Criminology FdA

What makes the Foundation Degree in Criminology special?

Our Criminology course explores the criminal justice system and crime from a critical perspective and with a focus on social justice. It holds a primary focus on research and debated explanations for crime, victimisation and deviance, and responses to those crimes, by societies and individuals.

The inter-disciplinary nature of the subject is mirrored in the construction of the criminology course. The core discrete criminological learning is complemented by modules in Psychology, Law and Sociology, prompting shared learning with students from other disciplines.

It is an active and lively course that moves away from traditional teaching of the social sciences to embrace the contemporary and innovative topics and practices of 21st century criminal justice.

The work-placement element ensures that you are prepared for the world of work.

The course is delivered at Birmingham Metropolitan College’s Matthew Boulton site.

Completion of the FdA Criminology, will allow direct access to Level 6 of the BA Criminology Programme at University of Worcester, to complete a full honours degree.

Overview

Key Features

The course has been co-designed by employers and students
It creates a stimulating teaching environment with a range of educational delivery modes including blended, online and small face-to-face groups
Offers tailored pastoral and educational support
Research driven teaching and personalised support
Innovative curriculum

Entry requirements

UCAS tariff points

Entry Requirements

The normal minimum entry requirement for foundation undergraduate degree courses is:

The possession of 4 GCSE’s (Grade C/4 or above) that must include Maths and English
At least 32 UCAS tariff points from a minimum of 1 A Levels (or equivalent Level 3 qualifications).

Course content

Courses at BMet are informed by research and current developments in the discipline and by feedback from students, external examiners and employers. Modules do therefore change periodically in the interests of keeping the course relevant and reflecting best practice. The most up-to-date information will be available to you once you have accepted a place and registered for the course. If there are insufficient numbers of students interested in an optional module, this might not be offered, but we will advise you as soon as possible and help you choose an alternative.

Year 1 - Modules	Approaches in Criminology and Criminal Justice (30 credits) Skills for academic and career success (including work-based learning placement) (30 credits) Approaches to Social Justice (30 credits) Investigative skills for research (15 credits) Criminal Law and Policy (15 credits)
Year 2 - Modules	Research Methods and Methodology in Criminology (30 credits) Probation, Penology and Rehabilitation in England and Wales (30 credits) Criminology Placement (30 credits) Criminology and Media (15 credits) Policing Approaches in England and Wales (15 credits)

Teaching and assessment

Teaching

You are taught through a combination of interactive workshops, lectures, seminars, practical activities etc. Interactive workshops take a variety of formats and are intended to enable the application of learning through discussion and small group activities. Seminars enable the discussion and development of understanding of topics covered in lectures. They are focused on developing subject specific skills and applied individual and group project work.

In addition, meetings with personal academic tutors are scheduled on at least four occasions in the first year and three occasions in the second year of a course.

The University places emphasis on enabling students to develop the independent learning capabilities that will equip you for lifelong learning and future employment, as well as academic achievement. A mixture of independent study, teaching and academic support from Student Services and Library Services, and also the personal academic tutoring system, enables you to reflect on progress and build up a profile of skills, achievements and experiences that will help you to flourish and be successful.

Location of teaching

The course will be delivered at BMet's Matthew Boulton site, leading to an award made by the University of Worcester.

Contact time

In a typical week students will have around 12 contact hours of teaching. Typically contact time will be structured around:

12 hours of lectures and seminars
1 hour tutorial per week.

During the programme across both years, you will be expected to complete the equivalent of 1 day per week in placement which is a minimum of 200 hours WBL/placement at both level 4 and at level 5.

Independent self-study

In addition to the contact time, you are expected to undertake around 13 hours of personal self-study per week. Typically, this will involve completing online activities, reading journal articles and books, working on individual and group projects, undertaking research in the library and online, preparing coursework assignments and presentations, and preparing for examinations.

Independent learning is supported by a range of excellent learning facilities, including The Hive and library resources at the University of Worcester, the virtual learning environment, and extensive electronic learning resources.

Duration

It is currently only possible to study this programme on a full-time basis, over 2 years.

Timetables

Timetables are normally available one month before registration. Please note that whilst we try to be as student-friendly as possible, scheduled teaching can take place on any day of the week; and some classes can be scheduled in the evenings.

Teaching staff

You will be taught by a teaching team whose expertise and knowledge are closely matched to the content of the modules on the course. The team includes senior academics, professional practitioners with industry experience including working in the prison service and in the law sector.

Postgraduate research students who have undertaken teacher training may also contribute to the teaching of seminars under the supervision of the module leader.

Assessment

The course provides opportunities to test understanding and learning informally through the completion of practice or ‘formative’ assignments.

Each module has one or more formal or ‘summative’ assessments which are graded and count towards the overall module grade. Assessment methods include written examinations and a range of coursework assessments such as essays, reports, portfolios, performance, presentations.

