Law with Criminology

Law and criminology is a combination that addresses crime and society from complementary angles. Law provides the formal framework: the rules, principles, and processes through which states define criminal conduct, prosecute offenders, and deliver justice. Criminology goes behind and beyond the law, asking why crime occurs, who is most affected by it, what the evidence says about what works in criminal justice, and how the system can fail those it is meant to protect.

Studied together, they produce graduates who understand both the technical architecture of criminal law and the social and empirical context in which it operates.

At Leeds Beckett University, this part-time Law with Criminology programme offers a flexible route into both disciplines for students who need to balance study with other commitments. You will build core legal knowledge, learning to interpret legislation, analyse case law, and understand court processes through the core areas of criminal law, contract law, public law, and more. Criminology then builds on this foundation, exploring why people offend, how society responds, and what the evidence shows about policing, sentencing, rehabilitation, and the prevention of miscarriages of justice.

A sandwich placement year, a year abroad, and work placement opportunities are all available within the programme, giving you professional and international experience alongside your legal and criminological studies.

You will develop skills in legal analysis, critical reasoning, research, and written argumentation, alongside the sociological and psychological perspectives that criminology brings. The ability to examine complex social problems through both a legal and an empirical lens is a genuinely distinctive capacity.

Graduates from law with criminology programmes pursue careers in the legal profession, the criminal justice system, probation, policing, social work, policy research, the third sector, and public administration. Some proceed through the Solicitors Qualifying Examination to qualify as solicitors. Postgraduate study in criminology, criminal justice, law, or social policy is a natural next step.