Law and Criminology (LLB)
- UCAS code: M190
- Next intake: September 2021
- Duration: 3 years
- Mode: Full time
Entry Year
Why study this course
Whereas Law examines the system of rules used by a country or state to regulate its inhabitants, Criminology focuses on criminalisation, victimisation, and social responses to crime and disorder. This makes both topics an ideal pairing for study as part of a joint honours programme.
This degree programme is an opportunity to study both Law and Criminology within an interdisciplinary social sciences context.
You will gain a comprehensive grounding in English and Welsh Law by studying the foundation modules (which constitute the academic stage of training that is currently necessary to become a solicitor or barrister in England and Wales) but, in addition, you will examine crime, justice and control as a social scientist before applying your new research-driven skills to real world issues and debates.
Criminology is the field of study which focuses on criminalisation, victimisation, and social responses to crime and disorder. We draw on a range of social science perspectives and offer you the chance to explore sociological, psychological and political approaches to crime and its control.
Distinctive features
School of Law and Politics
Pro Bono Schemes
We work in partnership with lawyers, charities and voluntary organisations to give you the opportunity to practise and extend your skills through a variety of pro bono schemes.
Our students have:
- Helped overturn two convictions at the Court of Appeal through their work as part of the innocence project
- Reclaimed thousands of pounds for individuals and/or families who have paid private nursing home fees.
- Provided legal support for rugby clubs and players
- Supported vulnerable adults who have been arrested.
Carry out a work placement in your third year
You will have the opportunity to apply for a work placement which will be carried out in the third year of your LLB Law degree. The full-time, salaried placements will be open to you via a competitive application process which aims to replicate the graduate recruitment processes you will encounter after leaving University.
During your placement, you will undertake legal practice as a paralegal, and will perform graduate level roles.
School of Social Sciences
- The opportunity to learn from leading criminologists with strong links to police, probation and prisons, as well as local authorities, and Welsh and UK government institutions
- The opportunity for you to learn in a School that was ranked 3rd in the UK for research quality in sociology and 5th for education in the 2014 Research Excellent Framework (REF)
- The involvement of research-active staff in teaching
- The emphasis on independent learning in a research-led environment
- The variety of modules on offer in a multidisciplinary and interdisciplinary School
- The opportunity to study abroad.
Accreditations

Where you'll study
School of Law and Politics
Our vibrant student body combined with highly qualified academic staff provides the perfect environment to explore the dynamic and fast-paced fields of law, politics and international relations.
School of Social Sciences
Our degrees are delivered by internationally recognised experts with a track record of influencing policy and practice around the world.
Entry requirements
AAB-ABB
Extended/International Project Qualification: Applicants with grade A in the EPQ/IPQ will typically receive an offer one grade lower than the standard A level offer. Please note that any subject specific requirements must still be met.
The Welsh Baccalaureate Advanced Skills Challenge Certificate will be accepted in lieu of one A-Level (at the grades listed above), excluding any specified subjects.
DDD-DDM in a BTEC Extended Diploma in any subject.
34-32 overall or 666-665 in 3 HL subjects.
Other UK qualifications may also be accepted, often in lieu of A-levels, but subject requirements must be met. If you are offering non-UK qualifications, our qualification equivalences guide should allow you to calculate what kind of offer you are likely to receive.
Please be aware that this is a general guide, and that some programmes may have more detailed or specific entry requirements which will be reflected in your offer.
GCSE
Grade B or grade 6 in GCSE English Language.
IELTS (academic)
At least 6.5 overall with a minimum of 6.5 in writing and a minimum of 6.0 in all other subskills.
TOEFL iBT
At least 90 overall with a minimum of 22 for writing and 20 in all other subskills.
PTE Academic
At least 62 overall with a minimum of 62 in writing and a minimum of 54 in all other communicative skills.
Trinity ISE II/III
II: a Distinction in Writing and at least one Distinction and two Merits in other components.
III: at least a Pass in all components.
Other accepted qualifications
Please visit our English Language requirements page for more information on our other accepted language qualifications.
You must have or be working towards:
- English language or Welsh language at GCSE grade B/6 or an equivalent (such as A-levels). If you require a Tier 4 visa, you must ensure your language qualification complies with UKVI requirements.
If you’d like to progress to either the Legal Practice Course or the Bar Training Course after you graduate, we urge you to first read the fitness to practise requirements of the relevant professional body to make sure you’d be eligible to register with them:
- Bar Standards Board handbook
- Solicitors Regulation Authority period of recognised training
We do not accept Critical Thinking, General Studies, Citizenship Studies, or other similar equivalent subjects.
