About this course
From drugs to gangs to knife-crime, youth offending often makes the headlines — but are you getting the full story?
Youth justice is a specialist strand of criminology and social work, and this degree asks the questions that populist politics and the mainstream media don’t. How do you feel about the UK’s age of criminal responsibility being 10 — the youngest in Europe? When might a child reasonably understand the consequences of their actions? What role do family and community play in a young person’s development — and why can a life of crime sometimes feel like their only option? We deal in reality, not soundbites and sensationalism; together, we’ll explore the psychological, social, and political factors that have shaped the past, present, and future of juvenile justice worldwide.
Learn from experts with personal and professional experience of the youth justice system; uncover the deeper truths behind the lives of at-risk juveniles; examine your own prejudices and preconceptions in a whole new light. It’s time to ask bigger, better questions — it’s time to be the difference that young people need.
Why study this course?
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Explore the field from every angle — meet with guest-speaker practitioners and service-users. -
Our smaller-than-average classes provide a friendly, flexible, more personalised learning experience. -
Test your skills in the real world of the youth justice system, with a four-week industry placement. -
Our course is mapped to the Youth Justice Boards Skills Matrix for Youth Justice.
10
of BA (Hons) Youth Justice students are positive about the academic support on their course (National Student Survey, 2024)
What you’ll study
Prepare for a deep-dive into the history, evolution, and processes of the youth justice system — and learn everything you’ll need to know as a professional practitioner. You’ll grow as a person throughout the course, building the confidence and communication skills to work successfully with young people, families, and a whole host of partner agencies.
As well as theory and critical thinking, we’ve built this course around debate and self-reflection. As your studies progress, so too will your ideas and opinions, with content including:
- the historical development of the UK’s youth justice system, and its present-day demands — from assessing need, to interventions and report-writing, to best safeguarding practice
- how a child’s mind, emotional welfare and sense of identity develops over time, and the social and environmental issues that can affect that development
- the big, contemporary trends in youth offending — from gangs to substance abuse
- the impact of youth offending, though the eyes of its victims
- different perspectives on juvenile justice around the world
- the role of policy-makers and the media in shaping public attitudes — and sometimes, in promoting discrimination, prejudice, and inequality.
Here’s a full breakdown of the modules you’ll be studying.
Core modules
Research and Study Skills for Youth Justice
Develop sound understandings in the study of youth justice, along with the necessary skills to meet the academic challenges of studying as an undergraduate.
Youth Crime and Social Inclusion
You will be introduced to some of the wider societal issues that can impact upon the life journeys of young people. Young offenders in particular often experience multiple inequalities, and this module explores what these are, the theories behind them, and solutions to overcome these issues.
Child and Adolescent Development
Examine the crucial theoretical underpinning as to what it is in a young person’s upbringing and background that may contribute to their offending behaviour, equipping you with vital knowledge and understanding for future youth justice practice.
Values, Ethics and Children's Rights in a Youth Justice Context
Gain an understanding of the rights, responsibilities and the legal framework of the youth justice system, as well as the values and ethics that inform youth justice practice.
Contemporary Youth Justice: Context and Purpose
Gain an understanding of the rights, responsibilities and legal framework of the youth justice system, as well as the values and ethics that inform youth justice practice.
Managing Transitions
Study the theoretical approaches to the concept of managing transitions (movements, passages or changes) that children and young people may experience and / or are affected by.
Core modules
Assessment and Report Writing in Youth Justice Practice
You will explore in detail the range of reports and assessments a youth practitioner would need to complete, and how these link to the National Occupational Standards for the youth justice system.
The Secure Estate and Resettlement
As well as examining the experience of custody, related transitions, and resettlement for young people, this module considers the history of custody for young people and the lessons to be learnt from that history.
Research Methods in Youth Justice
Study the main approaches in qualitative and quantitative social research, and explore the relative strengths and weaknesses of particular research methods.
Effective Practice in Youth Justice
Utilising your learning from Year One, you will develop your learning in relation to the overarching subject of effective practice in youth justice. Focusing on the relationship between young people and youth justice practitioners, this module explores the link between evidence-based and effective practice, the principles of effective youth justice practice, and the importance of reflection for effective practitioners.
