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Criminology and Sociology

Entry requirements


96 UCAS Tariff Points from a minimum of 2 A levels (or equivalent).

UCAS Tariff Points accepted.

GCSE/National 4/National 5

3 GCSEs at grade C, or grade 4, or above which must include English Language or English Literature.

UCAS Tariff

96

UCAS Tariff Points from a minimum of 2 A levels (or equivalent).

About this course


Course option

3years

Full-time | 2024

Subject

Criminology

**Explore pressing crime and social issues and prepare for careers including policing, probation, youth offending and government by studying for our Criminology and Sociology degree in Cambridge.**

On this degree you will explore the most recent ideas, issues and debates in Criminology and Sociology such as the media, its moral panics and promotion of fear; sex, violence and the profiling of such offenders; deviant behaviour; youth offending; war and terror and genocide, giving you a specialist perspective on crime and society.

You can tailor your BA (Hons) Criminology and Sociology degree to your interests and career goals through a wide choice of optional modules. You might choose to focus on issues from corporate crime to human rights, and sexual violence to burglary. Or you might want to explore the link between intoxicants and crime, or religion and crime.

Our Sociology courses ranked 18th in the UK in the Guardian University Guide 2024.

We have a supportive community of staff and students at ARU. Throughout your BA (Hons) Criminology and Sociology degree, you’ll benefit from one-to-one personal tutoring and dedicated Criminology social media groups.

Through real-life case studies, academic research, and interactive learning sessions, you’ll develop your research and critical thinking skills. You could learn outside of the lecture theatre too, with visits to courts and prisons, where you’ll examine the trial process and methods of rehabilitation, punishment and retribution (historical and modern), deviance, race and gender. You’ll have the chance to travel abroad on one of our international field trips and examine crime and crime control in different geographical and cultural contexts. Or you might choose to study abroad for a semester to gain a more in-depth perspective on alternative criminal justice systems and societies - with funding on offer to cover the cost.

You’ll prepare for your future career from the first semester: building a portfolio and CV, attending volunteer and employment fairs, taking part in our annual Criminology conference, and hearing from key figures in criminal justice debates and the authors of important criminology texts.

Once you’ve graduated, you can continue to develop your skills with one of our Masters degrees, such as MA Sociology or MA Criminology.

**Hands-on learning**

All our BA (Hons) Criminology and Sociology students have the opportunity to:
- go on field trips in the UK and overseas

- study abroad for a semester, with funding available to help cover the cost

- choose from a range of optional modules and pursue your own areas of interest.

**Careers**

Our Criminology and Sociology degree will equip you with skills in independent, creative, critical and analytical thinking. These are valued in industries as wide-ranging as journalism and the media, business administration and management, health management, the Civil Service, teaching, social care, social research, the police, prison and probation services.

Specialist modules in years 2 and 3 and our excellent links with employers such as Cambridgeshire Police, the National Crime Agency and the Probation Service will help you tailor your degree towards your career goals.

You could also learn more about sociology, develop a specialism or start an exciting career in research with our MA Sociology or MA Criminology. Take advantage of our Alumni Scholarship and get 20% off your fees.

Modules

Year 1 core modules: Introduction to Contemporary Issues in Criminology; Criminal Justice in England and Wales; Sociology in Action. Year 1 optional modules: Media, Society and Crime; Global Affairs. Year 2 core modules: Making A Difference; Mobilities and Migration; Sociology of Education; Ruskin Module. Year 2 optional modules: Cybercrime and Policing; Intoxicants and Intoxication; Revolving Doors: Punishment and Rehabilitation; Sociology of Religion; Sociology of Health Inequalities; Violence and Confrontation; Violence, Gender and Victimisation; Lessons Learned: Inquests, Tribunals and Truth; Dark Web, Policing and Control; Hanging, Prisons and Community Service: Crime and Punishment in Britain throughout the Ages; Anglia Language Programme. Year 3 core modules: Undergraduate Major Project; Race, Racism and Ethnic Identity; Criminology and Policing in Policy and Practice. Year 3 optional modules: Comparative and Global Criminal Justice; Investigative Psychology; Organised Crime; Police and Counter-terrorism; Feminist Debates and Activism; Concepts of Good and Evil, Sexuality and Social Control; Environment, Nature and Society; Youth, Crime and Aggression; Exploitation, Trafficking and Sexual Violence; Politics and Social Media; Sport, Globalisation and International politics; Anglia Language Programme. Modules are subject to change and availability.

Assessment methods

We’ll assess your progress using a combination of case studies, presentations, essays, patchwork texts (short pieces of writing, or ‘patches’, built up week-by-week), portfolios, poster presentations, data analysis exercises, exams and group projects.

Tuition fees

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

Channel Islands
£9,250
per year
England
£9,250
per year
Northern Ireland
£9,250
per year
Republic of Ireland
£9,250
per year
Scotland
£9,250
per year
Wales
£9,250
per year

The Uni


Course location:

Cambridge Campus

Department:

School of Humanities and Social Sciences

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.

76%
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

76%
Staff make the subject interesting
84%
Staff are good at explaining things
81%
Ideas and concepts are explored in-depth
69%
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

59%
Library resources
80%
IT resources
72%
Course specific equipment and facilities
63%
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?

94%
UK students
6%
International students
46%
Male students
54%
Female students
74%
2:1 or above
15%
First year drop out rate

Most popular A-Levels studied (and grade achieved)

C
C
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.

£17,000
med
Average annual salary
93%
low
Employed or in further education
41%
med
Employed in a role where degree was essential or beneficial

Top job areas of graduates

20%
Childcare and related personal services
14%
Sales assistants and retail cashiers
9%
Public services and other associate professionals

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.

£18k

£18k

£22k

£22k

£25k

£25k

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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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