Course overview
Do you want to see the world in a different way? Are you interested in how our lives and identities are formed by the people around us, the systems we are part of and the technology that we use? Can we live in a more just, more equal society?
Sociology is an exciting discipline that examines the key social issues and problems of the 21st century. You will learn about the divisions, inequalities and solidarities at the heart of social life and interrogate some of the most pressing contemporary social challenges, including social media, climate change, and crime and deviance.
This four-year course includes an initial full-time Foundation Year and offers an alternative route into university and gaining a degree.
This route is for you if you do not have the necessary qualifications or don’t yet feel ready to begin degree-level study, or are returning to education and would like some support to get up to speed with learning in a university setting.
The Foundation Year in Criminology, Policing and Sociology will allow you to develop your academic skills and confidence as well as introduce you to key concepts, debates and skills that will support and inform your subsequent years of undergraduate study.
Following successful completion of your Foundation Year, you’ll progress onto Year 1 of our Sociology BA (Hons).
About this course
During your Foundation Year, you will undertake modules to enable you to enhance your academic skills and equip you with the tools you’ll need to study with confidence. You’ll carry out a personal project so you can study an area of interest related to your chosen future subject specialisation.
You'll be introduced to key concepts and theories in criminology, policing and sociology including patterns of crime, issues in modern day policing and social inequalities. You'll also examine how policymakers are responding to key societal problems and apply sociological and criminological theories to social problems, such as criminality and inequality.
Following successful completion of the Foundation Year, you’ll progress onto the first year of our Sociology BA (Hons) degree.
Your degree will give you in-depth knowledge and understanding of fundamental areas of sociology. You will apply theoretical and methodological knowledge to practical problems and you will have the opportunity to discover and explore new areas and issues that interest and excite you. Your degree will give you a comprehensive understanding of the public value of sociology and how it helps us understand real-world issues that impact us all.
We know that professional experience is crucial to your success, so you’ll complete professional work or volunteering placements as part of your degree. We’ll match you with one of our employer partners, or support you in finding your own opportunities.
Through these placements, and the assessments on your course, you will develop valuable skills that employers frequently praise our sociology graduates for, such as critical thinking and an eye for detail.
Why study with us?
- Build your self-confidence, academic skills and core subject knowledge in preparation for progression onto degree-level study.
- Learn from the experts. Our courses are developed and taught by experienced and passionate social researchers.
- Graduate with professional work experience, thanks to the placements included with your degree.
- Take charge of your learning through group discussion and collaboration in the classroom.
- No exams – we feel the best way to assess your learning is through coursework.
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.
Foundation Year
Core modules (students are required to take):
- Academic Skills and Studying with Confidence
We'll help you develop core academic skills such as using electronic resources, planning and note-taking, communication skills related to essay and report writing and delivering presentations. You'll learn how to manage your time, how to prioritise and how to manage stress, and you’ll become more confident in engaging with collaborative learning, debates, discussions and critical reflection. - Professional Development and Project
You’ll study an area of interest related to your chosen degree. You’ll work individually on your project, whether that's a written report, a presentation and oral examination, a film or a series of blog posts. You’ll undertake problem-solving learning, and formative feedback and support will be provided throughout, helping develop your self-confidence. - Foundations in Sociology and Policing
This module focuses on social inequalities in society and how they can be explained, as well as current trends and issues in modern-day policing. You'll explore concepts such as socialisation, crime, victimisation, punishment and non-crime-related social trends and consider attempts made to address inequality and criminality in society. We'll encourage you to apply sociological and criminological theories to social and policing problems, and you'll work in groups to understand concepts and academic theories, as well as taking part in debates, discussions and critical reflection. - Foundations in Criminology
You'll study crime and criminology, including patterns of crime, key issues in criminology and key criminological theories and concepts, such as social control, deviance, victimisation, the media and punishment. You will examine crime statistics, self-report studies and social trends and review policies intended to address important social problems. Throughout this module, you will develop your understanding of criminology and problem-solving skills and use a range of online resources to enhance and support your learning.
