Welcome 2026 Students

Start Date

Welcome Week will take place between Monday 14 September and Friday 18 September 2026. During Welcome Week your course team will schedule activities for you to find out important information about your course, meet your lecturers and other students, and find your way around.

Teaching on your course begins from Thursday 17 September 2026. Please check your timetable for details.

You will be able to see your timetable on iCity using your BCU login details as soon as they are released. You should have received your BCU login details when you were invited to enrol.

International Students

We expect all international students to engage with their studies in person from w/c 7 September 2026.

The final deadline to arrive in the UK to complete enrolment will be week 4 (w/c 2 October 2026).

Timetables

Course Leader

Craig Kelly

Welcome Message

Welcome to the MA Criminology course at BCU!

I hope you are looking forwards to starting the course with us in September! We can’t wait to meet you and start on what will be a busy, challenging and (I hope) fulfilling year.

I want to start this welcome message with the key bits of information that you will be wanting to know. So, perhaps most importantly, your induction will be held on Thursday 17 September in the Curzon building. Your teaching will be held in Curzon for the entirety of your degree and formal teaching will only be on a Thursday. Typically teaching is held from 9am until 6pm.

On the induction week there will be a whole host of different events on campus so please don’t wait until the induction on Thursday to drop by. The student Union fair will be held on Wednesday the 16th and offers a great opportunity to get to know your way around the campus and (perhaps most importantly) grab some freebies!
The teaching on the course will begin the week following the induction and has been designed to develop your critical thinking skills, analytical skills and subject knowledge. The course team has a wide range of specialist knowledge which will enable you to develop your own specialist interests with a range of experts at hand to nudge you in the right direction and help you meet your full potential.

Aside from the main course content, throughout the year we will be hosting various guest talks from world renowned experts, will be hosting a book launch or two, will spend time exploring career and volunteering opportunities and focussing on professional development.

Prior to the start of the semester, we usually receive a few emails asking for what readings students should do to prepare the for the course. There are no required readings prior to the course commencing. However, if you are wanting to get back into the flow of academic reading or just wanting to refresh your mind before you begin I have a few classic texts I feel are well suited to gearing up for post graduate study in criminology whilst not being too strenuous or challenging.

For those of you new to the discipline, Shades of Deviance: A Primer on Crime, Deviance and Social Harm by Rowland Atkinson and Tammy Ayres is a brilliant book that shows the breadth of the discipline in really short and interesting chapters. If you are a student who has just finished their undergraduate studies and have a criminological background, I would suggest the late Jock Young’s Criminological Imagination is a fantastic read that, whilst a little dated now (so you can pick up a copy for a few quid) still raises important questions and challenges us to think outside the typical criminological parameters. As a final note on reading, academic books are grossly overpriced and I would always advise avoiding buying them from the publisher, as such websites such as Abebook.com usually have anything not published this year for a few pounds rather than the £30+ if you purchase them direct.

If you have any questions of queries please do not hesitate to drop me an email.

Best wishes,

Craig Kelly
Course lead- MA Criminology

Course Location

Your course will mainly be taught in:

Curzon Building, City Centre Campus (Room numbers start with C)

First day on Campus

We look forward to welcoming you to Birmingham City University!

You must have your ID card visible at all times when on campus, so if you have received yours before your first day, ensure you bring this with you. If you enrolled late you will need to collect one on campus during your first few days. Please remember that your ID card is for your use only. You must never let anyone else use it.

To complete your enrolment, you will need the following:

• Passport (or other form of photo ID if you are a UK/EU student)
• Original qualification documents if applicable (you will be emailed a list of the documents we need to see once you have completed your online enrolment)
• Visa (international students only)

What else? The rest is up to you! You will find a shop, café, pub, computer access and water fountains on campus, but we do recommend you bring the following on the first day:

• Laptop, if you have one
• Notepad and pen
• Reusable water bottle
• Snack
• Money

And remember, the weather in Birmingham can be changeable!