Get degree ideas using our A level explorer tool

Criminology and Psychology (Professional Placement Year)

Entry requirements


A level

B,B,B-B,C,C

A Level - grades BBB-BCC preferred. If studying Psychology, then a Grade B or higher is required. If Psychology is not an option at your school or college, then another A Level subject will be accepted, but a keen interest in psychology will need to be described in your personal statement.

Access to HE Diploma

M:45

Access to HE courses – typical offers for applicants with Access to HE will be the Access to HE Diploma or Access to HE Certificate (60 credits, 45 of which must be Level 3, at Merit or higher). Applicants will need to show a keen interest in psychology in the personal statement.

International Baccalaureate Diploma Programme

32

A minimum of 32 points are required.

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

DDM-DMM

BTEC – Extended Diploma grades from Distinction Distinction Merit (DDM) to Distinction Merit Merit (DMM) in a related subject. Applicants will need to show a keen interest in psychology in the personal statement.

T Level

M

T Levels – grade Merit preferred in a relevant subject.

UCAS Tariff

104-120

We've calculated how many Ucas points you'll need for this course.

About this course


Course option

4years

Full-time | 2024

Subjects

Criminology

Psychology

**Study the links between the mind and criminal behaviour with our Criminology and Psychology degree.**
- One of only a few combined courses accredited by the British Psychological Society.

- Explore crime and disorder including green, maritime and digital crimes.

- Develop transferable skills that you can take into a range of careers.

Gain a deep understanding of the psychological, sociological and biological causes of criminal behaviour, as well as crime prevention, intervention, and criminal rehabilitation.

Our Psychology and Criminology degree develops your critical thinking skills, research abilities, and an understanding of the complexities of criminal behaviour. You'll develop skills that you can take into a range of careers, including:
- communication

- planning and project management

- an understanding and consideration for ethics.

In your Criminology modules, we explore crime and disorder, such as green crime, maritime crime and crime on social media. You’ll also examine criminal justice and crime prevention. In your study of Psychology, you’ll learn the core perspectives of psychology, along with research methods, data collection and analysis.

After graduating, you'll be able to pursue a career in which understanding the mind and criminal behaviour is essential. For example, you could enter law enforcement, criminal justice or social work. Our accreditation from the British Psychological Society means you can also study Psychology at a higher level in preparation a career as a psychologist.

**Combined Honour Awards**
At Bath Spa University many of our undergraduate programmes can be combined, so you don’t have to limit yourself to one subject. If you choose to study a combined award then in Year One you’ll start by studying both subjects in equal depth, then from Year Two you can choose whether to continue with an equally joint course, or a Major/Minor route.

**More about the Professional Placement Year**
A Professional Placement Year (PPY), traditionally known as a sandwich year, is where a student undertakes a period of work with an external organisation for between 9-13 months. The placement occurs between the students' second and third years of undergraduate study. Students can engage in up to 3 placements to make up the total time and are required to source the placement(s) themselves with support from the Careers and Employability Team.

Modules

Year one
Build the foundations and develop the core knowledge and skills you’ll need in both strands of your course.

In your Criminology studies, you'll examine crime statistics, criminal justice and criminological theory.

You’ll also explore the main areas of psychological science, with an introduction to research methods and data analysis skills.

Year two
In your second year you’ll take on further depth and challenges.

In your Psychology modules, you’ll take a closer look at biological, cognitive, developmental and social psychology, and advance your understanding of research methods. In Criminology, you’ll study contemporary debates, criminal justice, and policing. You'll also be supported and encouraged to take a work placement.

Year three
You'll take your Professional Placement Year between your second and final years.

Year four
You’ll explore how Psychology is applied socially and commercially to solve real-world problems. You’ll also design and develop your Psychology dissertation project. Working under specialist supervision, you'll collect and analyse data and write up your dissertation research report.

You can choose from Criminology modules that focus on punishment and penology, victimisation, and terrorism.

Assessment methods

We use a range of assessments to gain a comprehensive measure of your performance. Assignments may include essays, debates, book reviews, exams, portfolios, creative work, contributions to online resources, presentations, reports, in-class tests, reflective writing and individual 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
EU
£16,675
per year
International
£16,675
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:

Bath Spa University

Department:

School of Science

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.

78%
Criminology
65%
Psychology

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

82%
Staff make the subject interesting
87%
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

74%
Library resources
89%
IT resources
72%
Course specific equipment and facilities
62%
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?

99%
UK students
1%
International students
24%
Male students
76%
Female students
79%
2:1 or above
12%
First year drop out rate

Most popular A-Levels studied (and grade achieved)

B
C
C

Psychology (non-specific)

Teaching and learning

69%
Staff make the subject interesting
83%
Staff are good at explaining things
65%
Ideas and concepts are explored in-depth
60%
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
71%
Course specific equipment and facilities
68%
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?

96%
UK students
4%
International students
21%
Male students
79%
Female students
74%
2:1 or above
10%
First year drop out rate

Most popular A-Levels studied (and grade achieved)

C
C
B

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.

93%
low
Employed or in further education

Top job areas of graduates

13%
Sales assistants and retail cashiers
8%
Other elementary services occupations
7%
Childcare and related personal 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.

Psychology (non-specific)

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.

£17,500
med
Average annual salary
99%
high
Employed or in further education
46%
med
Employed in a role where degree was essential or beneficial

Top job areas of graduates

21%
Sales assistants and retail cashiers
11%
Welfare and housing associate professionals
9%
Other elementary services occupations

20 years ago, this was a specialist degree for would-be psychologists but now it is the model of a modern, flexible degree subject. One of the UK's fastest-growing subject at degree level, and the second most popular subject overall (it recently overtook business studies), one in 23 of all graduates last year had psychology degrees. As you'd expect with figures like that, jobs in psychology itself are incredibly competitive, so to stand a chance of securing one, you need to get a postgraduate qualification (probably a doctorate in most fields, especially clinical psychology) and some relevant work experience. But even though there are so many psychology graduates — far more than there are jobs in psychology, and over 13,800 in total last year — this degree has a lower unemployment rate than average because its grads are so flexible and well-regarded by business and other industries across the economy. Everywhere there are good jobs in the UK economy, you'll find psychology graduates - and it's hardly surprising as the course helps you gain a mix of good people skills and excellent number and data handling skills. A psychology degree ticks most employers' boxes — but we'd suggest you don't drop your maths modules.

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

£20k

£20k

£24k

£24k

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.

Psychology (non-specific)

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

£17k

£17k

£22k

£22k

£24k

£24k

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.

Explore these similar courses...

Share this page

This is what the university has told Ucas about the criteria they expect applicants to satisfy; some may be compulsory, others may be preferable.

Have a question about this info? Learn more here

This is the percentage of applicants to this course who received an offer last year, through Ucas.

Have a question about this info? Learn more here

This is what the university has told Ucas about the course. Use it to get a quick idea about what makes it unique compared to similar courses, elsewhere.

Have a question about this info? Learn more here

Course location and department:

This is what the university has told Ucas about the course. Use it to get a quick idea about what makes it unique compared to similar courses, elsewhere.

Have a question about this info? Learn more here

Teaching Excellence Framework (TEF):

We've received this information from the Department for Education, via Ucas. This is how the university as a whole has been rated for its quality of teaching: gold silver or bronze. Note, not all universities have taken part in the TEF.

Have a question about this info? Learn more here

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.

Have a question about this info? Learn more here

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.

Have a question about this info? Learn more here

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.

Have a question about this info? Learn more here

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

Have a question about this info? Learn more here

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