Important information
The Secure Estate and Resettlement module, the Research Methods in Youth Justice module and the Effective Practice in Youth Justice module are the Youth Justice Board's entry-level qualification for working in the youth justice sector.
A crucial component of the work of a youth justice practitioner is carrying out assessments, writing reports for various professional bodies, and making recommendations to courts. These skills are addressed in the Assessment and Report Writing in Youth Justice Practice module, which covers in detail the range of reports and assessments a youth practitioner would need to complete, as well as the National Occupational Standards for the youth justice system.
Developing effective communication and relationship-building skills are fundamental when working with young people. The Effective Practice in Youth Justice module will explore the importance of effective communication, networking, advocacy and conflict resolution.
Core modules
Dissertation
Building upon a number of developing concepts gained in Year One and Two, you will apply them to a sustained piece of self-directed study on a specific area of interest in youth justice. You will work with your individual supervisor to formulate a research question and produce a critical commentary around your subject choice.
Restorative Justice, Victims and Victimology
You will consider competing perspectives on victimology, victims’ rights and restorative justice, and examine the implications of involving victims in the criminal justice process, particularly with regard to restorative justice approaches.
Delivering Interventions in Youth Justice Practice
Critically appraise and reflect upon the core competencies and skills required to be a youth justice practitioner and deliver effective practice. You'll develop a personal development plan, utilising reflection and your understanding of effective practice principles in youth justice.
Law, Sentencing and the Role of the Courts
Building upon your current knowledge of the legal system in relation to youth justice, this module will look at other areas of the law, including mental health legislation, housing law, the law relating to education, and welfare benefit legislation.
Safeguarding in Youth Justice Practice
Pulling together key themes and ideas that have been developed during Year One and Year Two, including children’s needs and rights; the exclusions young people face and how they develop; and how to assess young people’s vulnerability, how to protect them, and how to promote their wellbeing.
We regularly review and update our course content based on student and employer feedback, ensuring that all of our courses remain current and relevant. This may result in changes to module content or module availability in future years.
Don’t just take our word for it, hear from our students themselves
Why Youth Justice is the right course for you
How you're taught
How will I learn?
You’ll be supported by a teaching team with almost 50 years’ experience of the youth justice system. From probationary services to charities for at-risk children, they’ve seen it all; they’re published authors, podcasters, and even TV crime experts! The team’s research spans everything from diversionary sport and arts programmes, to the impact of COVID-19 on rehabilitation strategies — so between their expertise, experience and professional connections, you’re in great hands.
You’ll learn through a mix of:
- lectures and visiting guest speakers, who’ll explain the realities of working in the youth justice system
- small-group seminars and workshops, designed to improve your debating, teamworking, and problem-solving skills — our smaller class sizes make it a less daunting experience, and you’ll be studying with the same people all through your course
- real-world case studies, helping you to flag the signs and symptoms of abuse, and identify the people and processes that could’ve helped prevent it
- field trips and court visits, where you’ll watch trials and then discuss the outcomes
- roleplaying and simulation, for key processes like safeguarding
- one-on-one meetings with your friendly personal tutor
- independent study, as you build up your research skills.
How you're assessed
People learn in different ways, and we want everybody to have the best possible chance of success. Our students especially love the fact that the course only includes one exam (in Year Three), which we’ll practice for.
We’ve introduced a wide range of assessment methods onto NTU’s Youth Justice degree course — everything from essays and reflective journals, presentations and posters, case studies and critical reviews, to focus groups, quizzes, placements, roleplaying, and your very own research project.
- Year 1 coursework
- Year 2 coursework
- Year 3 coursework and written
Contact hours
At the start of your course you will spend around a quarter of your time in in-person teaching through lectures, seminars and workshops, with the rest of your time devoted to independent study. In second year, you'll also spend some of your time on placement.
As the course progresses, the amount of in-person contact time will be reduced, allowing you to focus on building your independent research skills. You’ll still have access to your tutors whenever you need them — we’re big on wellbeing, and we want to make sure that your transition from school or college to uni is as comfortable and supported as possible.
