level 3 study, which has been designed to provide a sound basis for further study by developing your knowledge, skills and understanding.
What's covered in this course?
On successful completion of the Foundation Year, you will move on to the first year of the BA (Hons) Sociology and Criminology degree – a degree that helps you make sense of the world and your place within it, both locally and globally by addressing long-standing and topical questions facing society. Why do racial inequalities persist in education and employment? What’s the human cost of your matcha latte? Will AI replace human friendships one day, and does it matter?
Our Sociology and Criminology degree course will equip you with the theoretical and methodological tools to help investigate questions like these; complex questions that require serious reflection, critical analysis, and engagement with evidence.
The Criminology element of the degree gives you the opportunity to understand how society makes sense of crime and criminality. You’ll explore how crime connects to wider social issues, analyse patterns and processes of inequality, and gain a deeper understanding of power and hierarchies. This critical perspective helps you understand not just what crime is, but how societies decide what counts as criminal and why. This perspective also helps you think critically about what emerging social issues and harms might be criminalised in the future, and the social forces that drive those decisions.
You'll learn research methods, analyse real data, and be taught by tutors who actively research issues like inequality and social change – so you're learning from people who are making new discoveries in the field, not just teaching from textbooks. Studying in the “super diverse” city of Birmingham is also beneficial to your studies, its hugely varied communities providing a living laboratory for understanding how society works.
Through hands-on projects, career guidance and potential placements with public and third sector organisations, and an in-depth final year project, you'll explore the areas of sociology and criminology that matter to you most. These experiences will help you build professional networks while developing practical skills employers value, such as data analysis, critical thinking, and a deeper understanding of how society really works, meaning you'll graduate with both the knowledge and connections to tackle some of society's biggest challenges.
Why Choose Us?
- We aim to infuse learning with exposure to real-world experiences. Through participation in the Social Impact Hub, we give students the chance to work on real-life projects. These offer a unique opportunity for students to gain this invaluable experience while they study.
- We pride ourselves on being the University for Birmingham and our commitment to contribute to the city and local community. As part of this commitment, we have forged strong links with local organisations across the city and many graduates end up playing valuable roles in the local community.
- We have strong links with West Midlands Police and regularly welcome serving officers and experts to give guest lectures and provide opportunities for exposure to real-world activities.
- We have a strong focus on employability and through placement opportunities and our links with local businesses, we aim to ensure you graduate not only with your degree but also with the skills and knowledge needed to embark on your chosen career.
- The STEAMhouse offers amazing opportunities for entrepreneurial students to kick start and build a business or organisation. Services available include the Incubator which helps focus and solidify business ideas and the Hatchery which offers support in getting your business or organisation off the ground.
Clearing Open Days
Join us for an Open Day where you'll be able to learn about this course in detail, chat to students, explore our campus and tour accommodation.
Next Open Days: 15, 17 and 18 August
Course in Depth
Foundation Year
In order to complete this course, you must successfully complete all the following CORE modules (totalling 120 credits).
This module has been designed to offer you a broad introduction to the academic discipline of sociology. Given the theoretical nature of the subject, the module begins by offering you an insight into the history and development of sociological thought. From here, you will then explore key sociological themes including social class, race, gender, sexuality, culture and social control. You will be introduced to what it means to think like a sociologist, learning to see the general in the particular and the strange in the familiar, whilst also developing an awareness of how society and social concepts work according to the three central sociological perspectives. Towards the end of the module, you will explore sociology in an international context, learning about the differences and similarities that exist between societies around the world. Having studied this module, you will have established a solid, sociological foundation upon which to build as you progress into your chosen level 4-degree programme.
This module has been designed to offer you a broad introduction to the academic discipline of criminology. Throughout the module you will be introduced to a variety of important topic areas which highlight the inter-relationship between crime and society. Given the theoretical nature of the subject, the module begins by offering you an insight into the history and development of criminological thinking. From here, the module will scope the contours of the criminological landscape, exploring important, contemporary issues such as, class, race and ethnicity and gender and sexuality with specific reference to the overarching themes of crime, criminality and the criminal justice. Towards the end of the module, you will explore criminology in an international context. As such, you will learn about the changing nature of criminality and begin to understand how crime is dealt with in different societies around the world. Having studied this module, you will have established a solid, criminological foundation upon which to build as you progress into your chosen level 4-degree programme.