We will accept a combination of BTEC subjects, A-levels, and other qualifications, subject to the course specific grade and subject requirements.
You are not required to complete a DBS (Disclosure Barring Service) check or provide a Certificate of Good Conduct to study this course. If you are currently subject to any licence condition or monitoring restriction that could affect your ability to successfully complete your studies, you will be required to disclose your criminal record. Conditions include, but are not limited to:
- access to computers or devices that can store images
- use of internet and communication tools/devices
- curfews
- freedom of movement
- contact with people related to Cardiff University.
Please see our admissions policies for more information about the application process.
Tuition fees
Students from the UK
Tuition fee (2021/22) | Deposit |
---|---|
£9,000 | None |
Students from the EU, EEA and Switzerland
If you are an EU/EEA/Swiss national, unless you qualify for UK fee status, tuition fees for 2021/22 will be in line with the fees charged for international students. UKCISA have provided information about Brexit and tuition fees.
Students from the rest of the world (international)
Tuition fee (2021/22) | Deposit |
---|---|
£17,450 | None |
Financial support
Financial support may be available to individuals who meet certain criteria. For more information visit our funding section. Please note that these sources of financial support are limited and therefore not everyone who meets the criteria are guaranteed to receive the support.
Additional costs
You should be prepared to invest in some key text books and to cover the costs of basic printing and photocopying. You may also want to buy copies of other books, either because they are particularly important for your course or because you find them particularly interesting.
If you have a laptop computer you will have the option of purchasing software at discounted prices.
Course specific equipment
What the student should provide:
You do not need any specific equipment to study on this programme. Access to a laptop computer would be advantageous as many readings are available electronically and most assessments are prepared using standard word processing software.
What the University will provide:
Networked computers with appropriate file space and all necessary software. Access to essential and background reading for each module plus a wide range of journals and other online resources. All course documents will be available online (via the VLE) and hard copies of essential documents will be provided if requested.
Accommodation
We have a range of residences to suit your needs and budget. Find out more on our accommodation pages.
Living costs
We’re based in one of the UK’s most affordable cities. Find out more about living costs in Cardiff.
Course structure
This is a three-year, full-time course, consisting of 120 credits a year. The final degree classification that you are awarded is based on the grades you achieve in the modules that you take in years two and three.
During the course of your degree, you will be able to take the Foundations of Legal Knowledge modules that constitute the Qualifying Law Degree.
Modules offered by the School of Social Sciences allow students to explore sociological, psychological and political approaches to the study of criminology.
Academic years consist of two semesters. You are required to pursue modules to the value of 120 credits in each year of your studies.
The modules shown are an example of the typical curriculum and will be reviewed prior to the 2021/22 academic year. The final modules will be published by September 2021.
Year one
You will study four compulsory 20 credit Law modules and two compulsory 20 credit modules in Criminology in year one.
Module title | Module code | Credits |
---|---|---|
Contract [20] | CL4201 | 20 credits |
Criminal [20] | CL4202 | 20 credits |
Legal Foundations [20] | CL4203 | 20 credits |
Public Law [20] | CL4204 | 20 credits |
Key Ideas in Social Science | SI0281 | 20 credits |
Foundations of Contemporary Criminology | SI0284 | 20 credits |
Key Ideas In Social Science | SI0422 | 20 credits |
Year two
You will study modules amounting to 120 credits in total, 80 of which are to be chosen from the list of optional Law modules available. Remaining modules will be taken from the list of options in Criminology.
If you wish to obtain a qualifying Law degree, you will notice that our QLD modules (Tort and Land Law) are offered with a range of credit weightings. This provides you with flexibility in your module choices but also allows you to study the modules needed for a qualifying law degree.
The list of optional modules is kept under review on an annual basis in light of factors such as staff resources and student demand. The final honours classification is based on the assessments taken in years two and three
Module title | Module code | Credits |
---|---|---|
Offending and Victimisation | SI0201 | 20 credits |
Responses to Crime | SI0202 | 20 credits |
Module title | Module code | Credits |
---|---|---|
Land Law [20] | CL5201 | 20 credits |
Tort [20] | CL5202 | 20 credits |
Discrimination and Law [20] | CL5205 | 20 credits |
Cyfraith Tir [20] | CL5221 | 20 credits |
CAMWEDD [20] | CL5222 | 20 credits |
Datganoli yng Nghymru | CL5224 | 20 credits |
French Law I | CL5255 | 20 credits |
French Law II | CL5256 | 20 credits |
Land Law [30] | CL5301 | 30 credits |
Tort [30] | CL5302 | 30 credits |
Discrimination and Law [30] | CL5305 | 30 credits |
Evidence | CL5306 | 30 credits |
Sociology of Law | CL5312 | 30 credits |
Media Law [30] | CL5318 | 30 credits |
Cyfraith Tir [30] | CL5321 | 30 credits |
CAMWEDD [30] | CL5322 | 30 credits |
Datganoli yng Nghymru [30] | CL5324 | 30 credits |
Miscarriages of Justice: The Cardiff Innocence Project | CL5328 | 30 credits |
Human Rights Law | CL6308 | 30 credits |
Commercial Law | CL6313 | 30 credits |
Environmental Law and Justice | CL6327 | 30 credits |
Global Problems and Legal Theory | CL6328 | 30 credits |
Year three
In year three, you will choose between 60- 80 credits from Law modules and the remaining 40-60 credits will be chosen from Criminology options.
