Bachelor of Arts (Hons) in Criminology

at Birmingham City University - City Centre Campus United Kingdom

A law degree is an important first step into a career in law, as well as an important foundation on the route to many other careers, and Birmingham City University is a long-established provider of legal education to the Birmingham legal community and beyond.

This course has been developed to enable anyone wishing to qualify as a solicitor or barrister to undertake this first, important academic stage of their career. To achieve this, the course has been designed to align with the subjects that you will need to study further in order to successfully undertake the Solicitors Qualifying Examination (SQE), while also meeting the requirements of the Bar Standards Board for an undergraduate law degree.

What's covered in this course?

The study of law is both academic and practical, and therefore both of these are important elements in the LLB (Hons) degree at BCU. Theory and academic study are important on an LLB, but so too is the application of that knowledge, and so our LLB (Hons) degree offers plenty of opportunity for you to develop the practical lawyering skills, as well as the transferable skills enhancing your employability, that graduates will need when entering the workplace.

The different pathways on the LLB course will allow you to make decisions regarding the direction in which you want to take your studies, with named degrees in Law with American Legal Studies, Law with Business Law, and Law with Criminal Justice, as well as a broad range of optional modules ranging from more theoretical topics through to those aimed at the practical application of the law in real-world situations.

You will also have the opportunity to put those skills to practical use, both in the local community and beyond. Whether that is through our programme of placement opportunities with local providers such as Citizen’s Advice and various legal advice charities, through opportunities in the local legal community, or via BCU’s own Law Clinic, established to serve the local community from our City Centre campus, there are plenty of options available to you.

You can also apply your legal knowledge further afield, through our US internship programme which has been placing students with attorneys throughout the US for over 20 years. A professional placement year is also available, between years 2 and 3 of the degree, offering further opportunity for you to put your knowledge and skills to practical use, and thereby enhancing your CV further.

By focussing on the development of a range of transferable skills, the course employs numerous innovative assessment methods, going beyond the typical forms of written academic assessment.

You are also encouraged to engage in extra-curricular activities to support your learning, with student societies such as the highly successful Mooting Society. Furthermore, you will have the ability to engage with the wider Birmingham legal community through our connections with the Birmingham Law Society, the largest regional law society in the UK.

Want to study a Film Production degree? Explore the fundamentals of technology in film, from narrative, composition and film theory to camera testing, designing digital production workflows and post-production.

Like the film industry itself, BSc Digital Film Production enables students to exercise a broad range of technical and creative skills with the support of the university’s cutting edge facilities and software, including our Parkside Media Centre.

What's covered in this course?

The Digital Film Production degree course combines a study of audiovisual technologies and production processes, with contextual investigations and production experience. You’ll develop knowledge, understanding and skills relevant to the production of digital film content and to the wider film, television and video industries.

You’ll focus on fundamental technical concepts, including the physics of sound and light being recorded during production (and the tools and techniques required to do this), as well as the technology used to digitally store and manipulate both images and audio in post-production.

When you graduate, you will be versatile, technically literate, and creative: well-equipped to perform a variety of craft roles within film, television and video production and will bridge the gap between technology specialists and creative artists.

Birmingham City University is a great place to study - the city has an active and accessible film-making community, and you will be studying in the same campus as undergraduates studying a range of arts, including acting, music, photography, fashion and theatre.

You’ll also be encouraged to engage with industry, with a number of flexible paths to help you gain work experience, including: basing selected modules around work experience, taking a placement year and working on commercial productions within the University.

The BA (Hons) English degree course combines the creative and the critical, the personal and the social, the historical and the contemporary.

In the School of English, you will be taught by respected academics and practitioners offering a diverse range of modules in literary studies, linguistics, creative writing and drama. Your degree will allow you to tailor your studies to your individual interests and career aspirations with both a local and global outlook.

What's covered in this course?

English as a discipline continues to be relevant to the lives we lead and is central to a wide range of contemporary and social contexts. It is this fact on which the School has built its philosophy and approach to English as a subject, which has interdisciplinary reach beyond its own boundaries.

Identifying how language works in practice, engaging with multiple forms of communication, examining how language and literature engage with societies and cultures past and present, and the place of English in a global context, are all vital aspects in understanding how the discipline connects with the wider world, enabling you to focus on the production, interpretation and negotiation of meaning and to understand the world from a variety of perspectives.

You will benefit from student-focused and research-informed teaching in a friendly and supportive learning environment where you will be taught by respected academics and expert practitioners who foster a community of experimentation, innovation and inclusivity.

Our graduates are characterized by their extensive subject knowledge, critical thinking and intellectual curiosity, reflected in the skills and abilities that enables them to adapt to a wide range of career paths and employment opportunities.