This module has been designed to help you develop the essential skills required to be successful on the range of Sociology and Criminology degree programmes that are available at Birmingham City University and in Higher Education more generally.During the module, you will first be encouraged to Think like a Sociologist or Criminologist and from here, you will develop important academic skills such as reading, writing and referencing according to the Harvard system. In addition to this, the module will encourage you to reflect on and develop your interpersonal skills which includes communicating with clarity, working collaboratively and managing your online presence. The skills you develop in this module – all of which are of relevance to the contemporary social scientist – will facilitate your transition into further study and help you to prepare for employment post-graduation.
This module focuses on questions and debates in sociology and criminology and their relevance to public and voluntary sector agencies that plan and deliver services in social and criminal justice settings. Examples of practice-relevant topics that will be addressed in this module are ‘policing the public’, ‘responding to homelessness’, ‘addressing addiction and criminality’, ‘managing debt’ and ‘confronting the educational attainment gap’. The module will be delivered through interactive sessions, guided reading, class-based exercises and discussions. Practice-focussed study visits and practitioner talks will provide insight into the use of sociological and criminological knowledge within real world organisations. The module is assessed by an individually prepared ‘sector specific’ review of a relevant public or voluntary sector service. The assignment will ask you to examine the practicalities of service delivery and to identify, explain and discuss the use of sociology or criminology knowledge to influence the direction of provision.
This module has been designed to take you on an interactive journey through the Criminal Justice System (CJS) in England & Wales. You will begin by exploring the concept of “crime” and will develop an understanding of how those behaviours which are considered “criminal” can change over time and from place to place. You will then embark on a journey through the Criminal Justice System, beginning with the process of criminalisation. Each week, you will learn about the history and workings of key components of the CJS, including the police, the courts and the prison service and you will be introduced to a variety of contemporary issues affecting the CJS process. This is a “hands on” practical module designed to give you a range of skills through workshops, alongside academic theory and critical analysis. Throughout the course of the module, you will hear from guest speakers and undertake independent study to develop your employability skills.
The FYSC Independent Research Project module gives you the opportunity to practice and develop skills needed for research within the social sciences. Specifically, within the department of Sociology and Criminology, the FYSC Independent Research Project has been designed to offer you an insight into the preparatory stages of the research process. As such, you will first be introduced to the broad area of Social Scientific Research before exploring the research process from both a Sociological and Criminological perspective.
First Year
In order to complete this course, you must successfully complete all the following CORE modules (totalling 120 credits).
This core module introduces you to key classical sociological theories and perspectives, whilst situating them within their historical, social, and political contexts. The module approaches the sociological canon critically, examining how foundational theories emerged within, and were shaped by, processes of modernity, including colonialism, empire, slavery, and gendered exclusions. In doing so, the module challenges narratives that present sociology as an internally European development, instead emphasising the global and relational conditions through which modern social thought was constituted.
You will engage with canonical thinkers such as Marx, Durkheim and Weber alongside often marginalised or excluded figures including W. E. B. Du Bois, Harriet Martineau and Charlotte Perkins Gilman. These perspectives are explored not as discrete traditions but as interconnected responses to the transformations associated with modernity. The module encourages you to critically interrogate the formation of sociological knowledge, including whose voices are centred, whose are marginalised, and how power operates in the production of theory.
Through interactive workshops, you will develop the ability to interpret, evaluate and apply sociological concepts to contemporary social issues. The module also supports the development of core academic and transferable skills, including critical reading, structured argumentation, and engagement with different forms of evidence.
This foundational module introduces the historical development of criminology and its core theoretical perspectives. It examines how different schools of thought have sought to explain crime and deviance, encouraging students to engage with key criminological debates.
The module is structured around a weekly exploration of major criminological theories, considering their origins, key concepts, and ongoing relevance to contemporary social issues. Through a combination of lectures, seminars, and guided reading, students will develop a strong theoretical grounding, enabling them to analyse and interpret crime within real-world contexts.
The module explores the origins and evolution of criminology as a discipline and provides sustained engagement with central theoretical traditions. It emphasises the application of theory to contemporary crime and justice issues, while supporting students in developing core academic skills, including critical reading, academic writing, referencing, and presentation.
Major challenges and issues face UK society, such as climate collapse, the cost of living crisis and violent far right movements. There is also enormous social change in the wake of resistance movements like, #MeToo, and Black Lives Matters. Sociology and Criminology students must be able to relate shifts to changing patterns of offending and criminal justice.
