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Criminology

Entry requirements


A level

B,C,C

Access to HE Diploma

M:45

GCSE/National 4/National 5

GCSE English at C/4 or above

Pearson BTEC Level 3 National Extended Diploma (first teaching from September 2016)

MMM

UCAS Tariff

104

About this course


Course option

3years

Full-time | 2024

Subject

Criminology

**Overview**
To study criminology is to embark on a fascinating journey exploring the problem of crime. Learn about its causes and consequences, and investigating how society does and should respond to criminal behaviour in all its forms.

**Develop your understanding of criminology in action**
This course is ideal if you're interested in how society responds to criminal behaviour and the challenges that this provides. Blending theory with practice, you’ll develop your knowledge by exploring key issues related to crime and justice before testing that knowledge through placements (when possible) within criminology-focused organisations and projects.

This blended programme gives you the opportunity to pick from a wide range of options, enabling you to choose the areas you are particularly interested in or align with your career goals.

Your degree will focus on key elements of criminology and sociology including crime and control, social sciences, justice and punishment, and forensic skills. The course offers visits (when possible) to criminal justice organisations, courts and prisons, as well as inviting industry leading guest speakers to give you a well-rounded and practice-based course that will propel you into your chosen career.

**Get skills that are suited to a range of criminology careers**
By studying this Criminology degree, you'll extend your understanding of why individuals and organisations break the law. You'll be well prepared for a career in developing solutions to a range of problems associated with crime and criminality in a diverse set of industries.

We've been at the forefront of criminological teaching and research since the 1970s and have played a significant role in shaping criminology in the UK and internationally. We were one of the first universities in the UK to develop criminology as an independent area of study, making us a consistent leader of the industry.

Studying with us will provide you with links to several areas of professional employment. You’ll have options both nationally and internationally, in the criminal justice sector and regulatory bodies, with voluntary and community organisations and in the allied fields of health, education and housing.

**How is the BA Criminology taught?**
This degree is taught through a combination of teaching methods designed to both impart and facilitate the development of knowledge and skills. Whether offered face-to-face or online, these methods include lectures, workshops and seminars, guided reading and independent study, group work, computer-assisted data analysis, case studies, and online and in-class exercises.

The programme also includes fieldwork, community-based and work-based learning opportunities.

Modules

Year 1
Crime in Social Context (15 credits) - Compulsory
Skills and Debates in Criminology (15 credits) - Compulsory
Explaining Crime (15 credits) - Compulsory
Researching Crime in the City (15 credits) - Compulsory
Crime, Media and Culture (15 credits) - Compulsory
Institutions of Criminal Justice (15 credits) - Compulsory
Law for Criminology (15 credits) - Compulsory
Quantitative Investigation of Crime (15 credits) - Compulsory

Year 2: Core modules
Research Methods for Studying Contemporary Society (30 credits) - Compulsory
Contemporary Criminological Theory (15 credits) - Compulsory
Criminology and Practice: Working in Criminology (15 credits) - Compulsory
Transforming Justice: Human Rights and Power in Contemporary Policy and Practice (15 credits) - Compulsory
Race and Social Justice (15 credits) - Compulsory

Year 2: Choose one optional module
Policing (15 credits) - Optional
Prisons and Penology (15 credits) - Optional
Sociology of Intimate and Personal Lives: Family, Friendship and Self (15 credits) - Optional
Digital Media and the Social World (15 credits) - Optional
Volunteering for Engagement and Professional Development (15 credits) - Optional
Criminal Law and Legal Processes (15 credits) - Optional

Year 2: Choose one optional module
Victimology (15 credits) - Optional
Our Social World: Welfare, Care, Education and Housing in Contemporary Britain (15 credits) - Optional
Gender and Crime (15 credits) - Optional
Youth, Crime and Justice (15 credits) - Optional
Cybercrime in Contemporary Criminology (15 credits) - Optional
Cities and Communities (15 credits) - Optional

Year 3
Dissertation (30 credits) - Compulsory option
Learning at Work (30 credits) - Compulsory option
Contemporary Issues in Criminology and Policy Processes (15 credits) - Compulsory

Year 3: Choose two optional modules
Comparative Criminal Justice: Criminal Courts, Sentencing and Prisons (15 credits) - Optional
‘Learning Together’ Contemporary Issues in Criminal Justice (15 credits) - Optional
Digital and Visual Methods (15 credits) - Optional
Gender, Sexuality and Society (15 credits) - Optional
Organised Violence: War, Genocide and Terrorism (15 credits) - Optional
Violent Crime (15 credits) - Optional
Rehabilitation and Community Support (15 credits) - Optional
Investigations in Theory and Practice (15 credits) - Optional
Crimes of the Powerful (15 credits) - Optional