The School is committed to contributing to the cultural life of Birmingham and the wider West Midlands. We do this through working closely with partner colleges and schools, by maintaining close links with cultural institutions such as the Birmingham and Midland Institute (BMI) and Birmingham Museum and Art Gallery (BMAG), and by working with agencies such as Writing West Midlands. In all of this we seek to widen participation and provide opportunities for the community to engage with the discipline and the University.

The MSc User Experience Design course will provide you with in-depth theoretical knowledge and hands-on practical experience in designing, developing, and evaluating digital products across a range of platforms and state-of-the-art technologies. The course places a strong emphasis on the development of professional technical skills that are in high industry demand and will position you well for careers around the field of user experience (UX).

What's covered in this course?

The course has been designed to support graduates from a wide range of disciplines (including those with technical and non-technical backgrounds) who wish to specialise in the area of user experience (UX) and Human-Computer Interaction (HCI). The key topics taught on the course include interaction design (techniques for user-centered design), front-end development (using industry-standard development environments), visual design (creating interfaces with strong aesthetics), accessibility (methods for supporting inclusive design), and usability testing (collecting and analyzing data via user evaluations). You will also have the opportunity to consider and create user experiences for technologies such as virtual and augmented reality, eye gaze tracking, speech interfaces, mid-air gesturing, haptic systems, and brain-computer interfaces.

The course philosophy is focused around industry and research-led activities, supported with assignments that are closely aligned to the development of essential knowledge and technical skills used in practice. You will therefore have the opportunity to work closely with academics, researchers, and industry partners on real-world project briefs thus supporting you in developing a strong portfolio of work (which is essential for gaining employment in this field). The course will also provide opportunities to collaborate with academics based in the School of Computing and Digital Technology’s Mixed Reality and Human-Computer Interaction research group to work on cutting-edge research projects.

Graduates from the User Experience Design course will be well placed for industry roles that are in high demand including front-end developers, user experience designers/developers, information architects, usability consultants and UX researchers, web designers/developers, and interaction designers.

Professional Placement option

The Professional Placement option will allow you to complete a credit-bearing, 20-week Professional Placement as an integral part of your Master’s Degree. The purpose of the Professional Placement is to improve your employability skills which will, through the placement experience, allow you to evidence your professional skills, attitudes and behaviours at the point of entry to the postgraduate job market. Furthermore, by completing the Professional Placement, you will be able to develop and enhance your understanding of the professional work environment, relevant to your chosen field of study, and reflect critically on your own professional skills development within the workplace.

Whether you're a recent graduate or returning to study after a break, our postgraduate programs in Vocal Performance provide you with advanced-level training in singing. You're encouraged and enabled to increase your experience as a performer and to broaden your repertoire, though you can also take the opportunity to specialise if you wish.

Alongside your vocal studies, our courses provide excellent opportunities for you to develop other skills relevant to a future career in the music profession. A separate postgraduate pathway is available for Jazz vocalists.

You'll receive specialist vocal tuition from leading UK and internationally renowned performers and teachers. In addition, you'll enjoy regular opportunities to sing in a variety of contexts, both as a soloist and in ensembles with other performers. Such opportunities include not only classes and masterclasses (these last being led by distinguished guest performers), but also in concerts and on the operatic stage.

Professional Placement option

The Professional Placement version of the course is optional and is offered as an alternative to the standard version of the course.

This will allow you to complete a credit-bearing, 20-week Professional Placement as an integral part of your Master’s Degree. The purpose of the Professional Placement is to improve your employability skills which will, through the placement experience, allow you to evidence your professional skills, attitudes and behaviours at the point of entry to the postgraduate job market. Furthermore, by completing the Professional Placement, you will be able to develop and enhance your understanding of the professional work environment, relevant to your chosen field of study, and reflect critically on your own professional skills development within the workplace.

The world of fashion is one of the globe’s fastest-growing industries, as well as one of the most competitive. This course equips you with the skills and knowledge to succeed as a manager in this exciting industry.

You will gain a technical understanding of the sector, combined with a solid foundation of management principles. We will help develop your overall understanding of the modern fashion industry, as well as the necessary skills for working in the sector.

The Youth Work and Communities degree at BCU is a contemporary and exciting course, which has accreditation from the Joint Negotiating Committee, which is the Professional body that accredits Youth Workers in England and Wales.

The course has been designed with key stakeholders, including the National Youth Agency, UK Youth, youth work managers, practitioners and young people themselves, to integrate the core knowledge and skills required to jump-start a successful career, working with young people and communities, whether that be in the public sector, non-governmental organisations/voluntary field or private sector.

Practice skills, cultural competencies, communication, placement and community engagement opportunities, have been built-in throughout the program, to ensure students incrementally develop the essential and specialist skills and expertise to build thriving careers, working with diverse young people and communities.