This module will use a combination of lectures and student-led seminars to help develop your criminological imagination. An assessment of an annotated bibliography will train you to connect major developments in criminology to the social and political context of major historical moments. This is replicated for studying crime and punishment in the 21st cԳٳܰ.
This supports your development of essential employability skills such as an awareness of current affairs, identifying sources of reliable data and research report writing in clear concise English.
This module aims to advance your awareness of the interplay between individual experience and wider society. In so doing, you will be supported to develop and to apply that which the American sociologist C Wright Mills (1959) called, a ‘sociological imagination’: an act which invites us to ‘think our selves away’ from the immediacy of the routines, events and personal circumstances of everyday life and to consider these in wider social context from a sociological point of view. In support of this endeavour, the module introduces and makes use of contemporary sociological thinking and practice with an alertness to social setting, agency and social structure. Analysis, discussion and debate are framed and grounded with reference to selected social topics and themes with a relevancy to the lived experience of the ‘everyday’.
Throughout this module you will be encouraged to apply a ‘sociological imagination’ to ask and to answer sociological questions.
Overall, the module aims to engage you in developing a capacity to identify and to interpret past and present patterns of social life; and to advance an understanding of the connections between social structure, individual experience and acts of individual and collective agency. Specifically, the module aims to support you in taking forward the task of thinking imaginatively about your own life experiences along sociological lines: a task to be framed and directed with reference to Mill’s focus on ‘Public Issues, Private Troubles’ through the completion of a reflective diary which you prepared for assessment.
This module provides you with an overview of the Criminal Justice System from point of entry to community reintegration, and the roles and responsibilities of different actors within the system.
Through studying this module, you will develop an understanding of the evolution and structure of different components of the Criminal Justice System in England and Wales. Emphasis will be placed on understanding the political, social, and economic factors which influence the delivery of justice and the consequences of these for suspects, victims and wider communities. For example, you will explore how constructions of gender, race, class, and other socio-economic circumstances influence the encounters and experiences of those within the Criminal Justice System.
Building upon this, the module will critically engage with contemporary debates and issues surrounding the ‘purpose’ of the criminal justice system. As such, you will learn to access and interpret statistics on those who encounter the Criminal Justice System, as well as key trends and patterns relating to criminal justice-based responses.
In terms of employability, you will learn about potential career opportunities within and around the Criminal Justice System and will be encouraged to become actively involved with volunteering opportunities. Practitioners from various agencies within the Criminal Justice System will deliver guest lectures on their experience of working within the field. You will also be given the opportunity to participate in field trips including to Birmingham Crown Court. You will develop transferable employability skills, including communication, statistical analysis and problem-solving.
This module is assessed by a multiple-choice examination.
This module introduces you to the core principles, practices, and debates that shape qualitative research inquiry in the social sciences. The module equips you with the foundational skills needed to design, conduct, and interpret qualitative research, while encouraging you to think critically about how knowledge is produced, whose voices are heard, and how power operates within the research process.
You will explore a range of qualitative approaches, including interviews, focus groups, ethnography, participant observation, visual and digital methods, and textual analysisand learn how these methods help researchers understand lived experience, meaning‑making, identity, and social worlds.
The module emphasises reflexivity, ethics, and positionality, helping you to recognise how your own background, assumptions, and relationships shape the research encounter. Through practical activities, case studies, and guided practice, you will develop confidence in collecting and analysing qualitative data, using tools such as thematic analysis, coding, and interpretive reading. By the end of the module, you will be able to evaluate qualitative research, design small‑scale projects, and apply methodological concepts to real‑world social issues.
Second Year
In order to complete this course, you must successfully complete all the following CORE modules (totalling 120 credits).
This core Level 5 module builds on Sociological Perspectives by engaging you with contemporary social theories whilst also exploring the ways in which they are produced through globally entangled histories of power, knowledge, and resistance. Rather than treating theory as originating within Europe and subsequently applied elsewhere, the module approaches contemporary social theory as emerging through colonial, imperial, and postcolonial formations, as well as through struggles over race, gender, and epistemic authority. In doing so, it foregrounds how what is often presented as the ‘canon’ is historically produced, contested, and incomplete.
