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Sociology and Criminology

Entry requirements


A level

B,B,C

A maximum of three subjects are considered (excluding General Studies). A levels and other level 3 qualifications

AS

A,A-C,C

112 UCAS tariff points A maximum of two subjects along with two A levels or level 3 qualifications. excluding General Studies

Pass 60 credits overall At least 45 credits at level 3. 18 level 3 must be achieved at either merit or distinction grade. In a Social Sciences/Humanities pathway

112 UCAS tariff points. Considered with two A level or equivalent level 3 qualifications

GCSE/National 4/National 5

GCSE English Language or English Literature and GCSE Maths at grade C/4 or above. If you do not have these or are not undertaking them, we accept other Level 2 equivalents, or we may ask you to pass BCU's GCSE equivalency tests.

Pass with 120 credits at level 4 and merit overall. Must be in a related pathway May be considered for advanced entry onto the second year of the degree. Subject to satisfactory comparability of modular content at level 4. A transcript will be required.

Pass with 120 credits at level 4 and 120 credit at level 5 and merit overall. Must be in a related pathway May be considered for advanced entry onto the third year of the degree. Subject to satisfactory comparability of modular content at level 4 and 5. A transcript will be required

International Baccalaureate Diploma Programme

28

For Students who do not already hold GCSE in English Language at grade C/4 or above Standard Level English Language (not Literature) English A-grade 4 or above or English B - grade 5 from IB Diploma will be accepted.

Leaving Certificate - Higher Level (Ireland) (first awarded in 2017)

H5,H5,H5,H5

Four subjects This must include English Language taken at either Ordinary level (minimum grade O1-O4 or A-C/A1-C3) or Higher level minimum grade H5/D1

See level 3 entry under Irish Leaving Certificate for full details

OCR Cambridge Technical Diploma

D*D*

Considered with one A level or an equivalent level 3 qualification

112 UCAS tariff points Considered with two A level or an equivalent level 3 qualification

OCR Cambridge Technical Extended Diploma

DMM

112 UCAS tariff points Considered with one A level or an equivalent level 3 qualification

112 UCAS tariff points Considered with two A level or an equivalent level 3 qualification

112 UCAS tariff points Considered with one A level or an equivalent level 3 qualification

112 UCAS tariff points Considered with one A level or an equivalent level 3 qualification Most subjects considered, however Early Years and Children's Play Learning and Development are not considered.

112 UCAS tariff points Considered with two A level or an equivalent level 3 qualification Most subjects considered, however Early Years and Children's Play Learning and Development are not considered.

Pearson BTEC Diploma (QCF)

D*D*

Considered with one A level or an equivalent level 3 qualification Most subjects considered, however Early Years and Children's Play Learning and Development are not considered.

Pearson BTEC Extended Diploma (QCF)

DMM

Most subjects considered, however Early Years and Children's Play Learning and Development are not considered.

112 UCAS tariff points Considered with two A level or an equivalent level 3 qualification Most subjects considered, however Early Years and Children's Play Learning and Development are not considered.

Pearson BTEC Level 3 National Diploma (first teaching from September 2016)

D*D*

Considered with one A level or an equivalent level 3 qualification Most subjects considered, however Early Years and Children's Play Learning and Development are not considered.

112 UCAS tariff points Considered with two A level or an equivalent level 3 qualification Most subjects considered, however Early Years and Children's Play Learning and Development are not considered.

Pearson BTEC Level 3 National Extended Diploma (first teaching from September 2016)

DMM

Most subjects considered, however Early Years and Children's Play Learning and Development are not considered.

112 UCAS tariff points Considered with one A level or an equivalent level 3 qualification Most subjects considered, however Early Years and Children's Play Learning and Development are not considered.

112 UCAS tariff points Considered with two A level or an equivalent level 3 qualification Most subjects considered, however Early Years and Children's Play Learning and Development are not considered.

