Criminal Justice and Criminology

Criminal justice and criminology is a pairing that sits at the intersection of social science and practical policy, asking not only why crime occurs but how societies respond to it and with what effects. Criminology provides the theoretical and empirical tools to understand offending, victimisation, and the social conditions that shape both, while criminal justice focuses on the institutions, policies, and practices through which the state investigates, prosecutes, and manages crime. Together they offer a rigorous and socially engaged education.

At the University of Leeds, this three-year full-time degree draws on the world-leading research of the Centre for Criminal Justice Studies, ensuring that what you study connects directly to the current frontiers of academic knowledge and live policy debates. You will develop an advanced and critical understanding of crime and criminal justice as they function today, examining the structures and cultures of policing, prosecution, sentencing, prisons, and probation, and assessing their effectiveness and fairness. Alongside this institutional focus, you will engage with criminological theory, exploring the competing explanations for why crime occurs and persists, from classical and biological accounts to sociological, feminist, and critical perspectives.

The degree includes a sandwich year, a year abroad, and work placement opportunities, giving you extensive professional and international experience alongside your academic study. These elements are particularly valuable in a field where understanding how the system actually works in practice is as important as knowing how it is supposed to work in theory.

You will develop strong research skills, the ability to evaluate evidence critically, and the capacity to engage with complex ethical and policy questions from multiple perspectives.

Graduates from criminal justice and criminology programmes work in probation, prison service, youth justice, police forces, victim support organisations, social work, policy, legal practice, and academic research. Postgraduate study in criminology, criminal law, social policy, or public administration is a well-trodden route for those who wish to specialise or move into more senior professional roles.