Leeds Trinity University

Year of study

2027

Start date(s): September 2027
Location: Leeds City Campus
School: Social Sciences
UCAS tariff points: 104
Study mode: Full-time (3 years)
Study abroad: Yes

How can we better support young people, victims of crime, and vulnerable individuals affected by harm? Our Criminology with Youth Justice and Victim Support degree explores the causes and consequences of crime, offending, and victimisation while developing the knowledge and practical skills needed to support individuals, families, and communities.

This course is subject to validation. You can still apply for this course while it is being approved.

The Student Contract

About this course

Crime, vulnerability, safeguarding, and victim support are increasingly important areas within modern criminal justice and community services. Our Criminology with Youth Justice and Victim Support degree allows you to explore the causes and impact of offending and victimisation while developing the knowledge and practical skills needed to support individuals, families, and communities. The course examines key issues, including youth offending, trauma, safeguarding, social inequality, adverse childhood experiences, restorative justice, and victim advocacy, helping you understand how professionals respond to harm, vulnerability, and social justice challenges in real-world settings.

Throughout the course, you will develop a wide range of transferable and professional skills, including communication, critical thinking, problem-solving, safeguarding awareness, ethical decision-making, teamwork, report writing, and analytical skills, through a blend of academic learning and applied, employability-focused experiences. Teaching is delivered through case studies, interactive seminars, scenario-based activities, and practical tasks that reflect professional practice in youth justice, safeguarding, and victim support settings, and you will also study alongside experienced lecturers with backgrounds in policing, safeguarding, investigations, victim support, and criminal justice, gaining insight into current practice and contemporary issues across the sector.

A key strength of the course is its strong focus on employability and professional development. At Level 4, you will complete 50 hours of work-related learning through placements or professional challenges, helping you understand how criminology and safeguarding operate in real-world settings. At Level 5, you will undertake a 90-hour professional placement, either self-sourced or supported through the Careers and Placements team, allowing you to build practical experience, professional confidence, and industry connections. At Level 6, you will have the opportunity to complete an optional work-based project with an employer, applying criminological knowledge and research skills to real-world issues and professional practice.

Alongside your degree, you’ll also have access to an additional employability short course programme designed to give you a competitive edge within the criminal justice sector. These practical, career-focused courses are delivered free of charge and allow you to develop specialist knowledge and additional qualifications that strengthen your CV and professional confidence.

Why study with us?

Champion Social Justice and Safeguarding - Explore issues of race, inequality, trauma, and safeguarding, with a focus on supporting marginalised groups within youth justice and victim support systems.
Focus on Youth Justice and Early Intervention - Gain insight into youth offending, child protection, and trauma-informed practice, and the role of early intervention in prevention, safeguarding, and rehabilitation.
Learn Through Victim-Centred and Community Approaches - Understand victim experiences, advocacy, and restorative justice, and how community-led responses can shape more effective and inclusive justice systems.
Career-Ready Skills for Real-World Impact - Build practical knowledge for careers in youth justice, safeguarding, victim support, community safety, and wider criminal justice and third-sector roles.
Boost your employability with free specialist short courses, including Achieving Best Evidence (ABE), the PEACE Model, victim and witness interviewing, OSINT, ethics, and risk management, helping you develop industry-relevant skills and additional qualifications valued across criminal justice, safeguarding, investigations, and victim support.

Student studying on a tablet in a seminar.

Our achievements

Ranked 7th in the UK for Student Satisfaction

Sociology discipline (which includes Criminology) Subject League table, The Complete University Guide 2027, released June 2026

3^rd in Yorkshire for Teaching among universities in the UK included for Sociology

National Student Survey 2025

2^nd in Yorkshire for Learning Opportunities among universities in the UK included for Sociology

National Student Survey 2025

2^nd in Yorkshire for Academic Support among universities in the UK included for Sociology

National Student Survey 2025

Course modules

You will study a variety of modules across your programme of study. The module details given below are subject to change and are the latest example of the curriculum available on this course of study.

Year 1

During your first year, you'll study five core modules.

Introduction to Criminology – Core

Explore and examine the origins of criminology, some of its historical debates, concepts, literature and research.

You'll look at the core perspectives and theories related to crime and criminality.

Find out about the history and development of criminology as an academic discipline.

Violence in Society – Core

Explore criminological understandings and situations of violence in society.

We'll cover the types, characteristics, and forms of violence and violent acts within society.

