Level 3 Applied Certificate and Diploma Criminology
Careers related to studying Criminology:
This course is ideal for anyone who wishes to pursue a career in Criminology and also provide an excellent basis to anyone wishing to pursue a career within Social Work, Mental Health, the Police Force, Customs and Immigration, Prison Services, Court Services, Security Services, the NHS, Education and Youth and Community Services. This course can also provide a natural route into Higher Education to study at degree level in a variety of areas such as Criminology, Sociology, Criminal Justice, Psychology and Forensic Science.
Course content:
Criminology is one of the most popular undergraduate courses chosen by students at university. It is a Level 3 Applied Certificate (Year 1) and Diploma (Year 2) which will prepare you for university should you wish to undertake this subject at degree level.
Criminology is the scientific study of crime and criminals. The discipline looks at the many reasons why a person commits a crime, and by understanding what motivates individuals to commit crimes, we can develop techniques to control crime in society and rehabilitate criminals.
This is a new course aimed at developing your knowledge and understanding of a wide range of crimes and work done in the criminal justice system. The course incorporates elements of psychology, law and sociology, covering a wide variety of crime-related topics including biological and sociological theories of criminality, processes used for law making and media representations of crime, amongst others.
Course outline:
Year 12:
Unit 1 – Changing Awareness of Crime
You will explore how crime reporting affects the public perception of crime and criminals. You will then go on to study how campaigns are used to bring about change and plan a campaign of your own.
Unit 2 – Criminological Theories
You will discover and assess all the theories that have been put forward to explain why crime occurs.
Year 13:
Unit 3 – Crime Scene to Courtroom
You will gain an understanding of the process of criminal investigations. You will then go on to learn about the prosecution of suspects and be able to review criminal cases.
Unit 4 – Crime and Punishment
You will study every aspect of the criminal justice system and the types and purposes of punishment in England and Wales.
Subject specific events:
Our highly skilled staff provide full enrichment and enhancement activities both within and outside the classroom to further stretch the students. This could include visits to the local courts, guests speakers and also an international trip.
Methods of assessment:
The course is divided into 4 units and therefore it is a modular structure. You will be assessed at the end of every unit. There are opportunities for assessment in December and May of each academic year.
Units 1 and 3 are internally assessed by your teachers in examination conditions on computers. Units 2 and 4 are both examined through a 90 minute external written paper.
Units 1 and 2 lead to an Applied Level 3 Certificate in Criminology, worth 50% of the final Applied Level 3 Diploma.
Successful completion of the 4 units, over the 2 years, leads to the
Applied Level 3 Diploma, which is equivalent to an A-level, graded A * to U like an A level and carries the same UCAS points.
Examining Board – WJEC (EDUQAS).
Entry requirements:
A minimum of 3 x Grade 5’s and 2 x
Grade 4’s at GCSE including a Grade 5 in English Language.
Methods of study:
There are four lessons per week with your subject specialist teacher and a period of supervised study. frequent opportunities to share ideas either prior to, during or after written assignments. You should expect to complete approximately 5 hours of independent study outside of your lessons.
Taught by: Miss M Donovan
BA (Hons) Criminology and Criminal Justice ( Edge Hill University)
MA Politics and Mass Media (University of Liverpool)