Scottish Advanced Higher

C,C,D

Where a combination of Advanced Highers and Highers are taken you must achieve grades CD in two Advanced Highers and grade CC in two Highers

Scottish Higher

B,B,C,C,C

Where a combination of Advanced Highers and Highers are taken you must achieve grades CD in two Advanced Highers and grade CC in two Highers

UCAS Tariff

112

Contextualised reduced tariff offer: 96 tariff points or equivalent e.g. A-level CCC, BTEC Extended Diploma MMM, BTEC Diploma DD Please visit: http://www.bcu.ac.uk/student-info/offer-making-strategy for more information about contextual offers.

112 UCAS tariff points. Considered with two A level or equivalent level 3 qualifications

About this course


Course option

3years

Full-time | 2024

Subjects

Criminology

Sociology

Our BA (Hons) Sociology and Criminology degree is a radical and practical course; theoretically driven and empirically informed, as well as locally situated and globally focused.

Studying Sociology at Birmingham City University is about not reading sociology but doing sociology, allowing you to explore and question social norms and discover the complex issues behind your everyday routines and social practices in a range of spatial contexts, applying what you learn to your own lived experiences.
The inclusion of Criminology into the degree affords you the opportunity to understanding how society makes sense of crime, criminality and its control as well as the relationship between crime and wider society .You will examine patterns and processes of inequality, crime, the structure and dynamics of social hierarchies and power relations and ask why and how people shape their identities and the tensions and conflicts that these processes create.

Through the School of Social Sciences’ Birmingham 2029 project, you will have the chance to explore such themes of sociology and criminology within the city of Birmingham, an urban context that hosts diverse communities perfect for sociological and criminological examination. The School of Social Sciences has links with local public and third sector organisations that will help you make professional contacts and be able to apply your studies to future career prospects whether taking part in voluntary work or on placement.

Employability is at the heart of our BA (Hons) Sociology and Criminology programme, with placement opportunities embedded throughout the course of the degree. Coming to study Sociology and Criminology at Birmingham City University affords you with a wealth of academic and employability opportunities, locally and globally aligned, to develop the skills needed to not only achieve successful graduate employment but also to contribute, as an agent of change, to thinking through and tackling some of the pressing social issues of contemporary society.

**Professional Placement Year**

This course offers an optional professional placement year. This allows you to spend a whole year with an employer, following successful completion of your second year, and is a great way to find out more about your chosen career. Some students even return to the same employers after completing their studies.

If you choose to pursue a placement year, you will need to find a suitable placement to complement your chosen area of study. You will be able to draw on the University’s extensive network of local, regional, and national employers, and the support of our Careers teams. If you are able to secure a placement, you can request to be transferred to the placement version of the course.

Please note that fees are payable during your placement year, equivalent to 20% of the total full-time course fee for that year.

Tuition fees

Select where you currently live to see what you'll pay:

England
£9,250
per year
EU
£16,085
per year
International
£16,085
per year
Northern Ireland
£9,250
per year
Scotland
£9,250
per year
Wales
£9,250
per year

The Uni


Course location:

Curzon Building Campus

Department:

School of Social Sciences

Read full university profile

What students say


We've crunched the numbers to see if overall student satisfaction here is high, medium or low compared to students studying this subject(s) at other universities.

78%
Criminology
78%
Sociology

How do students rate their degree experience?

The stats below relate to the general subject area/s at this university, not this specific course. We show this where there isn’t enough data about the course, or where this is the most detailed info available to us.

Sociology

Teaching and learning

77%
Staff make the subject interesting
84%
Staff are good at explaining things
85%
Ideas and concepts are explored in-depth
76%
Opportunities to apply what I've learned

Assessment and feedback

Feedback on work has been timely
Feedback on work has been helpful
Staff are contactable when needed
Good advice available when making study choices

Resources and organisation

72%
Library resources
80%
IT resources
78%
Course specific equipment and facilities
79%
Course is well organised and has run smoothly

Student voice

Staff value students' opinions
Feel part of a community on my course

Who studies this subject and how do they get on?