Year 1
Core modules (students are required to take):
- Identities and Inequalities
- Sociological Thought and Theory
- Introduction to Criminology
- Social Sciences Skills
Year 2
Core modules (students are required to take):
- Lifeworlds: Sociology of the Everyday
- Digital Lives: Self and Society in a Digital Age
- Crime, Media, Culture
- Research Methods and Professional Placement
Year 3
Core modules (students are required to take):
- Dissertation
- Professional Learning Through Work
Students are also required to choose two option modules from:
- Genocide Studies
- Gender and Society
- Justice, Punishment and Human Rights
- Crimes of the 21st Century
- Policing Priorities
Professional work placements
Experience matters. That's why we include professional work placements with every undergraduate degree.
How does it work?
Careers and Placements will work with you to find your perfect placement or help you arrange your own, whether that's in Leeds, another part of the UK or even abroad. You will be able to take part in a series of workshops, events and live ‘employer challenges’ to boost your confidence and prepare you for your placement.
During your placement, you will have an opportunity to gain degree-relevant work experience, build your knowledge of career sectors and secure valuable employer references and industry contacts. This experience will help you to shape your career decisions and find the right path for you.
Thanks to the versatility of a Sociology degree, you can choose to complete placements based on your specific interests. Our students have worked in primary and secondary schools, youth support projects, MPs’ offices, research consultancies, media organisations such as ITV, HM Prison Service, Leeds City Council, publishing houses, market research and a wide range of charities both in the UK and abroad.
To find out how we can help you make your career ambitions a reality, visit:
Chat with our students
Do you want to find out more about studying at Leeds Trinity University?
Ask our Student Ambassadors about what it’s like to be part of the Leeds Trinity University community, chat to them about your course(s) of interest and hear more about their Leeds Trinity University student experience.
Chat with our studentsLearning 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
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.
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
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.
| Qualification | Grade |
|---|---|
| UCAS tariff | 48 |
| GCSE requirements | GCSE English Language at grade C or 4 (or higher) will be required |
Applications are welcome from mature students with few formal qualifications.
Any previous relevant work experience and learning will be assessed and, where appropriate, we may offer an alternative way to assess suitability to study.
This course is not available to students on a Student Route Visa.
Fees and finance
Funding
UK Home Students:
Tuition fees cost £9,250 a year for this course in 2023/2024.
Part-time tuition fees will be prorated accordingly to the number of credits you're studying.
Depending on government policy, tuition fees may change in future years.
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.
Additional costs
We advise students that there may be additional course costs in addition to annual tuition fees. These include:
- Books - 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.
- Print costs - 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
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.
You'll need to write a personal statement - we've prepared a guide to help you.
Although the main UCAS deadline has passed for 2023 entry, you can still apply until 30 June if you haven’t applied yet or haven’t used all five choices on UCAS. After this date, all applications will go through Clearing.
Alternatively, if you’ve used all your five choices, but received no offers or declined your offers, you may be eligible to add another choice through UCAS Extra. UCAS will send you information on UCAS Extra if you’re eligible.
UCAS Extra opened on Thursday 23 February 2023 and closes on Tuesday 4 July 2023.
Applications are not yet open for courses starting in September 2024. You can register and start your application for 2024 from 16 May 2023, although you cannot submit it until later in the year. The UCAS application deadline for courses starting in September 2024 is 31 January 2024
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.
As a sociology graduate, you will have developed a range of communication, interpersonal, analytical and leadership skills that will help make you an extremely marketable graduate. Sociology graduates often have a depth and breadth of knowledge and skills that are attractive across sectors and industries including education, business, public relations, research roles and journalism.
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:
What is Discover Uni?
Discover Uni is the official, authoritative source of information and guidance on higher education in the UK. The website allows you to search for and compare data and information on university and college programmes from across the UK.
It helps you make sense of all the information out there by linking to other quality resources and explaining what can be found where. It also allows you to search for and compare information and data for individual undergraduate courses across the UK.