A central aim is to interrogate how social theory is constituted: not only what counts as theory, but who is recognised as a theorist, and under what conditions. You engage with thinkers from different locations within global knowledge production, including those writing from and about colonial and postcolonial contexts, alongside feminist and Black intellectual traditions. Rather than positioning decolonial, feminist, and critical race perspectives as external critiques, the module places them at the centre of analysis, showing how they reshape key concepts such as power, culture, and identity. For example, not only do we examine Ұ’s theory of hegemony, but we also explore it in relation to colonial domination and subaltern politics; Foucault’s analyses of power are understood alongside feminist and postcolonial interventions; and Bourdieu’s cultural capital is also examined in relation to racialised and gendered inequalities.
By the end of the module, youwill not only have acquired an in-depth understanding of these theories, but also the ability to apply them to the world around them, as well as to the topics and issues raised in other modules.
Sociology is an exciting and illuminating field of study that attempts to analyse and explain the most important social, cultural and political questions of our time. This module provides you with the opportunity to develop your knowledge and understanding of a range of “problems” or “issues” that currently dominate both the social and political climate. All of these are areas of social and political policy.
Throughout this module you will be encouraged to develop your skills as an independent learner. You will be given the opportunity to demonstrate your knowledge within an assessment that gets you producing a video campaign. You will use sociological insights to analyse social problems and provide policy suggestions for a range of relevant stakeholders.
This module introduces you to the sociological understanding of contemporary social and political events and areas in which policy is developed. It aims to provide insight into how these events can be read socially, politically and culturally; and how they can be theorised and analysed using a sociological lens. Because of the topicality of the module its content will be routinely updated contingent on specific current events and issues occurring, globally. Therefore, you will be introduced to cutting-edge understanding of the events and issues that are contemporarily present and around you in your everyday lives. You will firstly be introduced to the particular events and issues, before locating them in the existing literature and debates. Relevant sociological theory will be introduced as to provide you a conceptual base that can be applied to establish new understandings to the events and issues being examined.
Traditionally criminology has focused on those who perpetrate harm and given far less attention tothose who experience harm, and this module seeks to address this discrepancy. This module will givesome consideration as to why some events which cause harm are formally labelled and treated ascrimes when others are not, and in doing so we will consider the impact of this upon those whoexperience these harms. This module will support you to develop a critical understanding ofvictimology and equip you to question the label 'victim'. Furthermore, we will consider how many of those who experience harm will frequently be the least powerful and the most vulnerable in society, increasing the need for effective responses (both inside and outside of the Criminal Justice System) torepair the harm done.
This module is taught by lectures and seminars and is assessed by an essay. The module is ideal for those of you who wish to work with victims of crime/experiencers of harm in your future carer, or if you want to gain a more holistic understanding of harm prior to working with those who perpetrate said harms. Furthermore, this module will also enable you to enhance your communication and critical thinking skills which are transferable to employment.
This module develops your ability to critically engage with quantitative data and data-driven knowledge as an informed sociological thinker. Rather than training you as a producer of statistical tests, the module equips you to read, interpret, question, and critique the numbers that shape contemporary social life.
Alongside this critical engagement, you build practical data literacy: understanding key statistical concepts (e.g. averages, distribution, correlation, significance), reading and interpreting tables and graphs, and gaining introductory experience with relevant software.
This module provides you with an opportunity to experience/reflect upon real world work and/or work-related activity in relation to one of five pathways. The five pathways are:
- an external work-experience placement with a third sector/public/commercial organisation
- directed use made of current and relevant work-experience as an active volunteer or as an active paid employee
- an agreed ϳԹ internal placement or an agreed student-initiated (desk-based) project supportive of entrepreneurial endeavour
- a directed set of employment-relevant activities to be informed through a recounting of and reflection upon past employment/volunteering experience along with the complementary use of ϳԹ employment-support resources
- a variation to or a hybrid combination ofthe preceding forms (1 to 4) to be agreed between tutor and student with reasonable regard to situation and circumstance and with an option to include a critical account of yourpersonal ‘placement search’ activity with a focus on skill application and experiential learning.
It is expected that each one of the five pathways will engage you for a target of 128 hours over a semester. Youwill be assigned a ‘pathway’ tutor. Where external or internal placements operate, a workplace-based supervisor will be sought in addition.
To advance/support learning, a short series of workshop sessions will be provided onmodule-relevant topics. As relevant and in a timely manner, youare expected to provide themodule tutor with a copy of an agreed ‘work plan’ providing an indicative timetable of pathway tasks to be undertaken. Youwill be supported via Moodle throughout the module. All pathways are to be agreed by the University.
