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Psychology and Criminology

Entry requirements


A level

B,B,B

BBB in three A levels

Access to HE Diploma

D:30

122 UCAS points in any Access to HE Diploma including Distinction in at least 30 Level 3 credits

GCSE/National 4/National 5

4 / C in GCSE Maths or Level 2 Functional Skills Maths, plus an English language qualification.

International Baccalaureate Diploma Programme

30

555 in three Higher Levels, OR 30 points

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

DDM

DDM in any BTEC Extended Diploma / National Extended Diploma

T Level

M

Merit in any T level

UCAS Tariff

120

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

About this course


This course has alternative study modes. Contact the university to find out how the information below might vary.

Course option

3years

Full-time | 2024

Other options

4 years | Sandwich including industrial placement | 2024

4 years | Sandwich with time abroad | 2024

Subjects

Criminology

Psychology

If studies at the interface of Psychology and Criminology interest you then this British Psychological Society accredited degree is for you. You will learn how to take a scientific approach to understanding the mind, emotions, and actions, considering the biological influences, social pressures and environmental factors that affect how people think, act, and feel. You will use this understanding to explore and critique the various areas of the criminal justice system including policing, prisons, and rehabilitation. You will graduate with advanced skills in communication, research and critical thinking ready to pursue an exciting and dynamic career.

**Why choose this course?**
- This programme is accredited by the British Psychological Society, subject to passing your final year project and achieving a minimum 2:2 degree award

- Keele was the first UK university to offer a named undergraduate degree in Criminology

- Global Top 300 for Social Sciences (Times Higher Education World University Subject Rankings, 2022)

- Broaden your horizons by spending a semester or year studying abroad

- Gain highly transferable graduate employability skills to pursue a broad range of careers

Studying a combined honours in Psychology and Criminology at Keele enables you to combine the study of two dynamic and evolving subject areas.

Psychology will equip you with a well-rounded education and in addition to studying the principal areas specified by the British Psychological Society (BPS) curriculum, you will have the opportunity to tailor your degree to reflect your career aspirations and interests.

Principle areas of psychology include: biological, cognitive, social and developmental psychology as well as individual differences and historical issues. You will gain fundamental scientific skills in research design, statistics, qualitative and survey methods.

Within Criminology you will explore what crime is and how it is defined by the law and public opinion, building your awareness of a range of criminological perspectives. You will also explore why it is important to think about crime, its impacts and how it could be prevented in future. You will research the theoretical explanations to understand the motivations for criminal behaviour and the subsequent investigation process.

**About Keele**

Keele University was established in 1949 by the former Vice-Chancellor of Oxford University. Founded to meet the needs of a changing world, Keele has always had a pioneering vision to be a different kind of university.

We excel in both teaching and research, with some of the most satisfied students in England, and research that is changing lives for the better at a regional, national and global level.

Our beautiful 600-acre campus is one of the biggest in Britain – but all the most important services and facilities are on your doorstep, with accommodation, teaching spaces, facilities including a medical centre, sports centre and pharmacy, and a range of shops, eateries and entertainment venues – including the Students’ Union – clustered around the centre.

Modules

For a list of indicative modules please visit the course page on the Keele University website.

The Uni


Course location:

Keele University

Department:

Keele (Central)

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.

72%
Criminology
69%
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

77%
Staff make the subject interesting
84%
Staff are good at explaining things
78%
Ideas and concepts are explored in-depth
66%
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

78%
Library resources
85%
IT resources
81%
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?

98%
UK students
2%
International students
21%
Male students
79%
Female students
72%
2:1 or above
13%
First year drop out rate

Most popular A-Levels studied (and grade achieved)

C
B
C

Psychology (non-specific)

Teaching and learning

69%
Staff make the subject interesting
84%
Staff are good at explaining things
74%
Ideas and concepts are explored in-depth
72%
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

75%
Library resources
87%
IT resources
83%
Course specific equipment and facilities
61%
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
25%
Male students
75%
Female students
84%
2:1 or above
7%
First year drop out rate

Most popular A-Levels studied (and grade achieved)

B
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.

£18,000
med
Average annual salary
99%
high
Employed or in further education

Top job areas of graduates

20%
Sales, marketing and related associate professionals
12%
Childcare and related personal services
8%
Caring 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.

£17,000
med
Average annual salary
97%
med
Employed or in further education
37%
low
Employed in a role where degree was essential or beneficial

Top job areas of graduates

18%
Caring personal services
15%
Sales assistants and retail cashiers
8%
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.

£19k

£19k

£22k

£22k

£23k

£23k

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.

£19k

£19k

£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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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