Bachelor of Science (Hons) in Economics and Finance

at University of Bedfordshire - Luton Campus United Kingdom

Graduating with an LLB from the University of Bedfordshire is the first step on your journey towards becoming a solicitor or a barrister as well as a range of other professional opportunities.

The LLB (Hons) Law is the undergraduate degree for all students wishing to pursue a career in law.

During your degree, you will explore the latest developments in legal practice. In addition to the core subjects all LLB undergraduates are required to study, you will have the opportunity to study a range of specialist optional units including medical law and ethics; family and child law; immigration and asylum law; aviation law; commercial law; and international law.

Teaching is delivered by a dedicated team with professional experience in the legal industry. In-class teaching is supported by a range of fantastic extra-curricular opportunities including our Law Clinic; our award-winning Refugee Legal Assistance Project; and our mooting programme.

Our law graduates leave us as articulate and knowledgeable individuals with a range of transferable skills, ready to pursue a career in law, management, human resources, the civil service and public sector, education, and many other areas.

Why choose this course?

• Study law within its broader economic, social, political, historical, ethical and cultural environment
• Develop your advocacy skills in our modern Moot Court, giving you confidence in a realistic setting
• Explore your ability to present arguments in a persuasive and authoritative way
• Gain skills in critical analysis, research, teamwork, use of language and argument, and the ability to work and learn independently
• Benefit from the option to obtain an additional qualification, the Higher Diploma in Paralegal Practice, accredited by the National Association of Licensed Paralegals (NALP).

This British Psychological Society (BPS) accredited course is your first exciting step towards becoming a counselling psychologist, helping people deal with issues like bereavement, domestic violence, sexual abuse, traumas and relationship difficulties.

Psychology, Counselling & Therapies offers a unique approach, blending knowledge and practice from counselling and coaching psychology. You study classic and contemporary theories of counselling and psychotherapy - including psychodynamic, person-centred and cognitive behavioural approaches - to gain a thorough understanding of the core areas. Alongside this, you learn how to apply your knowledge to everyday, real-life situations, taking different perspectives on psychological issues and problems.

The course gives you the skills you need to move on to professional postgraduate training in a wide range of inspiring and rewarding careers across the different fields of counselling and psychology.

Why choose this course?

• Benefit from a BPS-accredited degree taught by registered clinical psychologists, practitioners and researchers
• Learn from an academic team who are members of the Research Centre for Applied Psychology
• Develop the skills needed to be an effective counsellor or therapist, from role play and peer coaching practice up to pre-practitioner level
• Explore issues, research methods and ethical considerations in counselling and coaching psychology as well as general psychology
• Gain insight into psychological practice in the NHS as well as awareness of the career paths the NHS offers
• Opt to take the course over four years and include a year’s placement in professional practice (see below), gaining experience and making contacts for the future
• If you need a step-up into higher education, you can take the degree with a Foundation Year (see below) which guarantees you entry to the Undergraduate course

Offering in-depth technical training, you will need to begin your career as a practising automotive engineer. You will work closely with local automotive and motorsport companies, gaining experience of working on real-world solutions throughout.

You will begin by gaining the underpinning skills and knowledge needed to pursue specialisms later on, along with theoretical subjects like mathematics and engineering science.

Your technical and practical skills will be honed through study of engineering design and application, and vehicle development history, and study of new products and technologies will give you a thorough grounding before you move on to specialise from Year 2.

As you move through the course, you will benefit from practical sessions and have the opportunity to take part in the prestigious Formula Student Racing Car project or Shell Economic Car competition project.

Why choose this course?

This course combines practical and theoretical study, and uses individual and group work to provide a thorough grounding in the essentials needed to enhance your career prospects in the exciting world of Automotive Engineering.

Choose BEng (Hons) Automotive Engineering

• Learn both technical skills and theoretical knowledge including engineering science, structural mechanics and dynamics.
• Study core disciplines and specialist advanced units including automotive systems and design as well as developing project management skills.
• Develop your skills using excellent industry-standard facilities including high-end equipment, machines and testing workspaces.
• Gain a qualification that will enhance your prospects of a fulfilling and exciting career in a wide range of engineering scenarios including car or motorbike motorsports.
• Explore career opportunities through a placement year with nearby companies like BMW Mini, Nissan and AVL Powertrain.
• Challenge yourself to participate in exciting competitions, developing your individual and team working skills.
• Benefit from the opportunity to collaborate with local companies either on campus or in nearby company workshops

Bringing together the emerging fields of forensic science and criminology, this course gives you the lab skills and practical crime-scene experience of the scientist combined with a criminological exploration of why people commit crime, and the role of the police and criminal justice system in its prevention.

Our degree provides you with a foundation in the biological and chemical sciences that apply to forensic science as well as exploring criminological theory, crime-scene investigation and the role of scene-of-crime officers. In the Criminology units, you gain understanding of how data can be analysed to identify and predict factors that may cause people to commit crime. You also explore the role of forensic science, the police and the criminal justice system in the prevention, deterrence and punishment of criminal behaviour.

