Criminology and Criminal Justice with Foundation Year

Criminology and criminal justice is a discipline that takes seriously some of the most fundamental questions any society has to answer: what counts as crime, why people offend, and how communities and institutions should respond. These are not merely technical questions but deeply ethical and political ones, touching on issues of power, inequality, punishment, and what justice actually means in practice. Studying criminology and criminal justice develops the analytical tools to think carefully and critically about these questions, drawing on sociology, law, psychology, and philosophy.

At Birkbeck College, University of London, this four-year full-time programme includes a foundation year, making it accessible to students who need additional preparation before entering the main degree. The programme offers a distinctive approach to criminology, exploring both conventional frameworks of criminal justice and alternative responses to harmful behaviour in society. You will engage with questions about crime, punishment, rehabilitation, and restorative justice, developing a critical perspective that goes beyond accepting existing institutions at face value.

The programme is designed for students who are curious, questioning, and intellectually engaged, and it develops research skills alongside the capacity for independent and creative thinking.

Graduates go on to careers in the criminal justice system, including probation, prison service, youth offending teams, police, and the courts. Social work, community development, policy research, and the charitable sector are also common destinations. The programme's emphasis on critical and alternative perspectives is particularly well suited to careers in advocacy, reform organisations, and policy analysis, as well as to academic research.

For those wishing to qualify as probation officers or social workers, postgraduate professional training is required. Postgraduate study in criminology, social policy, law, or sociology is a natural route for graduates who wish to deepen their expertise.