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Criminology

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 the nature of crime, justice and punishment and prepare for a career in criminal justice and crime prevention by studying for our Criminology degree in Cambridge.**

Explore the causes of crime, the effectiveness of punishment, and how crime and victimisation are represented in the media.

In doing so, you’ll challenge your existing opinions. You’ll also develop skills in evaluating contrasting evidence, critical thinking and crafting arguments by learning how sociologists, psychologists, political theorists and law experts approach crime and complex social problems.

Our BA (Hons) Criminology course places value on hands-on learning. You'll learn through case studies, the latest research and interactive sessions – and you might also have the opportunity for field trips to courts, prisons and sites such as Auschwitz.

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

Together, we’ll explore the causes of, responses to, and media representation of the most relevant crimes of today. These include violence against women and girls, crimes of the powerful, opportunistic crimes, war crimes, corruption and urban culture.

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.

What’s more, our links to local and national organisations, including Essex, Cambridgeshire and Bedfordshire police forces, give you the chance to gain work experience, and lay the groundwork for your final-year research project. You could also take up a volunteering placement with organisations like Romsey Mill, a local charity committed to overcoming disadvantage, challenging injustice and promoting social inclusion with young people, children and families.

You could enhance your CV by studying abroad for a semester – with funding on offer to help cover the cost.

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 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**

As a BA (Hons) Criminology graduate you’ll be well-equipped for a career in a number of public services. These include the probation service, prison service (officers and governors), police (crime scene and victim liaison officers), the Home Office (researchers and policy analysts), the Crown Prosecution Service, the Court Service, youth offending teams and crime reduction partnerships.

The multidisciplinary nature of this course, and its focus on employability and transferable skills, can also open doors elsewhere for example in adult guidance work, charity work, counselling, local government, political analysis, and legal careers.

Whichever path you choose, you can be sure you’re graduating with the knowledge, skills and abilities that employers need. They help us review what we teach and how we teach it – and they offer hands-on, practical opportunities to learn through work-based projects, internships or placements. Our past students have taken up volunteering placements with organisations such as Romsey Mill, or completed their undergraduate major project research with a number of police forces including Essex, Cambridgeshire and Bedfordshire.

Graduation doesn’t have to be the end of your time with us. You might choose to stay at ARU and study for a Masters, such as our 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; Media, Society and Crime; The Evolution of Crime and Criminology. Year 2 core modules: Making A Difference; Revolving Doors: Punishment and Rehabilitation; Ruskin Module; Violence and Confrontation. Year 2 optional modules: Lessons Learned: Inquests, Tribunals and Truth; Cybercrime and Policing; Sociology of Health Inequalities; Sociology of Religion; Hanging, Prisons and Community Service: Crime and Punishment in Britain throughout the Ages; Using Linguistics: An Introduction to Forensic; Clinical and Computational Linguistics; Violence, Gender and Victimisation; Dark Web Policing and Control; Intoxicants and Intoxication; Anglia Language Programme. Year 3 core modules: Undergraduate Major Project - Criminology; Youth, Crime and Aggression; Criminology and Policing in Policy and Practice. Year 3 optional modules: Exploitation, Trafficking and Sexual Violence; Race, Racism and Ethnic Identity; Investigative Psychology; Feminist Debates and Activism; Politics and Social Media; Concepts of Good and Evil; Organised Crime; Sexuality and Social Control; Police and Counter-terrorism; Comparative and Global Criminal Justice; Anglia Language Programme. Modules are subject to change and availability.

Assessment methods

We’ll assess your progress using a range of methods, including case studies, presentations, essays, short, weekly pieces of writing, portfolios, poster presentations, data analysis exercises, examinations and group projects. You’ll receive constructive feedback throughout the course to help you improve your work.

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