The course has been designed to develop your skills in laboratory analysis; the interpretation and evaluation of evidence; and the communication of scientific findings. You also learn how to assess the strengths and weaknesses of different criminological explanations; make reasoned arguments; and bring together information from different sources.

Why choose this course?

• Explore topics at the forefront of current developments in forensic science
• Study in a specialist forensic laboratory, with key laboratory skills incorporated into most of the units
• Learn the skills and techniques needed to evaluate a real-life crime scene in our scene-of-crime lab, designed to resemble an 'normal' flat
• Work with a Forensic Science team that includes international experts in the psychology of criminal behaviour and forensics experts from a variety of operational backgrounds
• Acquire key transferable skills including in oral and written communication; IT; group and team work; analysis; critical thinking; and problem solving
• Take the course over four years and include a fee-free year in industry, gaining work experience, building your CV and making contacts for the future
• If you need a step up into higher education, start with a Foundation Year which guarantees you a place on the degree course

If you’re looking to explore your creativity, establish your own unique style and take contemporary fashion design by storm, our course has the dedicated facilities and equipment, track record and industry links to get your designs on the domestic and international catwalks.

Both our course and highly experienced academic team encourage you to experiment with designs, materials and garment-making while giving you the practical tools and wider experience you need to develop your individual creative approach.

Based at Alexon House, previously home to one of the UK's leading fashion houses, the course offers industry-standard manufacturing facilities and the latest textile processes with access to high-spec technology including digital textile printing and pattern cutting; computer-aided design; and 3D printing.

As part of our industry speaker series, you meet designers, artist, editors, curators and recruiters on a weekly basis while also getting the opportunity to join international trips to visit trade fairs and galleries.

You graduate ready for industry with a professional portfolio, following in the footsteps of previous graduates, who have gone on to work with Alexander McQueen, Mary Katranzou, Lulu Liu, Sopie Webster, Amanda Wakeley, Zandra Rhodes, Love Magazine and Denza International. Some of our graduates have started their own label, such as Aaugust, who won Young Designer of the Year at Africa Fashion Week London.

Why choose this course?

• You learn the specialised design and craft skills you need to make your mark in the domestic and international fashion industry
• You study in a dedicated, stimulating and lively studio environment with a sewing machine for every student
• Our close links with the industry and leading fashion designers mean you work on real briefs and live projects; you’re also encouraged to enter competitions and awards
• Your personal creative development is underpinned by a sound knowledge the history of fashion design; contemporary debates in fashion; multicultural and international contexts; and understanding of the wider visual world
• At Alexon House, you are part of a community spanning the art, design and creative industries, and can explore related disciplines such as digital photography, screen-printing and illustration
• You can challenge established designers when you prepare a garment collection and showcase your work on the runway at our Graduate Fashion Show
• There’s the option to take the course over four years and benefit from a fee-free work placement (see below) which will widen your experience, add to your CV and offer the opportunity to make useful contacts for the future
• If you have completed an appropriate foundation degree or HND, you can join this course at stage three

Environmental change affects everyone on the planet and sustainably managing a changing natural environment is one of the 21st century’s most pressing challenges. This course develops your theoretical knowledge and practical skills, enabling you to begin to meet these challenges in your chosen career.

Through study of environmental sustainability and management, as well as global environmental change, you develop a comprehensive understanding of what is happening in the environment at a range of scales. You then go on to examine how the integration of environmental science, biotechnology and management methods can help environmental, biodiversity and ecosystem services.

The course has a focus on how biotechnology can provide practical solutions to environmental problems, and your studies support you to develop valuable practical skills in identifying and evaluating useful technologies.

Why choose this course?

• Access the latest scientific thinking and teaching from a leading, research-active academic team with expertise in ecology, biotechnology, management and environmental microbiology
• Gain the knowledge and skills to move into a career in the environmental sector or – if you are a more experienced professional - develop your range of competencies and widen your opportunities in the field
• Develop a systematic understanding and critical awareness of the biological, ecological and socio-economic drivers of global environmental change
• Be able to evaluate methods of managing environmental change at local and global levels, including legislative, voluntary and economic management
• Hone your practical skills in our modern, well-equipped laboratories
• There is the option of a part-time pathway to better fit study around your work and family commitments
• Choose from a wide range of career paths including environmental consultancies; biotechnological research organisations; national and international government agencies and non-governmental bodies; and related business and industry. You also have the option of further study leading to PhD

How can we understand, intervene and promote health and wellbeing across the course of life? Health psychology works to answer this question, looking towards the interaction of psychological, social and biological factors to understand health and illness.

Health psychology moves away from the medicalisation of health and illness. Instead, on this course, you take a more whole-person approach to understanding health and illness, studying social issues and aspects such as obesity, lifestyle and stress. Taught by an academic team actively involved in research in the field, you benefit from their up-to-the-minute knowledge and research skills.