This module is designed to develop your understanding of the emergence and development of key theories of punishment through an exploration of the history of penal theory and its contemporary challenges and controversies. Furthermore, this module seeks to refine and expand upon traditional theoretical perspectives of punishment and the current reliance upon imprisonment as a dominant form of punishment in England and Wales. In doing so, it will require you to critically engage with some of the strengths and limitations of such an approach and consider possible alternatives.
This module will help you to acquire numerous employability skills, such as critical thinking and reflective practice. Vocationally it is linked to a range of potential criminal justice professions in the statutory, voluntary and non-governmental sectors, building your knowledge and understanding of core functions and debates in the prison and punishment realms.
Final Year
In order to complete this course, you must successfully complete the following CORE module (totalling 40 credits).
The aim of this module is to provide a framework for you to undertake a substantial disciplinary relevant project. It is founded upon Birmingham City University’s teaching and learning philosophy which integrates theory and practice. The format of the Integrated Research Project will vary, dependent on the degree pathway you are on, and the choice of project. Depending on student interest and available support, potential project formats may include: a library-based or empirical dissertation; a group-based social entrepreneurship project; or other projects based on the suggestion of students.
In order to complete this course, you must successfully complete one of the following modules (totalling 20 credits).
This module provides a critical introduction to global sociology focusing on key concepts, theoretical debates, and the relationship between knowledge, power, and sociological theory. It adopts a connected sociologies framework to examine global society as a historically interconnected system shaped by colonialism and its enduring legacies. The module explores how colonialism structured global systems, shaping empire, capitalism, racial hierarchies, and global political and economic ordering. It further analyses how these colonial formations continue to influence contemporary societies through persistent inequalities, global capitalism, dependency relations, and international governance structures despite processes of formal decolonisation. A central concern of the module is the analysis of social inequality in a connected global context, with attention to the intersections of race, ethnicity, gender, and identity, alongside processes of stratification, migration, and transnational social relations. These dynamics are understood through relational and historically grounded perspectives that emphasise interdependence rather than separation between societies. The module also foregrounds the role of the Global South not merely as an object of sociological analysis, but as an active producer of knowledge and theory. It engages with decolonising approaches, Southern theory, and alternative modernities to critically challenge Eurocentric assumptions within sociology and to highlight inequalities in knowledge production. Finally, the module considers processes of resistance and transformation through anti-colonial and decolonial movements, transnational activism, cultural resistance, and contemporary debates in global sociology. By integrating theory, history, and contemporary case studies, the module enables students to critically analyse global social processes and evaluate ongoing struggles within unequal global structures
This module will develop students’ understanding of advanced criminological theory through engagement with a range of contemporary perspectives on crime, deviance, harm, and social control. It is designed to extend prior knowledge by introducing students to more complex theoretical traditions within the criminological canon. The module draws on a diverse body of thought, including Foucauldian approaches to power, control and governmentality, existentialism and phenomenology, critical race criminology, southern theory, green criminology, ultra-realism, hauntology, queer theory, and abolitionist perspectives. These traditions are considered in relation to one another, with attention to their underlying epistemological assumptions, points of conceptual tension, and areas of philosophical overlap.
The emphasis throughout the module is on introducing students to these different theoretical frameworks as part of the wider ‘toolbox’ of criminology and how each of these traditions approach the definition and explanation of crime, deviance, harm, and social control, and how they inform wider debates around social justice and inequalities. Students will engage closely with key theorists, concepts and texts, working to evaluate the strengths and limitations of different perspectives and their relevance to contemporary issues. The module supports the development of a more confident and reflexive approach to theory, enabling students to move beyond description towards analysis, comparison, and application.
Students will be assessed through a critical comparative portfolio that requires them to critically discuss different criminological traditions, assessing their conceptual tensions, epistemological assumptions, and practical approaches to crime, deviance, harm, and social control. The portfolio is designed to evaluate students’ ability to synthesise complex theoretical material, construct logically developed and concise arguments, and apply advanced criminological perspectives to contemporary issues in a critical and coherent manner. Emphasis is placed on clarity of argument, depth of theoretical engagement, and the ability to draw meaningful connections and critique between traditions. Overall, the module provides an introduction to advanced criminological theory, equipping students with the conceptual and analytical tools required for independent, critically informed study at Level 6
In order to complete this course, you must successfully complete at least 20 credits from the following indicative list of OPTIONAL modules.
