What is a Foundation Year?

The Foundation Year with Birmingham Newman University is the first year of a four year degree. It is designed for students who do not have the qualifications or experience for direct entry onto a three-year undergraduate programme.

If you’re thinking about returning to education after a break or if you’ve had some tough times in education before, the Foundation Year with Birmingham Newman University will support you and help you succeed.

The Foundation Year will provide you with opportunities to:

• Develop confidence in your skills and abilities
• Develop an understanding of what is needed to be a successful undergraduate student
• Gain knowledge of your academic discipline

The integrated foundation year focuses on helping you think critically and feel confident in your studies. It begins with an exploration of how you learn, and gives you the space to learn in your own way.

The goal of the Foundation Year is not just to get you ready for your next year of studies but to make sure you feel connected to your chosen subject and to the university community. You’ll explore interesting topics like identity, inequality, and think about what it means to be human in a digital world.

The combination of seminar discussions, active workshops, online activities and one-to-one support will enable you to develop the skills you’ll need to succeed in the rest of your degree.

What does the course cover?

• Year one establishes your broad understanding of the social sciences and issues of social inequality, introducing you to the many facets of criminal justice and criminological theory. You will quickly become immersed in debates about the role of the media in constructing crime as a social problem and the history and contested role of the Police service in the UK. We will explore the underlying psychological and social causes of crime and you will visit a Magistrates court to see how criminal justice is administered.
• In year two you will think in more detail about ‘what works’ in terms of preventing and reducing crime. You will critically examine the moral and ethical dimensions of punishment and explore a range of social problems, considering how criminal justice and social policy offer very different ways of responding. You will also have the choice of studying either the psychology of the criminal justice system or exploring criminal justice systems across the world, comparing responses to global crime topics. This will deepen your understanding of the theoretical assumptions and ideologies that frame criminal justice policy in our increasingly globalised society. You will also have the opportunity to develop your ideas for your final year capstone project and undertake a work placement as part of your studies.
•  In your final year you will delve deeper into issues of equality and diversity in criminal justice and the crimes committed by big business, corporations and state actors such as the Police and national governments. You will also pursue independent, in-depth research into a criminological topic of particular interest to you. This can either be in the form of a traditional dissertation or an extended project that explains a crime related issue to an audience of your choice. You will also be able to choose from a range of tailored option modules that, for example, examine youth crime or explore crime in a specific neighbourhood through a photography project.