This course forms stage one of the training you need to become a chartered psychologist member of the Division of Health Psychology within the British Psychological Society.

Why choose this course?

• Gain new insights into the theory and practice of health psychology
• Learn to show how the links between scientific theory and practice can guide the collection and interpretation of empirical data
• Develop a systematic understanding and critical awareness of current problems in the field
• Gain confident knowledge of qualitative and quantitative research methods which will allow you to perform complex data analysis, interpretation, evaluation and synthesis
• Develop your competence in a range of techniques including multivariate analyses
• Benefit from a strong sense of personal responsibility and professionalism that will enable you to practise or conduct research within ethical guidelines

Your first step towards a career as a registered social worker, this course equips you with the knowledge, skills and resilience needed to improve the lives of vulnerable adults, children and families.

Approved by Social Work England, this degree offers graduates eligibility to join the professional register, after which you can pursue a career in social work across a range of settings.

The course prepares you to work in a rapidly changing, complex and unpredictable sector, offering the most up-to-the-minute knowledge, skills and practice. It combines work-placement experience, practical skills development and academic study with a focus on applying theory to practice.

You first study the foundations of social work including social policy; human growth and development; relevant legislation for professional practice; and working with people. Later units explore issues, contexts and interventions in social work along with two work-placement opportunities and a final-year research project.

Why choose this course?

• Join a course with a 92% satisfaction rate (National Student Survey, 2020)
• Explore every aspect of the professional social work role; how it relates to other areas; and the ethical challenges of balancing initiative with accountability
• Progress with the support of academic staff who have all been practising social workers, some of whom continue to practise alongside their academic work
• Benefit from the University of Bedfordshire’s new Health & Social Care Academy, run in partnership with local councils and NHS Trusts to recruit and train the next generation of health and social care workers
• As a graduate, you can apply for professional registration as a qualified social worker with Social Work England
• Open up career paths across a variety of sectors, including local authorities, the NHS, education authorities, prison service, private agencies and voluntary organisations

This course gives you an advanced understanding of molecular biology, computational biology and microbiology alongside teaching you valuable skills in project management that you can apply to planning and organisational change.

Modern biotechnology is a hugely complex subject, drawing from a range of scientific fields. On this course, you learn the latest new technologies in key areas; gain insights into how they are used in the global biotechnology industry; and discover how microbes can be used on an industrial scale to benefit humankind.

You also hone your research skills with a laboratory-based project in one of five taught areas: molecular biology; computational biology; applied microbiology; analytical biology; and biomaterials.

The project management units explore the complexity of implementing plans and achieving change in organisations as well as the methods managers can use to overcome these obstacles.

Why choose this course?

• Study the latest developments in applied microbiology and computational biology in high-quality, broad-based classes taught by dedicated staff with research experience in specialist subject areas
• Explore the latest technologies in molecular biology and the industrial processes that are used to exploit microbes for specific products and applications
• Develop the ability to use information from relevant sources, and independently and critically evaluate current research and advanced scholarship
• Gain the ability to use assured, accurate and fluent language to present your work, and learn to develop graphs and images that clearly illustrate complex points
• Benefit from a wide knowledge base and the key transferable skills that will give you the opportunity to take your career to new heights in the biotechnology and allied industries

Your own interests will drive the direction of this course as you identify and address the latest theoretical concepts, evidence and research that are relevant to your individual practice.

You will have a rare opportunity to critically appraise and shape new ideas as they emerge, and enhance your understanding of the links between theory, research, evidence and policy development and its application to the design and delivery of services to children and young people.

Why choose this course?

• Study and evaluate relevant research and practice, synthesise information from a range of sources, and work with a high level of autonomy and self-direction
• Explore the cultural and social constructions of childhood and youth, and the impact they have on the everyday lives of children and young peopleDevelop an integrated and critically aware understanding of childhood and youth studies, and cultivate an analytical approach to contemporary methodological theories and developments
• Gain an advanced knowledge and understanding of the complexities surrounding the relationship between children’s rights, the ideologies and responsibilities for welfare, and the application of these elements in the experiences that effect children’s and young peoples’ lives.
• Benefit from enhanced career prospects by applying your new learning and expertise in professional contexts.

This MA is designed to allow you to build upon your knowledge and critically consider the theoretical underpinning of societal responses to a range of needs, through policy development and service delivery across children and young people’s sectors in a globalised context.

The majority of units are designed and taught by colleagues within the School of Applied Social Studies or the Institute of Applied Social Research, winners of the 2013 Queen’s Anniversary prize for outstanding achievement and excellence in UK universities and colleges. The departments are recognised for their contribution to policy and practice.

This high quality context is coupled with the opportunities and added value of our extensive professional networks. Partnerships from across private, public and voluntary sectors provide input to courses, as well as research opportunities, placement opportunities and voluntary work experience, making it truly ‘applied’.