Year 3: Choose three optional modules
Home, Housing the Society (15 credits) - Optional
Life Course, Health and Disability (15 credits) - Optional
Radicalisation and Violent Extremism (15 credits) - Optional
Social Movements and Protest (15 credits) - Optional
Learning at Work (15 credits) - Optional
Forensic Mental Health and Offending (15 credits) - Optional
Children as Victims and the Child Protection System (15 credits) - Optional
Drugs, Crime and Criminal Justice (15 credits) - Optional
Cyber-Security (15 credits) - Optional
Gangs, Group Offending and Joint Enterprise (15 credits) - Optional
Environmental Justice and Green Criminology (15 credits) - Optional
Transnational Crime (15 credits) - Optional

Tuition fees

Select where you currently live to see what you'll pay:

Channel Islands
£9,250
per year
England
£9,250
per year
EU
£15,100
per year
International
£15,100
per year
Northern Ireland
£9,250
per year
Scotland
£9,250
per year
Wales
£9,250
per year

The Uni


Course location:

Hendon Campus

Department:

Criminology and Sociology

Read full university profile

What students say


We've crunched the numbers to see if overall student satisfaction here is high, medium or low compared to students studying this subject(s) at other universities.

68%
Criminology

How do students rate their degree experience?

The stats below relate to the general subject area/s at this university, not this specific course. We show this where there isn’t enough data about the course, or where this is the most detailed info available to us.

Sociology

Teaching and learning

72%
Staff make the subject interesting
84%
Staff are good at explaining things
74%
Ideas and concepts are explored in-depth
70%
Opportunities to apply what I've learned

Assessment and feedback

Feedback on work has been timely
Feedback on work has been helpful
Staff are contactable when needed
Good advice available when making study choices

Resources and organisation

66%
Library resources
81%
IT resources
78%
Course specific equipment and facilities
60%
Course is well organised and has run smoothly

Student voice

Staff value students' opinions
Feel part of a community on my course

Who studies this subject and how do they get on?

88%
UK students
12%
International students
22%
Male students
78%
Female students
59%
2:1 or above
32%
First year drop out rate

Most popular A-Levels studied (and grade achieved)

C
E
C

After graduation


The stats in this section relate to the general subject area/s at this university – not this specific course. We show this where there isn't enough data about the course, or where this is the most detailed info available to us.

Sociology

What are graduates doing after six months?

This is what graduates told us they were doing (and earning), shortly after completing their course. We've crunched the numbers to show you if these immediate prospects are high, medium or low, compared to those studying this subject/s at other universities.

£18,200
med
Average annual salary
86%
low
Employed or in further education
27%
low
Employed in a role where degree was essential or beneficial

Top job areas of graduates

35%
Sales assistants and retail cashiers
8%
Sales, marketing and related associate professionals
5%
Managers and proprietors in other services

We have quite a lot of sociology graduates, although numbers fell last year. But graduates still do pretty well. Most sociology graduates go straight into work when they complete their degrees, and a lot of graduates go into jobs in social professions such as recruitment, education, community and youth work, and housing. An important option for a sociology graduate is social work - and we're short of people willing to take this challenging but rewarding career. Sociology is a flexible degree and you can find graduates from the subject in pretty much every reasonable job — obviously, you don't find many doctors or engineers, but you do find them in finance, the media, healthcare, marketing and even IT. Sociology graduates taking further study often branch out into other qualifications, like teaching, law, psychology, HR and even maths, so don’t think a sociology degree restricts you to just one set of options.

What about your long term prospects?

Looking further ahead, below is a rough guide for what graduates went on to earn.

Sociology

The graph shows median earnings of graduates who achieved a degree in this subject area one, three and five years after graduating from here.

£20k

£20k

£23k

£23k

£26k

£26k

Note: this data only looks at employees (and not those who are self-employed or also studying) and covers a broad sample of graduates and the various paths they've taken, which might not always be a direct result of their degree.

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Teaching Excellence Framework (TEF):

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This information comes from the National Student Survey, an annual student survey of final-year students. You can use this to see how satisfied students studying this subject area at this university, are (not the individual course).

This is the percentage of final-year students at this university who were "definitely" or "mostly" satisfied with their course. We've analysed this figure against other universities so you can see whether this is high, medium or low.

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This information is from the Higher Education Statistics Agency (HESA), for undergraduate students only.

You can use this to get an idea of who you might share a lecture with and how they progressed in this subject, here. It's also worth comparing typical A-level subjects and grades students achieved with the current course entry requirements; similarities or differences here could indicate how flexible (or not) a university might be.

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Post-six month graduation stats:

This is from the Destinations of Leavers from Higher Education Survey, based on responses from graduates who studied the same subject area here.

It offers a snapshot of what grads went on to do six months later, what they were earning on average, and whether they felt their degree helped them obtain a 'graduate role'. We calculate a mean rating to indicate if this is high, medium or low compared to other universities.

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Graduate field commentary:

The Higher Education Careers Services Unit have provided some further context for all graduates in this subject area, including details that numbers alone might not show

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The Longitudinal Educational Outcomes dataset combines HRMC earnings data with student records from the Higher Education Statistics Agency.

While there are lots of factors at play when it comes to your future earnings, use this as a rough timeline of what graduates in this subject area were earning on average one, three and five years later. Can you see a steady increase in salary, or did grads need some experience under their belt before seeing a nice bump up in their pay packet?

Have a question about this info? Learn more here