Law and Criminology
Law and criminology together address two closely related but distinct dimensions of crime and justice. Law provides the formal rules, procedures, and reasoning that govern how the state responds to crime, how individuals are prosecuted, and how rights are protected within legal systems. Criminology takes a broader, more analytical view, asking why crime happens, how it is defined and measured, whether the systems of justice are fair and effective, and what alternative responses might achieve better outcomes.
A degree that combines both gives you both the practical legal knowledge and the critical social scientific perspective that together produce a genuinely rounded understanding of crime and justice.
At the University of Plymouth, this three-year full-time programme introduces you to the English legal system and its relationship to criminal and civil processes, while also developing your understanding of criminological theories and perspectives. You will build both the legal and transferable skills that underpin professional practice and the critical capacity to evaluate how well the justice system serves the people subject to it. The programme includes a sandwich year, a year abroad, and a work placement, giving you substantial professional and international experience that enriches both disciplines.
With a typical entry tariff of 104 UCAS points, the course is accessible to students from a range of backgrounds.
Graduates from law and criminology programmes are well placed for careers across the legal system, criminal justice sector, social care, policy research, and the third sector. Solicitors' firms, in-house legal teams, the police, probation and prison services, youth justice, victim support, and local government are all common destinations. For those who wish to pursue legal qualification, the law component of the degree can provide the academic foundation for professional training.
Postgraduate study in law, criminology, social policy, or criminal justice is a natural option.