- UCAS course code
- M901
- UCAS institution code
- M20
Bachelor of Arts (BA)
BA Criminology
Duration: 3 or 4 years
Year of entry: 2025
UCAS course code: M901 / Institution code: M20
- Key features:
Study abroad
Industrial experience
Scholarships available
Field trips
- Typical A-level offer: AAB
- Typical contextual A-level offer: BBB
- Refugee/care-experienced offer: BBC
- Typical International Baccalaureate offer: 35 points overall with 6,6,5 at HL
Fees and funding
Fees
Tuition fees for home students commencing their studies in September 2025 will be £9,535 per annum (subject to Parliamentary approval). Tuition fees for international students will be £26,500 per annum. For general information please see the undergraduate finance pages.
Policy on additional costs
All students should normally be able to complete their programme of study without incurring additional study costs over and above the tuition fee for that programme. Any unavoidable additional compulsory costs totalling more than 1% of the annual home undergraduate fee per annum, regardless of whether the programme in question is undergraduate or postgraduate taught, will be made clear to you at the point of application. Further information can be found in the University's Policy on additional costs incurred by students on undergraduate and postgraduate taught programmes (PDF document, 91KB).
Scholarships/sponsorships
Scholarships and bursaries, including the Manchester Bursary , are available to eligible home/EU students.
Some undergraduate UK students will receive bursaries of up to £2,000 per year, in addition to the government package of maintenance grants.
You can get information and advice on student finance to help you manage your money.
Course unit details:
Drugs and Society
| Unit code | CRIM30601 |
|---|---|
| Credit rating | 20 |
| Unit level | Level 3 |
| Teaching period(s) | Semester 1 |
| Available as a free choice unit? | Yes |
Overview
In recent decades, drug use has increasingly garnered official and media attention. This unit will develop a multi-disciplinary understanding of drugs in the UK and elsewhere by enabling students to apply sociological, criminological, historical, psychological and cultural perspectives to the study of drug use, and policy responses to this 'social problem'. We seek to understand why people take and sell drugs, how drug use is understood within societies, and how societies respond. We will contrast the use of illegal drugs with legal substances like alcohol.
Indicative content: (1) Definitions, control and moral panic; (2) Trends in substance use; (3) Changing trends 1; (4) Changing trends 2; (5) Non-addictive substance use; (6) Addiction, treatment and recovery; (7) Drugs & crime: local to global; (8) The evolution of drug markets; (9) The internet and drugs; (10) Drug futures: alternatives to prohibition?
Aims
This course unit aims to (1) introduce students to a range of perspectives that help us understand drug use, policy and markets, (2) provide students with an appreciation of the different forms of legal and illegal drug use, (3) give students an understanding of how drug policies have developed in response to drug use.
Learning outcomes
On successful completion of this module students will be able to demonstrate knowledge and understanding of: (1) different kinds of drug use, trends and patterns, and the evolution of drug markets; (2) policy approaches taken in the UK and elsewhere, and the role of ideology in the production of media and official drugs discourses; (3) key debates in the academic literature relating to drugs as a 'social problem'.
Teaching and learning methods
Teaching and learning across course units consists of: (1) preparatory work to be completed prior to teaching sessions, including readings, pre-recorded subject material and online activities; (2) a weekly whole-class lecture; (3) a workshop; and (4) one-to-one support via subject specific office hours.
Knowledge and understanding
- Develop nuanced research and theory-informed understanding of drugs, drug use, drug markets and drug policy in the UK and elsewhere.
Intellectual skills
- Research, analyse and communicate in an informed and critical way, theoretical explanations and empirical and policy findings concerning drugs, drug use, drugs markets and drug policy.
Practical skills
- Discuss, illustrate, debate and evaluate key points/perspectives and communicate these in a clear and effective way.
Transferable skills and personal qualities
- Development of group discussion/argumentation skills
- Development of essay writing skills
Employability skills
- Other
- (i) analyse, critique and (re-)formulate a problem or issue; (ii) rapidly and thoroughly review/rate argument and evidence from targeted bibliographic searches; (iii) plan, structure and present arguments in a variety of written formats and to a strict word limit, (iv) express ideas verbally and organise work effectively in small teams for a variety of written and oral tasks; (v) obtain, manipulate and (re-)present different forms of data; (vi) manage time effectively; (vii) reflect on and improve performance through feedback.
Assessment methods
| Method | Weight |
|---|---|
| Other | 30% |
| Oral assessment/presentation | 70% |
This unit is summatively assessed by a MCQ test (worth 30%) and an oral exam (worth 70%).
Feedback methods
Formative feedback (both individual and collective) will be given on (1) tasks and contribution in class, (2) developing plans of assessments. Detailed summative feedback will be given on the submitted assessment via Blackboard (Grademark).
This unit is assessed by MCQ (30%) and Oral Exam (70%).
Recommended reading
Barton, A (2011) Illicit Drugs: Use and Control. Abingdon: Routledge.
Study hours
| Scheduled activity hours | |
|---|---|
| Lectures | 10 |
| Practical classes & workshops | 20 |
| Independent study hours | |
|---|---|
| Independent study | 70 |
Teaching staff
| Staff member | Role |
|---|---|
| Judith Aldridge | Unit coordinator |
Additional notes
Across their course units each semester, full-time students are expected to devote a ‘working week’ of around 30-35 hours to study. Accordingly each course unit demands around 10-11 hours of study per week consisting of (i) 3 timetabled teacher-led hours, (ii) 7-8 independent study hours devoted to preparation, required and further reading, and note taking.
Information
This course is offered to all students university wide including incoming study abroad students.
Pre-requisites: None.
Timetable
Please refer to your personalised Criminology timetable