Law with Criminology

Law and criminology together address the formal and social dimensions of crime and justice in complementary ways. Law provides the rules and institutional structures through which crime is defined, prosecuted, and punished, while criminology asks why crime occurs, how it is constructed as a social category, and whether the criminal justice system's responses actually achieve their stated aims. At Southampton Solent University, the LLB Law with Criminology is a three-year full-time programme that includes a foundation year for students who need additional preparation, a sandwich year, and work placement, making it one of the most practically oriented versions of this combination available.

The law component covers the foundational areas of English law, including contract, tort, criminal law, constitutional and administrative law, and evidence. The criminal law content connects particularly directly to the criminology strand, which examines why people commit crimes, how criminal behaviour is distributed across social groups, how victims are affected, what prisons and probation services actually do, and whether rehabilitation is achievable within current criminal justice frameworks. Sociological and psychological perspectives on deviance, inequality, and institutional behaviour run through the criminology curriculum, deepening your analytical understanding of how the criminal justice system operates in practice.

The sandwich year and work placement give you direct professional experience in legal or criminal justice settings, building the competence and connections that career entry requires.

Graduates of this programme are well placed for careers in soliciting, the criminal Bar, probation, the prison service, victim support, legal advice and advocacy, the Crown Prosecution Service, policing, and research and policy roles connected to crime and justice. The foundation year makes the degree accessible to students from a wider range of educational backgrounds without reducing the rigour of the main programme. Some graduates go on to the Legal Practice Course or Solicitors Qualifying Examination, while others pursue careers directly in criminal justice without full legal qualification.

Postgraduate study in criminology, law, or social policy is another route that some graduates take. The combination of legal training and critical criminological thinking the degree develops provides a strong and practical foundation for a career at the interface of law and justice.