Activism and social movements have attempted to address a wide range of social problems and influence social change. Historically, movements have had significant influence on social relations and social policy. This module will critically investigate a range of historical and contemporary social movements and activism better understand these movements and their internal processes and external contexts. Various theories will be explored to get a good grasp of what brings about social movements, how they operate, and when they succeed. The social movements discussed in this module will include climate justice, racial justice, workers’ rights, anti-authoritarian movements, feminist and queer movements, among others. Each week will focus on a few concepts (e.g. racial capitalism, abolition, neoliberal feminism) based on a particular case study (e.g. women in the Egyptian Revolution of 2011, emotions in ACT UP, use of social media in Occupy movements.
In this module you will explore the role of social movements in the creation of social change around the world. You will also critically examine social movement theories in relation to those movements. By the end of the module, you will have an understanding of the processes involved in the onset, mobilization, progress and outcomes of social movements and movement organisations.
This module examines fascism, the far-right, and forms of extremism through a sociological lens, situating them within wider processes of power, inequality, identity, and social change. It explores how extremist ideologies emerge, how they are sustained, and how they operate across historical and contemporary contexts. The module also considers genocides as extreme manifestations of social exclusion and violence, alongside their cultural representation and collective memory.
Drawing on key sociological theories and contemporary research, the module engages with themes such as nationalism, racism, populism, authoritarianism, and political violence. It critically examines how social divisions (including race, class, gender, religion and citizenship) are mobilised within extremist movements, and how these relate to broader structures of power and inequality.
Alongside this, the module explores resistance to fascism and extremism, including grassroots activism, cultural opposition, digital resistance, and policy responses. It also considers ethical challenges in researching and representing violence and atrocity.
Teaching is delivered through a weekly 3-hour interactive workshop format, combining short lectures, group discussion, collaborative tasks, and engagement with visual, textual and digital sources. A weekly 1-hour optional drop-in session provides additional academic support and space for discussion. Students are expected to undertake weekly reading, directed online activities, and independent study to support their learning.
By the end of the module, students will have developed a critical, research-informed understanding of extremism and resistance, and will be able to apply sociological concepts and methods to complex and contested social issues.
This module is tied to an emergent research field that unites a multi-disciplinary network of academics, researchers and postgraduate students who explore the boundaries of crime, consumption, leisure and deviance. The topic is informed through critical engagement with a range of perspectives intersecting with the sociological interpretations of crime and deviance, drawing on Criminology, Law, Sociology, Urban Studies, Geography, and Leisure and Tourism. The overarching theme of deviant leisure therefore unites a wide range of research areas, including leisure and consumption practices, intoxication, media, urban exploration, sport and violence, dark tourism, the leisure activities of the rich and powerful, deviancy within videogames, and the impact of internet/social media in correlation with issues of criminological and sociological theory.
In order to complete this course, you must successfully complete at least 40 credits from the following indicative list of OPTIONAL modules.
The module will introduce students to the complex world of cyber-crime and issues related to cyber technology and how the police deal with cyber issues from cyber terrorism, cyber bullying and cyber hate. The module will work well alongside the other modules related to security studies where students will examine the rationale of cyber-crimes.
This is an optional module concentrating on cultural sociology with specific reference to music. The module will provide students with an in-depth introduction to some of the key sociological ideas and perspectives on music, and it will focus on three main themes: the social and historical settings in which musical forms are produced and consumed; music in relation to identity and politics; and the political economy of music. By the end of the module, students should have a good understanding of the social functions, and significance, of music. Key issues we will explore include: the influence of class, race and gender on musical styles; music in its relationship with sub-cultural groups and as a force for political expression; and the commodification of popular music. Alongside considering these issues, we will be listening to a variety of music.
This module explores contemporary debates and theoretical approaches to understanding gender, sex and sexuality. Students will examine how gender roles and sexual identities are constructed, contested, and transformed across different social contexts.
Ever questioned ‘Who to call if not the police?’ or ‘If not prisons, what else? This innovative module will encourage you to think critically about the meaning of justice in contemporary societies. Rather than accepting criminalisation, policing and punishment as inevitable systems of control, you will explore how differing frameworks of justice explain the function of current criminal legal systems (and wider forms of carceral containment).
Central to these considerations will be past and current impacts of criminalisation, harm and victimisation for specific social groups. Emphasis will be placed on the interlocking nature of capitalist, patriarchal, racist and colonial power-dynamics that shape how ‘justice’ is conceptualised and delivered on a global scale and who may come to be disproportionately policed, punished and confined as a result.