98%
UK students
2%
International students
18%
Male students
82%
Female students
59%
2:1 or above
17%
First year drop out rate

Most popular A-Levels studied (and grade achieved)

C
C
C

After graduation


The stats in this section relate to the general subject area/s at this university – not this specific course. We show this where there isn't enough data about the course, or where this is the most detailed info available to us.

Sociology

What are graduates doing after six months?

This is what graduates told us they were doing (and earning), shortly after completing their course. We've crunched the numbers to show you if these immediate prospects are high, medium or low, compared to those studying this subject/s at other universities.

£20,000
med
Average annual salary
92%
low
Employed or in further education
45%
med
Employed in a role where degree was essential or beneficial

Top job areas of graduates

We have quite a lot of sociology graduates, although numbers fell last year. But graduates still do pretty well. Most sociology graduates go straight into work when they complete their degrees, and a lot of graduates go into jobs in social professions such as recruitment, education, community and youth work, and housing. An important option for a sociology graduate is social work - and we're short of people willing to take this challenging but rewarding career. Sociology is a flexible degree and you can find graduates from the subject in pretty much every reasonable job — obviously, you don't find many doctors or engineers, but you do find them in finance, the media, healthcare, marketing and even IT. Sociology graduates taking further study often branch out into other qualifications, like teaching, law, psychology, HR and even maths, so don’t think a sociology degree restricts you to just one set of options.

What about your long term prospects?

Looking further ahead, below is a rough guide for what graduates went on to earn.

Sociology

The graph shows median earnings of graduates who achieved a degree in this subject area one, three and five years after graduating from here.

£17k

£17k

£22k

£22k

£25k

£25k

Note: this data only looks at employees (and not those who are self-employed or also studying) and covers a broad sample of graduates and the various paths they've taken, which might not always be a direct result of their degree.

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This is what the university has told Ucas about the criteria they expect applicants to satisfy; some may be compulsory, others may be preferable.

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This is the percentage of applicants to this course who received an offer last year, through Ucas.

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This is what the university has told Ucas about the course. Use it to get a quick idea about what makes it unique compared to similar courses, elsewhere.

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Course location and department:

This is what the university has told Ucas about the course. Use it to get a quick idea about what makes it unique compared to similar courses, elsewhere.

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Teaching Excellence Framework (TEF):

We've received this information from the Department for Education, via Ucas. This is how the university as a whole has been rated for its quality of teaching: gold silver or bronze. Note, not all universities have taken part in the TEF.

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This information comes from the National Student Survey, an annual student survey of final-year students. You can use this to see how satisfied students studying this subject area at this university, are (not the individual course).

This is the percentage of final-year students at this university who were "definitely" or "mostly" satisfied with their course. We've analysed this figure against other universities so you can see whether this is high, medium or low.

Have a question about this info? Learn more here

This information is from the Higher Education Statistics Agency (HESA), for undergraduate students only.

You can use this to get an idea of who you might share a lecture with and how they progressed in this subject, here. It's also worth comparing typical A-level subjects and grades students achieved with the current course entry requirements; similarities or differences here could indicate how flexible (or not) a university might be.

Have a question about this info? Learn more here

Post-six month graduation stats:

This is from the Destinations of Leavers from Higher Education Survey, based on responses from graduates who studied the same subject area here.

It offers a snapshot of what grads went on to do six months later, what they were earning on average, and whether they felt their degree helped them obtain a 'graduate role'. We calculate a mean rating to indicate if this is high, medium or low compared to other universities.

Have a question about this info? Learn more here

Graduate field commentary:

The Higher Education Careers Services Unit have provided some further context for all graduates in this subject area, including details that numbers alone might not show

Have a question about this info? Learn more here

The Longitudinal Educational Outcomes dataset combines HRMC earnings data with student records from the Higher Education Statistics Agency.

While there are lots of factors at play when it comes to your future earnings, use this as a rough timeline of what graduates in this subject area were earning on average one, three and five years later. Can you see a steady increase in salary, or did grads need some experience under their belt before seeing a nice bump up in their pay packet?

Have a question about this info? Learn more here