Overview
When you work with criminals and their victims, the ability to understand people's emotions, thoughts and actions is vital. This combined BSc (Hons) Criminology with Psychology degree gives you a deep understanding of criminal behaviour, for a competitive edge in your career.
You'll explore why people commit crimes, the psychological fallout, and how rehabilitation works. Studying in one of the UK's largest criminology departments, your diverse options will also include specialist subjects such as forensic psychology.
Course Highlights
- Tailor your criminology and psychology degree for a career path that fits your ambitions – from policing to probation, prisons to rehabilitation
- Be taught by experts, including forensic psychologists and criminologists, whose ground-breaking research keeps your modules relevant and eye-opening
- Develop practical skills, such as lie detection and effective interviewing, in our Forensic Interviewing Suite, founded by a researcher who works with emergency services to develop better ways of interviewing witnesses
- Explore how virtual reality can make a difference to understanding criminal behaviour, inspired by our innovative VR research
- Enjoy a sense of community with your peers, on course-specific socials and field trips – recent examples include visits to courtrooms and Bethlem Museum of the Mind, on the grounds of the infamous 'Bedlam' Hospital
- Study alongside operational police units and learn directly from operational policing staff
- Have the opportunity to do a criminology work placement year after your second or third year on this Connected Degree - we're the only UK university to offer flexible sandwich placements for undergraduates
- If you’re interested in policing, probation work or community justice, you can choose modules that give you pre-entry qualifications for a career in those fields
- Make the most of our links with agencies such as youth offender teams, the probation service and prisons, to build your network of potential employers
- Choose to learn a foreign language for free as part of your degree, from a selection of Arabic, British Sign Language, French, German, Italian, Japanese, Mandarin or Spanish
Careers and opportunities
By studying aspects of two different but related disciplines – psychology and criminology – you’ll open yourself to a wide range of career options. You’ll be a natural fit for roles relating to work with offenders or victims of crime. Both are areas where there will likely always be a demand for skilled professionals.
The psychology aspects of your studies will broaden your career options. Your understanding of the human mind and behaviour could lead you to specialist jobs, such as forensic psychology (with further training). Knowledge of psychology can also be an asset in a diverse range of roles outside of criminal justice - from market research to human resources.
With transferable skills in communications, critical thinking and analysis on your CV, you’ll be a very employable graduate.
Organisations you could work for include:
- the police force
- the probation service
- the prison service
- academic research
- victim and offender support charities
Our criminology with psychology graduates have gone on to jobs such as:
- investigative data analyst
- police officer
- defence and security analyst
- probation officer
- counter fraud intelligence analyst
- youth offending support officer
- offender case administrator
We are one of a select few universities in the UK recognised by the Association of Certified Fraud Examiners (ACFE) - a global professional body for counter fraud professionals.
If you take the optional module Economic Crime and Fraud Examination on this course, you'll have the chance to complete the ACFE's Certified Fraud Examiner qualification at a subsidised rate.
Ongoing careers support
Get experience while you study, with support to find part-time jobs, volunteering opportunities, and work experience.
Towards the end of your degree and for up to five years after graduation, you’ll receive one-to-one support from our Graduate Recruitment Consultancy to help you find your perfect role.