If you wish to obtain a qualifying Law degree, you will notice that our QLD modules (Law of the European Union and Equity and Trusts) are offered with a range of credit weightings. This provides you with flexibility in your module choices but also allows you to study the modules needed for a qualifying law degree.
The University is committed to providing a wide range of module options where possible, but please be aware that whilst every effort is made to offer choice this may be limited in certain circumstances. This is due to the fact that some modules have limited numbers of places available, which are allocated on a first-come, first-served basis, while others have minimum student numbers required before they will run, to ensure that an appropriate quality of education can be delivered; some modules require students to have already taken particular subjects, and others are core or required on the programme you are taking. Modules may also be limited due to timetable clashes, and although the University works to minimise disruption to choice, we advise you to seek advice from the relevant School on the module choices available.
Learning and assessment
In each year of the programme, students are required to take modules to the value of 120 credits, which will be made up of 80 credits in Law and 40 credits in Criminology. Modules are taught through a combination of lectures, tutorials and seminars, amounting to approximately ten to twelve hours a week of formal teaching. This, of course, will be supplemented by independent research and study through which students will acquire more advanced knowledge and understanding.
Students take four compulsory 20 credit Law modules and two compulsory 20 credit modules in Criminology in Year 1, none of which count towards the final degree classification. In Years 2 and 3, modules are chosen from a range of options, including those required for legal practice in the UK.
Year 1
Scheduled learning and teaching activities
23%
Guided independent study
77%
Placements
0%
Year 2
Scheduled learning and teaching activities
22%
Guided independent study
78%
Placements
0%
Year 3
Scheduled learning and teaching activities
22%
Guided independent study
78%
Placements
0%
How will I be supported?
All modules within the programme make extensive use of Cardiff University’s Virtual Learning Environment, Learning Central, on which students can access discussion forums and find course materials including recordings of lectures, links to related materials, multiple-choice tests, past exam papers and examples of student work from previous years. We provide students with frequent feedback on their work. This comes in an array of formats (including oral tutor feedback during tutorials, personalised feedback on written work, feedback lectures, generic written feedback and feedback on tutorial performance). This feedback is intended to help students reflect on their performance and identify things they can do in order to improve.
All students will be allocated a personal tutor in both the Law School and the School of Social Sciences. Personal tutors will not only assist with reflection on performance on the course but also advise on study techniques, module selection and career planning (in conjunction with the University’s Career Service) and provide a first point of contact when difficulties are experienced.
An extensive programme of careers lectures and workshops is delivered within the Law School and an in-house Law Careers Consultant is available.
A range of staff are available to provide further support, including an academic support tutor, a pro-bono scheme co-ordinator and specialist law librarians. A member of academic staff acts as a designated Disability and Diversity Officer and ensures that reasonable adjustments are made for students with disabilities.
Year 1
Written exams
86%
Practical exams
0%
Coursework
14%
Year 2
Written exams
73%
Practical exams
0%
Coursework
27%
Year 3
Written exams
80%
Practical exams
0%
Coursework
20%
What skills will I practise and develop?
Knowledge & Understanding:
On successful completion of the Programme you will be able to demonstrate:
- Describe the main principles, values, institutions and processes of the legal systems in England and Wales and the European Union
- Where appropriate, demonstrate awareness of the impact of relevant international law on the laws of England and Wales and outline alternative models of legal regulation with reference to the laws of other jurisdictions
- Describe and explain the main principles, values and rules of the primary areas of substantive law of the legal system of England and Wales
- Explain the relationship between an existing body of law and relevant political, economic, social and cultural issues and outline how these factors contribute to contemporary legal debates
- Explain the political, legal, social and/or philosophical context of the evolution of a particular body of law
- Give an explanation of the meaning of complex legislation and identify its doctrinal implications
- Provide a summary of a complex body of case law and identify the legal principles arising from it
- Explain the meaning and significance of a range of primary and secondary legal materials, academic research and commentary.
