Law with Criminology

Law and criminology together offer one of the most coherent double subject combinations available for students interested in crime, justice, and the legal system. Law provides the formal framework: the doctrines, rules, and institutions through which society defines what is prohibited and how it responds to transgressions. Criminology brings the social scientific perspective, examining how those definitions are made, how the criminal justice system operates in practice, and what drives crime and what might prevent it.

Together they equip you to see the legal system both from within its own logic and from outside it, which is a genuinely rare and valuable analytical position.

At Royal Holloway this three-year full-time programme explores the fundamental principles of justice, equity, and equality within the framework of English and European law, while also developing your understanding of the key debates in criminology. You will study the foundational areas of law, including contract, tort, public law, criminal law, and equity, alongside criminological theory, victimology, policing, and the sociology of deviance. The Department of Law and Criminology is known for high quality research and teaching, and the programme benefits from that research environment.

A sandwich year, a year abroad, and work placements integrated throughout provide professional and international experience alongside your academic study.

Graduates move into legal practice (subject to further professional training), the criminal justice system, probation, policy, journalism, social work, and a wide range of other roles. Many continue to postgraduate study in law, criminology, or related fields.