Course details

Study options

Full-time: 3 years

UK fee

£9,250 per year (2024/25)

International fee

£14,900 per year (2024/25)

UCAS points

112-120 (September 2024 entry)

UCAS code

M1M2

Course level

Undergraduate

Start date

September

Location

One Friar Gate Square, Derby Campus

Course description

For those interested in becoming a solicitor, the route to qualification is changing. At Derby Law School we are working hard to ensure that the necessary changes are made to our undergraduate and postgraduate courses to provide our students with maximum opportunity and flexibility to further their legal career.

Law - your questions answered

In the below video, Head of Derby Law School, Sue Jennings, answers some of the most frequently asked questions about Law at the University of Derby.

Find out everything you need to know about Law at the University of Derby. Sue Jennings, Head of Derby Law School, answers questions on who this degree is for and the careers it could lead too

View Law - your questions answered! video transcript

By studying our LLB (Hons) with Criminology you’ll gain a comprehensive all-round undergraduate legal education, alongside a thorough grounding in criminology and the challenges facing criminal justice professionals today.

You'll cover every aspect of legal services and engage with all the core professional skills, bringing what you read in the textbooks to life through genuine practical experience. At the same time, you’ll debate major ideas about retribution, rehabilitation and punishment, exploring why people commit crime, why laws are created and broken, the effectiveness of sentencing and punishment, and the impact of crime on victims, communities and wider society. 

Flexibility and choice are a cornerstone of this course: our broad selection of optional modules means that you can specialise in areas as diverse as company law, commercial and consumer law, family law, international human rights, child protection, murder, psychopathy, cybercrime and miscarriages of justice.  

Professional Recognition 

The Derby LLB (Hons) with Criminology meets stringent criteria set by the Bar Standards Board and Solicitors Regulation Authority and covers all the foundations of legal knowledge. As a ‘qualifying law degree’, it offers exemptions from the academic stage of study if you want to progress to become a barrister or solicitor. 

Hands-on learning

Derby Law School has an ethos of ‘learning by doing’ to build your employability skills and ensure you’re work-ready on graduation. We offer different variations of real-world learning to take legal education out of the abstract and into reality – from mooting competitions and mock trials to drafting contracts and bail applications.

Work internships enable you to learn more about the legal sector. Through the Law School’s excellent relationship with the local legal profession, some of our students in previous years have had the opportunity to undertake work internships with local Government, local charities, Citizens Advice Bureau, the NHS legal department and the University of Derby Legal Department. The Law School actively supports students in identifying work internships where possible.

A vibrant programme of ‘paid for’ study visits will give you insights into the profession, including fieldtrips to local courts. Previous students have also toured London, including the Supreme Court and the Houses of Parliament and as well as visited The Hague, the legal capital of the world, where you can see the international courts in action. Students have also had the opportunity to visit Dublin to explore a different legal system.

Links with the profession

Contributions from the wider legal community, including regular careers talks and workshops, are central to this course. Through our professional mentoring scheme, practitioners from the legal field will share their perspectives with you. All students on the course are eligible to apply for this scheme. Previous mentors have included serving judges, solicitors and barristers. In some cases this has led to internships, part-time paralegal work and even permanent jobs for our students.

A highlight of our academic calendar is a prestigious black-tie law dinner where you can network with members of the local judiciary and legal profession. In addition, the Derby Junior Lawyers group invites our students to networking events and social opportunities. You can also join our active student Law Society.

Student Legal Advice Centre and Pro Bono work

Our Student Legal Advice Centre enables you to build your skills in clinical legal practice by offering free advice and assistance to members of the public. Volunteering in the Centre provides you the opportunity to develop transferrable skills that will assist you in gaining the skills required once you graduate – and not limited to a career as a solicitor. 

Through the Centre, you’ll work under the close supervision of a qualified solicitor to help members of the community in a range of legal areas. The Centre offers assistance in the following areas:

The Centre also offers support to Litigants in Person in Family Law matters at the Family Court at Derby. If you are representing yourself in a Family Law matter, a student volunteer can attend Court with you to support you, take notes and following the hearing discuss the outcome of the hearing with you. In Autumn 2022, a Business Clinic and Legal Triage Clinic (exclusively for University of Derby students) will also be launched. 

Depending upon which clinic you volunteer in within the Centre, you will have the opportunity to meet with clients, take instructions, carry out research and advise accordingly. 

The Centre also has a Policy Clinic and Justice Project. The Justice Project promotes the teaching of law to all members of the community, including school children, by informing them of their legal rights and responsibilities. When volunteering in the Policy Clinic, you will have the opportunity to carry out research for non-government organisations. 