The Youth Work and Communities BA degree at BCU offers:

• A JNC recognized qualification to work in Youth Work, which is also valued and recognised in many other ‘people work’ contexts and sectors, in the UK and across the globe
• A core focus on diversity, equality and social difference. We offer opportunities to learn and work on placement in Britain’s second-biggest city, with highly diverse young people and communities, in a vibrant urban context of rapid social change. This experience is supported with diversity-oriented learning on core modules
• A core leadership and enterprise strand, which runs throughout the programme, to develop skills to fast-track your career through strategic, project management and youth work organizational skills
• A global focus and commitment throughout modules, and in two dedicated modules, situated in level 5 and level 6, which prepare students for careers that could lead to employment anywhere in the world. We integrate global issues in youth and community across your studies, such as refugee and migrant support, cross-cultural working, working in situations of conflict and anti-modern slavery/anti-trafficking practice
• Opportunities at level 5 and 6 to select optional modules including: mental health and counselling approaches, black political activism, youth, crime and justice
• Excellent placements throughout the three years to provide experiential learning and opportunities to build professional networks and your own field of interest in youth and community
• Research skills training specifically focused upon working with diverse communities and young people
• Coverage of innovative and creative digital skills and practice for youth and community work

Our MA in English Literature is taught by a team of distinguished critics, scholars and creative writers, all working at the cutting edge of their disciplines. As well as developing your skills as a critical thinker, you will join a thriving intellectual community, and benefit from a range of guest seminars and masterclasses, many of which are organized through our Institute of Creative and Critical Writing.

Digital business is all about the adoption of new technologies to transform businesses and gain competitive advantages in a continuously changing global environment. It is transforming business by integrating digital technologies and business processes in a digital economy.

Businesses are now adopting new technologies, for example the Internet of Things (IOT), Artificial Intelligence and Blockchain to gain competitive advantages in the fourth industrial revolution (industry 4.0), which builds on the preceding three but uses new digital technologies.

In essence, businesses will require people who have the capability to work in the roles, but not limited to Digital Business Transformation, Technology & Innovation Management, Business Data Analytics & Intelligence, Business and Technical Sales, Business Risk and Change Management or Project Management. By the time you complete BSc (Hons) Digital Business you’ll be well prepared for these varied roles, with the relevant knowledge and skills.

This course is designed to develop your digital capabilities, theoretical background and business skills which are required to pursue a career in the digital transformation of business. Hence, the course will equip you with the professional skills that are specifically aligned to the increasing job opportunities in business as it is digitally transformed and changed.

Get practical preparation for a career in sports journalism with our BA (Hons) Sports Journalism degree course. You’ll get the chance to develop the skills to cover a range of sports stories for print, digital, TV and radio, including covering live matches and competitions, interviewing key figures and running collaborative liveblogs. You’ll also explore the global impact of sports journalism on audiences. Students will be armed with mobile reporting kits to work as real reporters from day one.

We pride ourselves on teaching creative, contemporary journalism underpinned by traditional values and skills. That means learning the core media and communication skills that every working reporter needs before you specialise in an area that interests you.

You’ll be challenged academically – often by some of the industry’s leading names – and you’ll be expected to undertake meaningful work experience placements in media environments, and work on live stories, learning how to craft a story in a way that engages the audience.

By the time you graduate, you’ll be a thinking journalist with a specialism in sports. You’ll also be adaptable to the changes that the industry faces. Birmingham City University's journalism graduates have gone on to work for Sky, BBC, Trinity Mirror and the Express & Star. Others have scooped prestigious awards at the Midlands Media Awards while still studying.

What's covered in this course?

BA (Hons) Sports Journalism is delivered by industry experts from broadcast, print and digital and provides a strong foundation for a future professional career with a range of sports outlets. You’ll be able to use your own mobile reporting kit when you arrive, allowing you to work as a real reporter from day one.

Our Live Newsroom modules will get you to the heart of the action, covering a range of stories, preparing coverage for our award-winning Birmingham Eastside website and other partner outlets. You’ll get the chance to apply practical mobile reporting skills in a real-world environment for platforms including TV, radio, print and digital. Our strong links with key journalism organisations means you’ll also get the chance to work on live projects throughout the course.

Teaching is delivered in industry-standard facilities, as well as on location at matches and events thanks to our focus on mobile reporting. Our newsroom media hub also allows for collaborative work as part of the wider University journalism community.

By tackling real stories, you will quickly develop a sense of the impact they can have. There will be a chance to undertake placements as well as embed yourself within communities and sports organizations to tackle key issues in real depth.

The focus on innovation and entrepreneurship will encourage you to think critically about the journalism landscape. This will allow you to be one step ahead of the game and spot the next big move in the world of sports journalism.