You'll distinguish between individual acts to organised actions of groups and states, all whilst unpacking the ambiguous content and perception of violence.

You'll give due consideration to the frequently neglected victims of violence.

The module framework includes criminology, sociology, psychology, law, cultural studies, political science and sociobiology.

Safeguarding Vulnerable People – Core

Academic and Research Skills – Core

Career Development in Criminology – Core

Year 2

During your second year, you'll study five core modules.

Youth Justice and Crime – Core

Victims, Harm and Justice – Core

Crime, Media and Digital Justice – Core

Research Methods in Criminology – Core

Criminology in Practice: Careers and Competencies – Core

Year 3

You'll study three core modules and will be required to choose two option modules. One option module at 30 credits and one module at 15 credits.

Professional Learning Through Work – Core

You'll have a flexible range of opportunities to enhance your professional skills and graduate opportunities as this module will be tailored to each student's development.

You'll apply the theoretical understanding you've been developing throughout your degree to a chosen professional context. This could include a work-based project or skills development approach where you will identify and address specific gaps in your portfolio of graduate-level skills.

Criminology with Youth Justice and Victim Support Research Project – Core

Victim Support and Young People (15 credits) – Core

Global Challenges and Social Futures (30 credits) – Optional

Organised Crime (30 credits) – Optional

Crimes of the 21st Century (30 credits) – Optional

Tackling Crime Through Social Policy – Optional

Controlling Cybercrime – Optional

Policing Priorities – Optional

You'll develop an in-depth understand of 21st century policing issues such as cybercrime and terrorism.

We'll explore the role of intelligence agencies and how effective they are at fighting security issues in Britain.

You'll get a critical awareness of the role of police and agencies such as the National Crime Agency and British Security Service (MI5).

Breathing Criminology: Inside Perspectives – Optional

You'll explore the key fields of both Convict Criminology and Lived Experience Criminology and their implications, including thematic, empirical and conceptual contributions and be encouraged to critically evaluate the recent developments of people with ‘lived experience’ of criminality and incarceration to criminological perspectives. The module will scrutinise and conclude whether these contributions are likely to enhance or inhibit knowledge production within the field of criminology.   

Learning and teaching

Assessment

A variety of assessment methods are used, matched to the learning outcomes for your programme, allowing you to apply and demonstrate the full range of knowledge and skills that you have developed.

For more details on specific assessment methods for this course contact hello@leedstrinity.ac.uk

Programme delivery

Your time on campus, learning through in-person teaching, is at the heart of your academic experience and the way we deliver our programmes. This is supported and further enhanced by additional engagement activities and opportunities provided online and through digital teaching materials. This blended approach seeks to ensure a positive learning and teaching student experience.

Your programme of study has been carefully designed around a three-phase model of delivery:

Preparation: You will be given clear tasks to support you in preparing for live teaching. This could include watching a short-pre-recorded lecture, reading a paper or text chapter or preparing other material for use in class.
Live: All your live teaching will be designed around active learning, providing you with valuable opportunities to build on preparation tasks, interact with staff and peers, and surface any misunderstandings.
Post: Follow-up activities will include opportunities for you to check understanding, for staff to receive feedback from you and your peers to inform subsequent sessions, and for you to apply learning to new situations or context.

Preparation, Live and Post teaching and learning and the digital materials used will vary by course, but will be designed to help you structure your learning, take a full and active part in your course, and apply and test your developing knowledge and skills.

Learning and teaching

At Leeds Trinity we aim to provide an excellent student experience and provide you with the tools and support to help you achieve your academic, personal and professional potential.

Our Learning, Teaching and Assessment Strategy delivers excellence by providing the framework for:

high quality teaching
an engaging and inclusive approach to learning, assessment and achievement
a clear structure through which you progress in your academic studies, your personal development and towards professional-level employment or further study.

We have a strong reputation for developing student employability, supporting your development towards graduate employment, with relevant skills embedded throughout your programme of study.

We endeavour to develop curiosity, confidence, courage, ambition and aspiration in all students through the key themes in our Learning and Teaching Strategy:

Student Involvement and Engagement
Inclusion
Integrated Programme and Assessment Experience
Digital Literacy and Skills
Employability and Enterprise

To help you achieve your potential we emphasise learning as a collaborative process, with a range of student-led and real-world activities. This approach ensures that you fully engage in shaping your own learning, developing your critical thinking and reflective skills so that you can identify your own strengths and weaknesses, and use the extensive learning support system we offer to shape your own development.

