Bachelor of Arts (Hons) in Criminology and Security Studies

at Birmingham City University - City Centre Campus United Kingdom

Want to study a Master’s in finance management? Our MSc Management and Finance degree is accredited by the Chartered Management Institute (CMI).

Our Management and Finance course teaches you the fundamental skills and attributes you need to become a successful international manager in the finance sector. You’ll become adept at strategic and tactical business decisions, developing core skills in managerial finance and managing and motivating staff in businesses on an international scale.

What's covered in this course?

Initially in the first stage, you will examine the key challenges faced by global businesses to fully appreciate the complexity and dynamics of leadership and management practice. This will see you broaden your skills in organisation, communication and working with others, particularly within an increasingly diverse cultural context.

During the second stage of your course, you will explore international financial management, including international investment strategies, Capital Asset Pricing and the financial aspects of national and international merger and acquisitions. You’ll learn how to navigate the risks of foreign exchange rates and the intricacies of dividend policy theory and practice for international firms.

You’ll be taught international business strategy while also developing your research skills in preparation for your major project. In addition to the Major project, you will also study both personal and institutional portfolio management, covering key areas such as shares, bonds, property chattels and commodities, and fund management principles and issues.

Professional Placement option

For our Management Master's degrees, you will have the opportunity to take the Professional Placement version of the course, which is offered as an alternative to the standard version of the course.

This will allow you to complete a credit-bearing, 20-week Professional Placement as an integral part of your Master’s Degree. The purpose of the Professional Placement is to improve your employability and transferable skills. The placement experience will allow you to evidence your professional skills, attitudes and behaviours at the point of entry to the postgraduate job market.

Developed in partnership with the City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra (CBSO), our MMus in Orchestral Performance are for advanced level string players considering professional orchestral auditions and on the brink of a professional career.

In addition to one-to-one specialist tuition, you will spend a significant amount of rehearsal time in the CBSO alongside one or more dedicated host players who will act as mentors. You may also be offered opportunities to play at the back of the section to gain further experience. In addition to developing your technical facility, musicianship, interpretative skills and stylistic awareness, you will expand your knowledge of orchestral repertoire, learn how to prepare for rehearsal in the most efficient way, develop strategies that will help you to integrate within your section, and build confidence in preparing for orchestral auditions.

You will also participate in additional performance activities within the Conservatoire’s String Department and the wider Conservatoire, including performance classes, masterclasses, orchestra and chamber music.You'll have full access to our superb £57 million facilities, including our Concert Hall, 150-seat Recital Hall, our black box performance space known as The Lab, and more than 70 practice rooms, ensemble rooms and workshops; all acoustically designed to provide a music-making environment that is world-class.

Want to study a Master’s in marketing management in Birmingham? Our MSc Management and Marketing degree is accredited by the Chartered Management Institute (CMI).

Our MSc Management and Marketing course teaches you the fundamental skills and attributes you need to become a successful manager and marketer. You will learn how to negotiate the challenges and issues that international businesses face, as well as having the option to learn how to become adept at marketing.

You will experience working in internationally diverse, team-based projects, collaborating to deliver professional reports and presentations as part of module assessments. These assessments will reflect the professional practice of international management. Throughout the course, the course team will give you the support you need to realise your potential and we look forward to working with you to develop your knowledge, understanding and skills for the career of your choice.

A law degree is an important first step into a career in law, as well as an important foundation on the route to many other careers, and Birmingham City University is a long-established provider of legal education to the Birmingham legal community and beyond.

This course has been developed to enable anyone wishing to qualify as a solicitor or barrister to undertake this first, important academic stage of their career. To achieve this, the course has been designed to align with the subjects that you will need to study further in order to successfully undertake the Solicitors Qualifying Examination (SQE), while also meeting the requirements of the Bar Standards Board for an undergraduate law degree.

What's covered in this course?

The study of law is both academic and practical, and therefore both of these are important elements in the LLB (Hons) degree at BCU. Theory and academic study are important on an LLB, but so too is the application of that knowledge, and so our LLB (Hons) degree offers plenty of opportunity for you to develop the practical lawyering skills, as well as the transferable skills enhancing your employability, that graduates will need when entering the workplace.

The different pathways on the LLB course will allow you to make decisions regarding the direction in which you want to take your studies, with named degrees in Law with American Legal Studies, Law with Business Law, and Law with Criminal Justice, as well as a broad range of optional modules ranging from more theoretical topics through to those aimed at the practical application of the law in real-world situations.