Building upon this foundation, you will analyse radical approaches to justice being imagined, created and mobilised by communities around the world. In doing so, you will explore alternative models of justice and examine key differences between ‘reformist’ and ‘non-reformist ڴǰ’. You will engage in critical conversations surrounding defunding the police, decriminalising sex work, addressing violence against women and girls and de-carceration. You will also explore examples of social advocacy, mutual aid and the redistribution of resources through the lens of abolitionism.
Throughout this module, you will be encouraged to think ‘outside of the box’ in considering how to best address (and respond to) the interpersonal and structural forms of harm in contemporary societies. This will then be assessed through an in-person assignment with supporting formative tasks throughout the module. Your employability and preparedness for justice-focused roles and beyond will be enhanced by analysing a range of national and international perspectives, policies and practices, while developing your communication and presentation skills.
The module provides you with an introduction to postcolonial studies. The module gives you an overview of how European colonialism operated, legacies of colonialism in the present, and contestations of these legacies. It examines the writings of key thinkers in postcolonial studies as well as the applicability of their ideas for interpreting and critiquing contemporary politics. The module has a transnational focus. It engages with Anglo-American, Western European, Latin American, Chinese, South Asian, North African, and Australasian postcolonial contexts. Focus is placed on the empirical postcolonial developments and scholarship that emanate from these regions. You are thereby exposed to key historical and contemporary political issues across national borders. Teaching provision consists of lectures, seminars, and student-led presentation sessions. Guest lectures and optional cross-university readings groups will supplement the learning.
This module helps to embedthe study of politics and society across all levels of the sociology degree programme by complimenting modules offered at level 4, level 5 and a level 6 module on Globalisation. The Postcoloniality module feeds into the decolonizing the curriculum movement by virtue of its content. The module is geared to prepare you for Masters level study in social and political theory courses. The summative assessment will consistent of an essay.
This module introduces you to hate crime and issues related to hate crime. You will develop a key understanding of criminological concepts and theoretical approaches which have been developed in relation to hate crime. It will allow you an opportunity to examine and conceptualise some of the key debates around hate crime, policy, human rights, crime prevention, security, and policing. This module will identify problems around the processes of criminalisation and victimisation, the causes and organisation of crime and deviance, and the processes of preventing and managing crime and victimisation.
You will examine the different processes of victimisation whether by or of individuals, groups, families, communities, institutions or the state, and be able to evaluate the impact upon individuals and society. You will also be able to examine the development, role, organisation and governance of efforts to reduce and prevent crime, deviance and harm, and to ensure personal and public safety and security in different locations.
Some of the more technical skills you will acquire will include written and oral communication skills, including, participating in academic debates and working productively in a group. The assessment for this module is an essay which engages in a critical discussion around the nature of hate crime and the ways in which it is policed. The module will work well alongside the other criminology, policing and security studies modules where issues of victimisation within the criminal justice system are examined.
This module will provide students with a critical understanding of contemporary patterns and debates around intimacy, communities, and belonging. Questions such as: How has romantic and other forms of intimacy changed over time? How do people fulfil their need for community and connection with others? Why do people live the lives they do? What do their behaviours tell us about modern life?
This module introduces key concepts and theories to help explore, understand, and critically analyse topics such as friendship, casual sex/relationships, consensual non-monogamy, fandoms, online culture, parasocial relationships, AI, nature, loneliness, the manosphere, and social media.
Through a combination of theoretical engagement and analysis of contemporary case studies, students will develop critical thinking skills that allow them to evaluate various interpretations of people’s behaviours. The module emphasises the importance of understanding wider sociocultural factors when considering how and why people do what they do.
Students will have the opportunity to pursue an assessment on topics that align with their own interests, developing their ability to synthesise academic literature and construct well-evidenced and nuanced arguments. These skills -critical analysis of complex social issues, evaluating multiple perspectives, and presenting reasoned arguments - are highly valued in diverse professional contexts including policy development, human resources, advocacy work, education, and research.
Download course specification
Download nowYou have the flexibility to transfer to any standard undergraduate Sociology or Criminologycourse offered at ϳԹ after successful completion of your foundation year,including the option to transfer to thespecialist Sociology or Criminology pathways when you successfully complete your second year if you choose to stay on this course.