We believe the secret to great learning and teaching is simple: it is about creating an inclusive learning experience that allows all students to thrive through:

Personalised support
Expert lecturers
Strong connections with employers
An international outlook
Understanding how to use tools and technology to support learning and development

Entry requirements

Leeds Trinity University is committed to recruiting students with talent and potential and who we feel will benefit greatly from their academic and non-academic experiences here. We treat every application on its own merits; we value highly the experience you illustrate in your personal statement.

Information about the large range of qualifications we accept, including A-Levels, BTECs and T Levels, can be found on our entry requirements page. If you need additional advice or are taking qualifications that are not covered in the information supplied, please contact our Admissions Office.

The following information is designed to give you a general overview of the qualifications we accept. If you are taking qualifications that are not included below, please contact our Admissions Office who will be happy to advise you.

Entry requirements for this course:
UCAS tariff	104
GCSE requirements	GCSE in English Language or English Literature at grade C or 4 (or higher) will be required.

Fees and finance

UK Home fees

£9,790

Full-time

International fees

More information on international tuition fees

Funding

UK Home Students:

Tuition fees cost £9,790 a year for this course in 2026/2027.

Tuition fees for part-time study are charged a pro-rata amount of the full-time equivalent.

Depending on government policy, tuition fees may change in future years.

Tuition fees for 2027/2028 entry will be set in summer 2026.

Living costs, e.g. accommodation, travel, food, will also need to be taken into consideration.

Leeds Trinity offers a range of bursaries and scholarships to help support students while you study.

International Students, including EU Students:

Visit our webpage for international students.

Part-time study is not available for international students on a Student Route Visa.

Additional costs

We advise students that there may be additional course costs in addition to annual tuition fees:

Recommended and required reading lists will be provided at the start of your course. All the books and e-books are available from our Library to borrow but you may choose to purchase your own.
On some courses there may be additional costs, such as field trips, equipment, accreditations, that may be part-funded by the University. More details will be provided at the start of the course.
You'll need to include placement/s travel and associated costs too, however the University will contribute a standard amount towards your total expenditure.
The University provides students with a £6 printing credit each academic year which can be topped up either on campus or online.

How to apply

Get in touch

For full-time undergraduate courses, you apply through UCAS. That's the University and Colleges Admissions Service.

On your application form, you'll need to know our institution code - it's L24 - and the course code. If you click through to the UCAS website using the button below, it'll take you to the right place with all the information you need.

As part of your application, you'll need to write a personal statement - we've prepared a guide to help you.

Undergraduate applications for September 2027 entry will open on Tuesday, 12 May 2026. You’ll be able to submit your application from Tuesday, 1 September 2026.

There's lots more information about the application process on the UCAS website, or you can get in touch with our Admissions team who will be happy to help:

call 0113 283 7123 (Monday to Thursday, 9.00am to 5.00pm, or Friday 9.00am to 4.00pm)
email admissions@leedstrinity.ac.uk

Graduate opportunities

Providing you with the opportunity to develop the professional skills and experience you need to launch your career is at the heart of everything we do at Leeds Trinity University.

Graduates will be well prepared for careers across youth justice services, victim support organisations, safeguarding and family support services, probation, policing, community safety partnerships, local authorities, charities, and third-sector organisations. Relevant organisations include Victim Support, The Probation Service, and Youth Justice Board.

Career opportunities include:

Youth justice practitioner
Victim support officer
Caseworker within youth offending services
Restorative justice practitioner
Family support worker
Safeguarding officer
Domestic abuse support worker
Violence reduction and intervention roles
School and community engagement roles
Probation service officer
Rehabilitation and resettlement practitioner
Witness care officer
Community safety officer
Third-sector advocacy and support roles

The course also provides a strong foundation for postgraduate study and professional development within criminology, criminal justice, safeguarding, and related fields. Find out more about our MA Criminology and Criminal Justice.

After you graduate, Careers and Placements will help you as you pursue your chosen career through our mentoring scheme, support with CV and interview preparation and access to graduate employability events.

To find out how we can help you make your career ambitions a reality, visit:

Careers

Meet the team

Amelia Bell

Andi Brierley

Rob Hornsby

Joanna Adhikari

Natalie Rutter

Shaun McDaid

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