- Explain key concepts and theoretical approaches in Criminology.
Intellectual Skills:
On successful completion of the Programme you will be able to demonstrate:
- Apply knowledge of legal rules and principles to propose solutions to doctrinal problems of varying complexity
- Evaluate the doctrinal coherence and significance of a body of statutes and/or case law
- Evaluate the success and/or shortcomings of an area of law in relation to policy perspectives and wider social/contextual issues and identify areas where law reform might be needed
- Evaluate law reform proposals in a way which demonstrates sound understanding of current legal problems, sensitivity to law’s social, cultural and political context and awareness of international legal obligations
- Relate a piece of academic writing or research to a contemporary legal debate and evaluate its strengths and weaknesses with reference to other supportive materials
- Use official publications, academic research and commentaries presented in a variety of formats in the construction of an argument relevant to a contemporary legal debate
- Discriminate between primary and secondary materials, with reference to their authority, relevance and objectivity
- Through independent research, identify appropriate primary and secondary legal sources, research and commentary and apply them in written work or an oral presentation
- Evaluate the principles that underlie criminal justice policy and crime control strategies
Professional Practical Skills:
On successful completion of the Programme you will be able to demonstrate:
- Locate a variety of primary and secondary materials in both paper and electronic format
- Identify and access up-to-date legislation and case law on a legal issue
- Use appropriate databases to find academic research and commentary of relevance to a topic for the purposes of supplementing reading lists and taught materials
- Produce written work, in a variety of formats, which is accurately informed, coherently written and structured, and appropriately referenced in accordance with OSCOLA guidance
- Give a clear, confident and informed oral presentation or oral response to a question on a taught or independently researched legal topic in a manner that would be appropriate for a professional environment.
- With support, propose appropriate discussion questions for a tutorial or seminar group study of a topic and manage a short group discussion of those questions
- Evaluate and critically appraise criminological research
Transferable/Key Skills:
On successful completion of the Programme you will be able to demonstrate:
- Effectively communicate information and ideas, both orally and in writing, at a level which demonstrates accurate and clear use of the English language
- Prepare and give an oral presentation and provide clear and accurate supporting materials in an appropriate format.
- Take responsibility for structuring, managing and reporting, orally and/or in writing, a small research project
- Contribute constructively and reliably to a group task
- Effectively manage time and conduct self-directed study in the context of a structured timetable, prescribed learning activities and task deadlines
- Reflect on their own learning, identify gaps in their knowledge and plan strategies for closing those gaps
- Make use of both oral and written feedback, including feedback obtained through tutor assessment, self assessment and peer assessment
- Use subject specific electronic sources and Virtual Learning Environments
- Use electronic methods for research and demonstrate general competency in IT skills when preparing and presenting written material
As students progress through the three years of the degree the depth and breadth of their studies will increase. Our overall objective is to encourage students to become independent learners, with a commitment to continuing learning and development.
Careers and placements
Career prospects
School of Law and Politics
In 2016/17, 95% of the School’s graduates who were available for work reported they were in employment and/or further study within six months of graduating.
Students who have chosen to work immediately following their degree have obtained roles as negotiators, paralegals, mortgage handlers and lawyers with law firms such as Hugh James Solicitors, Admiral Law, Eversheds LLP and NHS Wales Legal and Risk Services.
A law degree doesn’t restrict graduates to careers within the legal profession. Each year a number of law graduates enter professions as diverse as finance, sales and marketing, digital communications and recruitment.
You will have access to a dedicated Careers Consultant at the School of Law and Politics. They arrange practical employability workshops throughout the year which cover topics including writing CVs and covering letters, preparing for employer selection days and interviews, job search strategies and sourcing work.
School of Social Sciences
In 2015/16, 96% of the School’s graduates who were available for work reported they were in employment and/or further study within six months of graduating.
Turning theory into practical application and providing experience of the working world are important facets of preparing our graduates for life outside of education.
We encourage our students to think about life beyond University from day one, offering modules and support to give you a competitive advantage on graduating.
Placements
In your second year you will have the opportunity to apply for a work placement which will be carried out in the third year of your LLB Law degree. The full-time, salaried placements will be open to you via a competitive application process which aims to replicate the graduate recruitment processes you will encounter after leaving university. During your placement, you will undertake legal practice as paralegals, and will be performing graduate level roles. You will develop both key practitioner skills such as case management, legal research and legal writing in addition to generic employability skills such as time management, team working and commercial awareness. Placements will be located in Cardiff and will count for 10% of degree classification.