The Centre was recently shortlisted for Best Contribution by a Law School at the LawWorks and Attorney General Student Pro Bono Awards 2022, and was highly commended at the LawWorks Pro Bono Awards 2021 for Best contribution in relation to the Centre’s Immigration Family Reunion Clinic.

Expert teaching

Our teaching team includes barristers, solicitors, criminal psychologists, sociologists and experienced police officers. Several are still actively engaged with practice, which helps you keep up to date with contemporary issues in justice. Our teaching is also enriched by research covering some of the most pressing issues confronting society today, from slavery to digital privacy.

The LLB (Hons) with Criminology is supported by visiting professors and guest lecturers who are leading authorities in their fields, including a deputy district judge and a coroner. Our celebrated Public Lecture Series also brings influential figures to the University to shed new light on the legal system.

Extra qualifications

If you have a particular interest in youth justice, the LLB (Hons) with Criminology gives you the chance to achieve an additional professional qualification – the Youth Justice in Effective Practice Certificate (YJEPC) – alongside your degree studies.

The YJEPC is the most widely held qualification in youth justice: since it was launched in 2012, it has been adopted by over half of the Youth Offending Teams countrywide to improve the skills of their staff. Bringing together current theory, practice and evidence, it will not only boost your employability but also help you to make more effective judgements in your future career.

The opportunity to gain the YJEPC is available if you take two specific modules – Working with Young Offenders and Youth Justice.

Facilities

Law students are based on the Derby Campus at One Friar Gate Square. It includes a mock court room, replica custody suite and social learning hubs where you can develop your skills and familiarise yourself with the type of environments you’ll encounter in real-life legal situations.

Study overseas

Along with our international fieldtrips, we offer you the opportunity to spend time studying abroad as part of the LLB (Hons) with Criminology. We have an extensive network of global associates, including strong partnerships with universities in Pisa, Naples, Paris, The Hague and Brno in the Czech Republic. These not only ensure our curriculum is truly international but also paves the way for exchange opportunities.

Time spent abroad is an excellent way to improve your academic experience and enhance your job prospects while enjoying a different culture.

What you will study

Please note that our modules are subject to change - we review the content of our courses regularly, making changes where necessary to improve your experience and graduate prospects.

Kedleston Road, Derby Campus entrance

Undergraduate Open Days

The best way to find out if studying at Derby is right for you is to experience an Open Day. Get a feel for the city and campus, tour our first-class facilities and see where you could be living.

Book your Undergraduate Open DayBook your Undergraduate Open Day

How you will learn

The LLB with Criminology offers a variety of methods of learning and teaching. Engaging in real or simulated legal practice, you will practise a range of key skills at every stage of the course, including:

Our focus on problem-based learning will also ensure you achieve a wide-ranging understanding of criminal and community justice systems.  In addition, there is the chance to undertake problem-based research or to specialise through original academic enquiry. We have a Student Research Forum and there are opportunities for you to submit articles to the Derby Law School Journal and student blog.

Through our peer assisted mentoring scheme, students from later years of the course also give helpful guidance and support to first year students.

Showcasing your skills

We give you ample scope to take part in internal and external skills competitions which will raise your profile within the legal profession. ‘Mooting’ – where you present a legal issue against an opposing counsel in a mock court case – forms part of certain LLB modules and you can develop your expertise further through regional and national competitions representing Derby Law School. We have an excellent record of success in these challenges.

In your third year, our annual Legal Skills Triathlon, run in partnership with Derby & District Law Society, will test your advocacy, interview and negotiation skills. You will compete in teams with newly qualified lawyers and will be judged by a professional panel. Some of our students have secured jobs as a direct result of this experience.  

In a new venture, we help run a schools’ debating competition in partnership with Derby & District Law Society and Enterprise for Education where you can mentor local secondary school pupils providing them with key debating skills.

How you are assessed

Assessments enable you to develop and demonstrate your legal knowledge and skills effectively. They may include:

Who you’ll meet

Our teaching team is made up of experts with broad-ranging experience and diverse research interests. It includes:

You will also meet academics from the department of Criminology who teach on the final year optional modules.

Personal academic tutoring

Your personal academic tutor will work with you to help you get the most out of your time at university. Having someone to talk to about your academic progress, your university experience and your professional aspirations is hugely valuable. We want you to feel challenged in your studies, stretched but confident to achieve your academic and professional goals.

Find out more about personal academic tutoring

Who will teach you

Joel in a classroom.

Joel Klaff
Programme leader

Joel is currently the Programme Leader for the Undergraduate LL.B Law Programmes. His areas of interest include Commercial Law, International Trade and International Economic Law. He has a further interest in ensuring that the Law School engages with the local community and thereby contributes and subscribes to values of Social Justice for the benefit of the local community.

