Program Overview

An International Foundation Year at our International Study Centre prepares you for your degree at Lancaster University. You will focus on English language, university-level study skills, and academic modules that relate to your degree subject.

Supporting your progression to the University
At the International Study Centre, we take every measure to ensure you are supported in your academic journey. Our programmes allow for increased time spent learning, researching and developing your skills. By studying with us, you will benefit from:

• Formal assessments at the end of each term.
• An improved English language module, Academic English Skills, providing greater opportunity for informal assessments and feedback.
• Combining and reducing the number of module assessments allowing more time to prepare.
• A personal tutorial system with a focus on your academic progress at key points of the academic year, creating action plans based on your performance and progession options.

Law
The International Foundation Year in Law leads to a choice of degrees at Lancaster University Law School – one of the UK’s most respected law schools. To prepare for your degree, you will study core English language modules and subject modules for Law. Your degree options include Criminology, Law, and Law with Politics.

As a Law student the topics you will study include justice, ethics, democracy and political institutions. You will learn about important cases and the history of the law, and you will either study Globalisation or Core mathematics.

Criminology and Sociology
We have outstanding league table rankings for Criminology and Sociology, and a great track record for graduate prospects. These are just two reasons to take a Criminology and Sociology degree at Lancaster University.

What will you study? 
Combine the two popular disciplines of Criminology and Sociology as you study some of the most contentious issues in contemporary life. This stimulating degree is jointly taught by the world-leading, research-active academics based in our prestigious Law School and Sociology Department.

Our Criminology and Sociology degree tackles the problems of crime, deviance, victimization and social harm and encourages critical questions about important issues in our society more broadly. This is your chance to get to grips with the big issues affecting our society. You will analyse the social, cultural, political and economic contexts of crime and criminal justice, and take an in-depth look at the social circumstances of offending, policies regulating crime, and the social response to criminal activity.

The degree draws on the expertise of two departments that are highly regarded in the fields of youth justice, policing, prisons and punishment, sex work, hate crime, inequalities, climate change, children and young people, disability, welfare and media

80% of the Law School’s research was rated as internationally excellent or world leading in the most recent Research Excellence Framework (REF 2014), and 83% in the Department of Sociology.

Programme overview
The first year is flexible, meaning that you can choose from a range of fascinating modules to study that complement your core modules. During your second year you will explore a broad range of criminological theories and perspectives, consider how to ‘do’ criminological and sociological  research and be able to choose from optional modules which explore various criminological and sociological controversies and issues. If you would like to take a global perspective on Criminology and Sociology, you may be able to apply for a semester abroad at one of our highly regarded partner institutions in the US and Canada. By year three, you will have the choice to study specialist subjects in depth from our range of optional modules.