Careers and employability
We’ve designed our course together with key teams and agencies from across the youth justice sector, to ensure that what you’re learning is everything employers expect to see. The quality of our students is well-known throughout the industry; with our support, you’ll be a great candidate for probationary services, mentoring schemes, specialist community projects, and everything else in between!
Experience the real world of juvenile justice at NTU
As well as getting the professional practitioner experience of lecturers and guest speakers, you’ll be visiting rehabilitative agencies from across the youth justice system, developing your understanding of the arrest-to-sentence process at court trials, and even roleplaying mock cases. Our teaching team has sector-wide connections, which will provide you with the volunteering opportunities to really flesh out your CV — organisations like Skills for Justice and the YMCA. You’ll be meeting people from lots of different areas in youth justice, which is great for your professional prospects.
Work-like experience
You’ll also have the chance to complete a four-week placement with a youth justice agency, as part of Year Two’s ‘Effective Practice in Youth Justice’ module. You’ll not only get the chance to network, apply your theoretical skills in the real world, and get your name out there — you’ll also have a realistic experience of looking for work throughout the application and interview process. Placements are a great way of finding out which area of juvenile justice you’d like to work in, and our recent providers have included organisations like Base 51, local authority Youth Offending teams, Take 1 Studios, and Support Through Sport.
Youth justice jobs and careers
Our student community’s very diverse: some people have a general interest in young people and criminology, while others have had personal experience of the youth justice system. Some come straight from school or college — others are planning a career change.
What they all have in common, though, is the desire to make a difference. The range of professional pathways open after graduation is huge: you could join a big organisation like the police, secure a role in a residential care setting, start your own community inclusion project, or progress onto one of our postgraduate programmes in youth work, social work, criminology, and politics. The choice is entirely yours — but whatever your plans, you’ll retain access to our award-winning employability support services for up to two years after graduation, so stay in touch!
Only recently, graduates of NTU’s Youth Justice degree have secured roles as:
- Youth Justice Workers, Youth Support Workers, and Juvenile Liaisons
- Prison and Probation Officers
- Case Workers, Key Workers, and Behavioural Mentors
- Housing and Welfare Officers, and Housing Support Coordinators
- Custody Officers
- Mental Health Specialists
- Teachers and Senior Lecturers
- Child Sexual Exploitation Support Worker
- Government Policy-Makers
What’s more, our students have also developed their own diversionary programmes around big passions like sport and art; established residential homes for children; and worked as Case Managers in youth offending teams up and down the country, at a very senior level.
Campus and facilities
You’ll mainly be studying in the Chaucer and Newton buildings, at the centre of our vibrant City Campus. As well as a range of classrooms and lecture theatres, our facilities including a mock prison cell and courtroom, banks of open-access PCs, and ‘scale-up’ rooms for either quiet study or busy collaborative work.
NTU’s City Campus has everything you’ll need to stay busy between lectures. As well as the Boots Library and its beautiful roof garden, there’s our stylish Students’ Union building and two-storey, 100-station gym; a whole host of cafés, bars, restaurants and food outlets for every taste; our much-loved Global Lounge; performance and rehearsal spaces for musicians; and much, much more!
Take a few steps off campus and you’ll find yourself in the heart of Nottingham — one of Britain’s top 10 student cities, and one of Europe’s top 25. It’s stuffed with history, culture, and well-kept secrets to discover at your leisure. Enjoy lush green spaces, galleries, hidden cinemas and vintage shopping by day, and an acclaimed food, drink and social scene by night.
Take our virtual tour to get a real feel for the campus.
Entry requirements
UK students
Standard offer: 112 UCAS Tariff points from up to four qualifications
Contextual offer: 104 UCAS Tariff points from up to four qualifications
Other requirements: Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS) check
To find out what qualifications have tariff points, please use our tariff calculator.
Additional requirements for UK students
We also consider equivalent qualifications and combinations. All applicants should be able to demonstrate an interest in, and an aptitude for, engaging young people. Although it is not essential, we positively encourage applicants who have experience of working within a youth justice setting or can evidence relevant voluntary work, particularly with young people. Specifically, mature applicants are encouraged to apply as, alongside academic qualifications, relevant practical experience and achievements are seen as an asset. Non-standard applicants may be interviewed.