The precise assessment requirements for an individual student in an academic year may vary, but a typical formal summative assessment pattern for each year of the course is:

Year 1:

Case Study (Pre-released Examination)
Controlled Assessment
Portfolio
Reflective Journal
Individual Presentation with Written Summary
Individual Report
Unseen MCQ Examination

Year 2:

Research Project
Individual Presentation
Individual Report
Individual Presentation
Reflective Journal
Individual Presentation
Controlled Assessment (Pre-released Examination)
Investigative Article

You will receive feedback on practice assessments and on formal assessments Feedback is intended to support learning and you are encouraged to discuss it with personal academic tutors and module tutors as appropriate.

We will provide you with feedback on formal course work assessments within 20 working days of hand-in.

Programme specification

For comprehensive details on the aims and intended learning outcomes of the course, and the means by which these are achieved through learning, teaching and assessment, please download the latest programme specification document.

Careers

The criminology course design has been informed by the University’s graduate attributes and as a result we provide learning opportunities within and around the course for students to become graduates who can:

Act ethically with global and social responsibility, being culturally aware;
Be curious, reflective and resilient lifelong learners;
Use their analytical, creative and evaluative skills to problem solve;
Be effective communicators and team workers, and
Use their digital capability to engage in the modern world of work by actively and responsibly working, communicating and collaborating online.

Criminology graduates have a wide range of potential work opportunities available to them, including direct entry into the employment market on completing their course of study. Our graduates have previously progressed to careers in:

Probation;
Prison services;
Voluntary sector;
Third sector organisations and social enterprises;
Law enforcement agencies such as the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) or the police;
Further or higher education.

As highlighted by the cross disciplinary approach within the teaching content on this course, graduates also have the opportunity to develop a broader set of subject knowledge and transferable skills, and as such can also go on to further study or work in fields such as:

Social work;
Civil service administrator;
International aid/development worker;
Charity officer;
Psychology;
Law;
Research;
Advice worker;
Local government administrator.

Costs

Fees and funding

Full-time tuition fees	UK students The Government has announced that it will increase tuition fees and maintenance loans by 3.1% from the 2025/26 academic cycle. Subject to approval, the University intends to increase our tuition fees in line with this and as per our terms and conditions. This means that from September 2025 the standard fee for full-time home and EU undergraduate students enrolling on BA/BSc/LLB degrees and FdA/FdSc degrees will be £9,535 per year. For more details on course fees, please visit our course fees page.
Part-time tuition fees	UK and EU students The Government has announced that it will increase tuition fees and maintenance loans by 3.1% from the 2025/26 academic cycle. Subject to approval, the University intends to increase our tuition fees in line with this and as per our terms and conditions. This means that from September 2025 the tuition fees for part-time UK and EU students on BA/BSc/LLB degrees and FdA/FdSc degrees will be £1,190.83 per 15-credit module, £1,587.77 per 20-credit module, £2,381.66 per 30-credit module, £3,175.55 per 40-credit module, £3,572.50 per 45-credit module and £4,763.32 per 60 credit module. For more details on course pages, please visit our course fees page.
Additional costs not included in the fees	Course-related costs will include day-to-day costs for printing, stationery, books etc. The course will be taught at BMet, Matthew Boulton site. There is a work placement element of the course and there will be travel costs involved. This will not be reimbursed and it is the student’s responsibility to pay for travel to and from the placement.

Full-time tuition fees

UK students

The Government has announced that it will increase tuition fees and maintenance loans by 3.1% from the 2025/26 academic cycle. Subject to approval, the University intends to increase our tuition fees in line with this and as per our terms and conditions. This means that from September 2025 the standard fee for full-time home and EU undergraduate students enrolling on BA/BSc/LLB degrees and FdA/FdSc degrees will be £9,535 per year.

For more details on course fees, please visit our course fees page.

Part-time tuition fees

UK and EU students

The Government has announced that it will increase tuition fees and maintenance loans by 3.1% from the 2025/26 academic cycle. Subject to approval, the University intends to increase our tuition fees in line with this and as per our terms and conditions. This means that from September 2025 the tuition fees for part-time UK and EU students on BA/BSc/LLB degrees and FdA/FdSc degrees will be £1,190.83 per 15-credit module, £1,587.77 per 20-credit module, £2,381.66 per 30-credit module, £3,175.55 per 40-credit module, £3,572.50 per 45-credit module and £4,763.32 per 60 credit module.

For more details on course pages, please visit our course fees page.

Additional costs not included in the fees

Course-related costs will include day-to-day costs for printing, stationery, books etc. The course will be taught at BMet, Matthew Boulton site. There is a work placement element of the course and there will be travel costs involved. This will not be reimbursed and it is the student’s responsibility to pay for travel to and from the placement.

How to apply

Applying through UCAS

UCAS is the central organisation through which applications are processed for entry onto full-time undergraduate courses in Higher Education in the UK.

Read our How to apply pages for more information on applying and to find out what happens to your application.

Apply Via UCAS

Get in touch

Higher Education Office BMet

he@bmet.ac.uk

Matthew Jellis

Head of Violence Prevention, Trauma and Criminology

m.jellis@worc.ac.uk

01905 85 5096

Admissions Office

University of Worcester

admissions@worc.ac.uk

01905 855111