Law with Criminology
Law and criminology address overlapping but distinct dimensions of the same fundamental questions: what counts as wrongdoing, how societies respond to it, and whether the responses we have are just. Law is the formal system of rules and institutions through which society regulates conduct and resolves disputes. Criminology asks deeper questions about why crime happens, how it is defined, who is labelled a criminal, and what the consequences of crime and punishment are for individuals and communities.
Studied together, they provide a powerful dual lens through which the justice system can be examined both from within and from a critical distance.
At the University of Northampton, this three-year programme develops both legal analysis and criminological understanding in parallel. You will study the core areas of English law, including contract, tort, criminal law, and public law, developing the ability to identify, apply, and argue about legal rules with precision. Alongside legal study, you will engage with the social-scientific frameworks of criminology, examining theories of crime and deviance, the sociology of punishment, policing, victimology, and the operation of the criminal justice system in practice.
The programme cultivates analytical rigour, evidence-based reasoning, and clear written argumentation across both disciplines.
This full-time programme includes a sandwich year with a work placement, giving you the opportunity to gain practical experience in a legal, criminal justice, or related professional setting before you complete your degree. That real-world exposure is valuable in both competitive professional contexts. Graduates with this combination of qualifications go on to careers in law, the legal profession (including as a stepping stone to the bar or solicitor training), the criminal justice system, probation, youth justice, victim services, policy, social work, and research.
The combination makes for a versatile and professionally informed degree, well suited to students who want to understand not just what the law says but how justice works in practice.