As with all vocational courses related to working with children and young people, all students are required to provide full details of any previous criminal convictions on admission and confirm the nature of these upon course commencement. Students are required to disclose any subsequent criminal convictions while on the course; failure to provide full disclosure of previous or new convictions can lead to termination of a student’s studies. Students eligible for the work-based learning observation may be required to complete an enhanced Disclosure Barring Service (DBS) Disclosure. If this highlights a potential risk to a child this could lead to termination being considered.
Contextual offers
If you don’t quite meet our entry requirements, we might be able to make you a lower offer based on a range of factors, including your background (such as where you live and the school or college you attended), your experiences and your individual circumstances (you may have been in care, for example). This is called a contextual offer, and we get data from UCAS to help make these decisions. We do this because we believe everyone with the potential to succeed at NTU should have the opportunity to do so, no matter what barriers you may face.
Meeting our entry requirements
Hundreds of qualifications in the UK have UCAS Tariff points attached to specific grades, including A-levels, BTECs, T Levels and many more. You can use your grades and points from up to four different qualifications to meet our criteria. Enter your predicted or achieved grades into our Tariff calculator to find out how many points your qualifications are worth.
Other qualifications and experience
NTU welcomes applications from students with non-standard qualifications and learning backgrounds, either for year one entry or for advanced standing beyond the start of a course into year 2 or beyond.
We consider study and/or credit achieved from a similar course at another institution (otherwise known as credit transfer), vocational and professional qualifications, and broader work or life experience.
Our Recognition of Prior Learning and Credit Transfer Policy outlines the process and options available for this route. If you wish to apply via Recognition of Prior Learning, please contact the central Admissions and Enquiries Team who will be able to support you through the process.
Getting in touch
If you need more help or information, get in touch through our enquiry form.
International students
Academic entry requirements: 112 UCAS Tariff points from up to four A levels. We accept equivalent qualifications from all over the world. Please check your international entry requirements by country.
Other requirements: Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS) check
English language requirements: See our English language requirements page for requirements for your subject and information on alternative tests and Pre-sessional English.
Additional requirements for international students
We also consider equivalent qualifications and combinations. All applicants should be able to demonstrate an interest in, and an aptitude for, engaging young people. Although it is not essential, we positively encourage applicants who have experience of working within a youth justice setting or can evidence relevant voluntary work, particularly with young people. Specifically, mature applicants are encouraged to apply as, alongside academic qualifications, relevant practical experience and achievements are seen as an asset. Non-standard applicants may be interviewed.
As with all vocational courses related to working with children and young people, all students are required to provide full details of any previous criminal convictions on admission and confirm the nature of these upon course commencement. Students are required to disclose any subsequent criminal convictions while on the course; failure to provide full disclosure of previous or new convictions can lead to termination of a student’s studies. Students eligible for the work-based learning observation may be required to complete an enhanced Disclosure Barring Service (DBS) Disclosure. If this highlights a potential risk to a child this could lead to termination being considered.
Undergraduate preparation courses (Foundation)
If you need help achieving the academic entry requirements, we offer a Foundation preparation course for this degree. The course is offered through our partner Nottingham Trent International College (NTIC) based on our City Campus.
English language requirements
View our English language requirements for all courses, including alternative English language tests and country qualifications accepted by the University.
If you need help achieving the language requirements, we offer a Pre-Sessional English for Academic Purposes course on our City campus which is an intensive preparation course for academic study at NTU.
Other qualifications and experience
If you have the right level of qualifications, you may be able to start your Bachelors degree at NTU in year 2 or year 3. This is called ‘advanced standing’ entry and is decided on a case-by case basis after our assessment of your qualifications and experience.
You can view our Recognition of Prior Learning and Credit Transfer Policy which outlines the process and options available, such as recognising experiential learning and credit transfer.
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Getting in touch
If you need advice about studying at NTU as an international student or how to apply, our international webpages are a great place to start. If you have any questions about your study options, your international qualifications, experience, grades or other results, please get in touch through our enquiry form. Our international teams are highly experienced in answering queries from students all over the world.
Policies
We strive to make our admissions procedures as fair and clear as possible. To find out more about how we make offers, visit our admissions policies page.