You will also have the opportunity to put those skills to practical use, both in the local community and beyond. Whether that is through our programme of placement opportunities with local providers such as Citizen’s Advice and various legal advice charities, through opportunities in the local legal community, or via BCU’s own Law Clinic, established to serve the local community from our City Centre campus, there are plenty of options available to you.

You can also apply your legal knowledge further afield, through our US internship programme which has been placing students with attorneys throughout the US for over 20 years. A professional placement year is also available, between years 2 and 3 of the degree, offering further opportunity for you to put your knowledge and skills to practical use, and thereby enhancing your CV further.

By focussing on the development of a range of transferable skills, the course employs numerous innovative assessment methods, going beyond the typical forms of written academic assessment.

You are also encouraged to engage in extra-curricular activities to support your learning, with student societies such as the highly successful Mooting Society. Furthermore, you will have the ability to engage with the wider Birmingham legal community through our connections with the Birmingham Law Society, the largest regional law society in the UK.

Are you interested in understanding business concepts and how to use IT to serve business needs?

Our Business Information Technology degree gives you the skills to make IT work for businesses.

Business Information Technology bridges the gap between IT and Business to drive innovation and growth in the modern global organisation. It embeds a systems philosophy of connectivity, to offer an in-depth understanding of business concepts and how to use IT to serve business needs. It will also provide essential skills that will facilitate communicating and discussing technical and business ideas effectively with technical and non-technical audiences.

What's covered in this course?

You will work collaboratively with tutors, researchers and businesses, applying practice-based skills to real-life case studies and live project briefs which will develop your problem-solving and analytical skills. Learn how to think like a coder, to influence the design, development and use of information systems and technology in organizations.

You will also gain an in-depth understanding on how organizations can harness the data to improve decision-making. In a summary, this course will give you the skills and knowledge to make IT work for businesses.

Develop your technical, research, design and organizational ability, and leave with the skills employers want.

Work in our advanced software development and computer programming labs, using dedicated facilities for systems analysis, networking, e-commerce and business intelligence – all of which reflect advanced professional practice.

Looking to study a postgraduate accounting and finance course in Birmingham? Our MSc Accounting and Finance degree is accredited by Chartered Institute of Management Accountants (CIMA).

Taught by professionally qualified academics with a wealth of industrial and professional experience, this CIMA accredited Master's course focuses on the practical application of accountancy in the real world and theoretical aspects of related research with a clear objective of preparing you for a career in accountancy, finance or management. You can maximise your CIMA exemptions by choosing particular modules, and get prepared for the remaining final (external) CIMA exam(s) at the end of the course.

The international focus of the course is derived through a variety of means including the study of international accounting standards, student body, the teaching team and the use of international teaching materials.

Professional Placement option

For our MSc Accounting and Finance degree, you will have the opportunity to take the Professional Placement version of the course, which is offered as an alternative to the standard version of the course.

This will allow you to complete a credit-bearing, 20-week Professional Placement as an integral part of your Master’s Degree. The purpose of the Professional Placement is to improve your employability and transferable skills. The placement experience will allow you to evidence your professional skills, attitudes and behaviours at the point of entry to the postgraduate job market.

You will be responsible for finding and securing your own placement. The University, however, will draw on its extensive network of local, regional and national employers to support you in finding a suitable placement to complement your chosen area of study, with support from our Careers+ team as well as advice and guidance from your School.

Want to study a Master’s in marketing management in Birmingham? Our MSc Management and Marketing degree is accredited by the Chartered Management Institute (CMI).

Our MSc Management and Marketing course teaches you the fundamental skills and attributes you need to become a successful manager and marketer. You will learn how to negotiate the challenges and issues that international businesses face, as well as having the option to learn how to become adept at marketing.

You will experience working in internationally diverse, team-based projects, collaborating to deliver professional reports and presentations as part of module assessments. These assessments will reflect the professional practice of international management. Throughout the course, the course team will give you the support you need to realise your potential and we look forward to working with you to develop your knowledge, understanding and skills for the career of your choice.

Professional Placement option

For our MSc Management and Marketing degree, you will have the opportunity to take the Professional Placement version of the course, which is offered as an alternative to the standard version of the course.

This will allow you to complete a credit-bearing, 20-week Professional Placement as an integral part of your Master’s Degree. The purpose of the Professional Placement is to improve your employability and transferable skills. The placement experience will allow you to evidence your professional skills, attitudes and behaviours at the point of entry to the postgraduate job market.

The global luxury sector continues to grow, with increasing profits for both well-established and new brands.