The specialist pathways offered as part of the Sociology suite of courses are:
BSc (Hons) Sociology / BSc (Hons) Sociology and Criminologywill explore patterns and processes of inequality, examine the structure and dynamics of social hierarchies and power relations and ask why and how people shape their identities and practice their lives. We encourage you to explore how sociological knowledge can connect individuals and how it can provide you with the skills needed to participate in debates not just about what society is but how it could be.
Andthespecialist pathways offered as part of theCriminology suite of courses are:
BSc (Hons) Criminologyaims to develop knowledge and understanding of the core schools of criminological thought, their historical and political foundations and practical application. Our curriculum offers you a variety of subjects, through which you will be able to develop your interests before focusing on specialised fields within Criminology that appeal to you as a student.
BSc (Hons) Criminology, Policing and Investigationoffers an in-depth study of policing and investigation, helping you develop knowledge and understanding of the core schools of criminological thought, their historical and political foundations and practical application. This new curriculum offers a varied yet focused choice of subjects through which you will be able to develop your interests within the specialised field of criminology.
BSc (Hons) Professional Policingis a national pre-join degree course licensed by the Policing Professional Body, the College of Policing and will be delivered by subject matter experts and experienced practitioners (including retired police officers) with a wealth of subject expertise to prepare you with key transferable skills required for the role of Police Constable.
Entry Requirements
These entry requirements apply for entry in 2027/28.
All required qualifications/grades must have been achieved and evidenced at the earliest opportunity after accepting an offer to help confirm admission and allow for on-time enrolment. This can also include other requirements, like a fee status form and relevant documents. Applicants can track their application and outstanding information requests through their ϳԹ mySRS account.
Essential requirements
80 UCAS Tariff points. .
If you have a qualification that is not listed, please contact us.
Fees & How to Apply
UK students
Annual and modular tuition fees shown are applicable to the first year of study. The University reserves the right to increase fees for subsequent years of study in line with increases in inflation (capped at 5%) or to reflect changes in Government funding policies or changes agreed by Parliament. View fees for continuing students.
Award: BSc (Hons)
Starting: Sep 2027
- Mode
- Duration
- Fees
- Full Time
- 4 Years
- £5,760 in 2027/28
International students
Annual and modular tuition fees shown are applicable to the first year of study. The University reserves the right to increase fees for subsequent years of study in line with increases in inflation (capped at 5%) or to reflect changes in Government funding policies or changes agreed by Parliament. View fees for continuing students.
Award: BSc (Hons)
Starting: Sep 2027
- Mode
- Duration
- Fees
- Full Time
- 4 Years
- £19,220 in 2027/28
Guidance for UK/EU students
UK and EU students applying for most undergraduate degree courses in the UK will need to .
The Universities and Colleges Admissions Service (UCAS) is a UK organisation responsible for managing applications to university and college.
Applying through UCAS
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Employability
Enhancing employability skills
We recommend you get involved in the research seminars held by our research centres (such as the Centre for Critical Social Research and the Centre for Applied Criminology and the Centre for Critical Social Research), as well as encourage you to participate in the research these centres carry out.
Our Graduate+ scheme will not only develop your broader employability skills, but will also enhance your work opportunities, your lifelong learning skills and a sense of belonging.
Facilities & Staff

Sociology and Criminology facilities
Take a look around the facilities available to you as a Sociology and Criminology student at ϳԹ.
Our staff
Andrew Dixon
Senior Lecturer in Sociology
Andrew Dixon has worked as a social-housing practitioner and as an academic researcher. Andrew has past course development and management experience in the fields of Housing Studies and Sociology. Andrew has been course director with responsibility for the undergraduate Sociology degrees at ϳԹ. Recent areas of teaching include human rights;...
More about AndrewDr Gary Hazeldine
Associate Professor of Sociology
Dr Gary Hazeldine has taught Sociology at Birmingham City University since 2007. Prior to this he taught at the University of Brighton, the University of Sussex, and Manchester Metropolitan University.
More about GaryProfessor Imran Awan
Professor of Criminology
Professor Imran Awan is one of the country’s leading criminologists and experts on Islamophobia and countering extremism.
More about ImranDr Aidan O'Sullivan
Lecturer in Criminology
Dr. Aidan O’Sullivan got his first degree, a 1:1 joint-honours in Sociology and Philosophy, from the University College of Cork in the Republic of Ireland in 2006. He would go onto to receive the same mark for his Masters in Sociology at the same institution in 2008.
More about Aidan
