Sociology and Criminology with Foundation Year

This is a 4 year degree course. Please ensure that when you apply for this course you choose Point of entry 1 in your UCAS Hub.

The Foundation Year will introduce you to studying at university. You will develop your academic and study skills alongside studying modules that introduce you to the disciplines offered by courses across the Faculty. The Foundation Year will therefore provide a springboard for successful study at levels 4, 5 and 6. A Sociology and Criminology degree from The University of Wolverhampton equips students with expertise in employer-identified skills and attributes for work in the private, public, and not-for-profit sectors. This includes not only traditional skills such as organisation and time-management but also problem solving, digital skills, the ability to read and interpret data, and the proficiency to engage with a range of audiences. These skills are embedded through the course programme that offers students’ the opportunity to understand and analyse the complexities of the world at the local, regional, national, and international, level. During your studies, will learn how to critically apply a diverse range of concepts, theories and methods essential to what we call the ‘sociological imagination’ – that special way of identifying, describing and understanding the nature of social life. You will also learn how crime is defined, why some people commit crime, and what happens when they do; as well as studying the development of the police, the courts the penal system, and the prevention and deterrence of criminal behaviour. In doing so, you will develop a critical understanding of a range of institutional conditions, cultural processes and social relations and apply these concepts, theories and methods that are unique to these exciting disciplines. You will study a wide range of topics covering sociological and criminological issues, including the operation of the criminal justice system through punishment and sentencing, policing of society, probation and rehabilitation of offenders, victimisation, and the law, as well as social inequalities such as class, gender, race and (dis)ability. At each level of study you are given the opportunity to undertake advocacy or accredited voluntary work for, and with, not-for-profit agencies and organisations in the local community – an experience that broadens sociological understanding, deepens appreciation of civic responsibility and further enhances opportunities for graduate employment.

At level 3 you can develop the skills and knowledge that you need to study at undergraduate level, building on your strengths and working on your weaknesses, so that you can feel confident that by the end of the first year that you are ready to commence a degree course, and to apply the skills to undertake the directed and independent learning which will help you to achieve your potential. This course develops students knowledge and skills in various areas of sociology and criminology. Students learn to apply these important tools to a range of contemporary topics. • You will learn about the causes and consequences of crime, victimology, rehabilitation and the history of crime and punishment.. • This course encourages community-based learning through advocacy and volunteering in not-for-profit agencies and organisations. The social science department at The University of Wolverhampton are pioneers of accredited volunteering in the UK and these modules are embedded in the course as an accredited part of the student learning experience. • Graduate employability is embedded throughout the degree programme at The University of Wolverhampton, developing students’ expertise in a range of key employer-identified skills that prepare our students for the workforce of the future. • The teaching team are all active researchers who bring their research expertise into the classroom to share their practical experiences of ‘doing Sociology and Criminology’.