The MA Luxury Jewellery Management course addresses the specific challenges and opportunities of the luxury jewellery industry and is the perfect choice for you if you see your future career with premium, high-end and luxury jewellery brands.

What's covered in this course?

You will learn global business strategy and leadership supported by ethical, responsible and sustainable practices. In developing skills to adopt appropriate codes of conduct to improve global operations, you will learn how to promote intercultural communication to enhance business culture and preserve cultural heritage in the luxury jewellery industry. These emerging and significantly important skills are key for managers of luxury jewellery business all over the world.

You will investigate the DNA of brands; designing and creating marketing plans and effective campaigns, with regard to the multicultural aspects of the audience. You will integrate innovations of new technologies, such as additive manufacturing, to embrace the change, meanwhile preserving and enhancing the artisanship’s heritage of the luxury jewellery industry.

The course is global in its outlook and reflects business systems, standards and practices from around the world, drawing upon international case studies and fostering intercultural fluency amongst students. These aims will develop your confidence and ambitions to explore a breadth of careers within a global luxury jewellery industry. Where possible, your learning will be supported by an international field trip, factory visits, exhibitions visits, guest speakers, live projects and simulated practice requiring actual problem-solving.

MA Luxury Jewellery Management is based on the philosophy that management education should provide a thorough grounding in the disciplines related to the functional aspects of management, and the interaction with contextual forces that impact on organisations. This knowledge and understanding is then further contextualised to provide integrative strategic themes. The impact of globalization on business in all disciplines is a coherent theme throughout the course.

Professional Placement option

The Professional Placement version of the course is optional and is offered as an alternative to the standard version of the course.

This will allow you to complete a credit-bearing, 20-week Professional Placement as an integral part of your Master’s Degree. The purpose of the Professional Placement is to improve your employability skills which will, through the placement experience, allow you to evidence your professional skills, attitudes and behaviours at the point of entry to the postgraduate job market. Furthermore, by completing the Professional Placement, you will be able to develop and enhance your understanding of the professional work environment, relevant to your chosen field of study, and reflect critically on your own professional skills development within the workplace.

On our MSc Quantity Surveying degree, you will learn how to add value to projects through demonstrating excellent knowledge and skills in managing cost and information, advancing practices and procedures, and managing risk effectively.

What's covered in this course?

The Quantity Surveying course will develop your skills of critical thinking, problem-solving, business development, team collaboration, cost management and awareness of sustainability in the built environment. You will learn how to ensure construction projects are delivered to the satisfaction of the client and other construction professionals and influence a better future in the built environment.

You will develop knowledge and skills to meet the challenges presented by change and innovation in the sector.

The course provides opportunities for graduates from diverse backgrounds including students from the UK and international students, students with limited exposure to the built environment, as well as students looking for mid-career development in a quantity surveying specialist area.

The course is designed to challenge you to question your current thinking and practices in the face of a rapidly changing global construction industry, and develop your ability to be innovative and creative in solving unique problems.

It will encourage you to engage in life-long learning and become an independent professional learner through a range of modern interactive teaching.

The applied nature of our BSc (Hons) Economics degree prepares you to work as an economist, or in a related role which is concerned with the study of the economy and its impact on society and the natural environment.

Economics is a major social science which informs major challenges faced by our societies today, including inequality, environmental sustainability and economic policy. Economics draws on and influences other social sciences and humanities and it is also a core business discipline which is integral to understanding organisational behaviour, strategy and corporate performance.

The unique offering of this course lies in its use of a pluralist approach to teaching, which will empower you to understand the relevance of competing economic theories and their application in your daily life and in your future workplace.

The course will provide you with a firm foundation of economics to interpret, analyse and question diverse economic theories and policies in a real-life context. To do so effectively, this course equips you with a vast analytical toolkit, which includes mathematical and statistical analysis, critical thinking, qualitative techniques and proficiency in a range of industry-specific software packages that are relevant to the Economics profession. You will also learn how to communicate results and ideas concisely to a variety of specialist and non-specialist audiences.

Economics is a global subject. You will be encouraged to look at situations from an international perspective. You will apply the knowledge learnt in the course to examine global events and look at how different economic ideas help us understand and address global challenges such as poverty, inequality, climate change and the impact of new technologies on the economy and society. Moreover, your course will be delivered by a multinational team of experts. Your classmates will also come from a variety of countries and cultural backgrounds. Finally, we offer you a study abroad opportunity: you can study for one term overseas in one of our partner universities.