View full staff profileView full staff profile

Entry requirements

2024 entry

These are the typical qualification requirements for September 2024 entry. Contextual offers may apply to students who meet certain criteria.

RequirementWhat we're looking for
UCAS points112-120
A LevelBBB-BBC
T LevelMerit
BTECDMM
GCSEGCSE Maths and English Grade 4/Grade C (or above) or equivalent qualification
Access to HEPass Access to HE Diploma with 60 credits: 45 at Level 3 with a minimum of Distinction: 15, Merit: 24, Pass: 6

English language requirements

IELTS: 6.0 (with at least 5.5 in each skills area)

Fees and funding

2024/25

 Full-timePart-time
UK

£9,250 per year

N/A

International

£14,900 per year

N/A

Further information about our fees and support you may be entitled to.

Additional costs and optional extras

How to apply

Please look at our application deadlines before you apply.


UK students

If you are in Year 13 and applying for a full-time undergraduate course (including our joint honours courses), we recommend that you apply through UCAS.

Apply through UCAS

If you are applying to study part-time, or already have your qualifications, or wish to join at Year 2 or 3, you should apply directly to the University.

Apply directly to the University

Careers

By the time you graduate, you will have a clear idea of the value of your LLB (Hons) with Criminology degree and the many different career directions it opens up – and you will be equipped to excel in whatever path you choose. Our graduates could go on to take up roles in private practice, the Crown Prosecution Service, the courts, law centres, the police, probation and prison services, local and national government, and youth offending teams.

Completion of the LLB represents the end of the academic stage of your training. To become a solicitor or barrister, you must then continue to complete the vocational stage of your training.

If you wish to become a solicitor, you will need to complete our LLM Legal Practice Course (LPC), or Solicitors Qualifying Examination (SQE). Our graduates are highly sought after by solicitors’ firms because of their practical skills underpinned by academic rigour. At Derby, we offer the LLM LPC, which equips you with both a masters qualification and the LPC. We are currently developing an SQE provision. 

If you wish to become a barrister, you must take a one-year full-time or two-year part-time Bar Professional Training Course (BPTC). Our students are particularly successful at winning substantial scholarships for the BPTC, which is testimony to the calibre of teaching we offer.

Even if you do not want to become a legal practitioner, you will find that the LLB with Criminology is a valuable qualification and will act as a stepping stone to careers in broader areas. Legal skills will ensure you can make a strategic contribution in many professions including banking, commerce, industry, HR, politics, government, publishing and education. They will also prove helpful if you want to launch your own business.

Our Careers and Employment Service will provide you with support from day one of your course to ensure you leave Derby as a ‘work-ready’ graduate – industry aware, motivated and enterprising. Throughout your studies, you’ll also benefit from our Personal Development Planning (PDP) scheme which enables you to reflect on your learning and develop your career ambitions. 

The support continues once you’ve completed your course too: you are entitled to further help and guidance from the Careers and Employment Service for up to three years after leaving the University.

Further study

If you would like to take your studies to postgraduate level, the Derby LLM is a masters degree offering maximum flexibility, choice and opportunity. If you wish to become to a solicitor, you will need to complete our LLM LPC.

If you would prefer to pursue your Criminology studies at masters level, we also run acclaimed MSc qualifications in subjects such as Criminal Justice and Criminology,  Forensic and Criminal Psychology, and Criminal Investigation. These will expand your knowledge into more specialist areas and help accelerate your progress to senior and leadership roles.

As a graduate of the University of Derby, you may benefit from an alumni discount on your postgraduate course fees if you continue to study with us. Further information can be found here

 

Contact us

If you need any more information from us, eg on courses, accommodation, applying, car parking, fees or funding, please contact us and we will do everything we can to help you.

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Additional information about your studies

Teaching hours

Like most universities, we operate extended teaching hours at the University of Derby, so contact time with your lecturers and tutors could be anytime between 9am and 9pm. Your timetable will usually be available on the website 24 hours after enrolment on to your course.

Additional costs and optional extras

We’re committed to providing you with an outstanding learning experience. Our expert teaching, excellent facilities and great employability prepare you for your future career. As part of our commitment to you we aim to keep any additional study costs to a minimum. However, there are occasions where students may incur some additional costs.

The information provided on this page is correct at the time of publication but course content, costs and other individual course details do change from time to time and are updated as often as possible, so please do check these pages again when making your final decision to apply for a course. Any updated course details will also be confirmed to you at application, enrolment and in your offer letter.

Included in your fees
Mandatory costs not included in your fees
Optional costs not included in your fees

Please note: Our courses are refreshed and updated on a regular basis. If you are thinking about transferring onto this course (into the second year for example), you should contact the programme leader for the relevant course information as modules may vary from those shown on this page.

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