Criminology and Psychology
Entry requirements
A level
Typical offer BBC (112 UCAS points) in three or more A levels.
Access to HE Diploma
Access to Higher Education Diploma in a relevant subject is acceptable for entry. QAA accredited course required.
International Baccalaureate Diploma Programme
A minimum of 15 points at the higher level and a minimum of 4 points in English and Maths at standard level.
Pearson BTEC Level 3 National Extended Diploma (first teaching from September 2016)
Scottish Higher
A minimum of 114 UCAS points to include four passes (grade C) at higher level in a related subject.
UCAS Tariff
About this course
This course has alternative study modes. Contact the university to find out how the information below might vary.
**Why study this course?**
This joint honours degree in criminology and psychology is ideal if you’re interested in the relationship between crime and social issues such as ill-health, poverty and discrimination, and gaining an understanding of the workings of the human mind.
**More about this course**
Unravel the debates surrounding the causes of crime from the perspectives of both sociology and psychology in this programme taught by expert staff. The combination of criminology and psychology will give you an expertise in theories and approaches from both disciplines, allowing you to critically evaluate the causes and effects of crime and deviant behaviour.
Gain a solid grounding in developmental, social and cognitive psychology, as well as study how the individual develops through infancy, childhood and early adult life, the development of personality, social factors that influence behaviour, and the development of perception and human thought.
You’ll also be introduced to criminological theory, including the assumptions that underlie intervention and control, and to the criminal justice system including the police, judiciary and prisons where you'll examine the concept of justice and sentencing. You’ll learn the research skills needed to measure and interpret crime, including both qualitative and quantitative methodologies, and through optional modules in your second and third year, you’ll begin to pursue the areas that most interest you. Options are wide-ranging and include terrorism, victimology, serial offenders and forensic psychology.
Visit the criminology subject hub for news and events from the University.
If you don't have traditional qualifications or can't meet the entry requirements for this undergraduate degree, you may still be able to gain entry by completing the Criminology, Policing and Law Extended Degree (including Foundation Year) BSc (Hons).
Modules
Example Year 1 modules include: Introduction to Criminological Theory (core, 30 credits); Introduction to the Criminal Justice System (core, 30 credits); Child Development and Behaviour (core, 15 credits); Personality (core, 15 credits); Social Influences on Thinking and Behaviour (core, 15 credits); Cognition and Behaviour (core, 15 credits); Introduction to Criminological and Sociological Theory (core, 30 credits).
Example Year 2 modules include: Measuring and Interpreting Crime (core, 30 credits); Crime in Context (option, 30 credits); Perspectives on Policing (option, 30 credits); Crime, Media and Technology (option, 15 credits); Youth, Crime and Violence (option, 15 credits); Individual Differences (core, 15 credits); Development Across the Lifespan (option, 15 credits); Cognition (option, 15 credits); Social and Cultural Understanding of Us and Others (core, 15 credits); Extension of Knowledge (option, 15 credits).
Example Year 3 modules include: Criminology Work Experience (option, 15 credits); Crime Control and Penology (alt-core, 30 credits); Social Control, Drugs and Organised Crime (alt-core, 30 credits); Criminological Research Practice (alt-core, 15 credits); Criminology Project (alt-core, 30 credits); Serious and Serial Offenders (option, 15 credits); Victims and Crime (option, 15 credits); Terrorism and Counter-Terrorism (option, 15 credits); Gender and Sexuality (option, 30 credits); Counselling Psychology (option, 15 credits); Clinical Psychology (option, 15 credits); Work Psychology (option, 15 credits); Forensic Psychology (option, 15 credits); Specific Learning Differences (option, 15 credits); Special Topics in Personality and Social Psychology (option ,15 credits); Health Psychology (option, 15 credits); Cognition and Emotion (option, 15 credits).
Assessment methods
You'll be assessed through essays, seen and unseen examinations, research projects and a final dissertation.
Tuition fees
Select where you currently live to see what you'll pay:
The Uni
Holloway
School of Social Sciences and Professions
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.
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
Assessment and feedback
Resources and organisation
Student voice
Who studies this subject and how do they get on?
Most popular A-Levels studied (and grade achieved)
Psychology (non-specific)
Teaching and learning
Assessment and feedback
Resources and organisation
Student voice
Who studies this subject and how do they get on?
Most popular A-Levels studied (and grade achieved)
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.
Top job areas of graduates
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.
Top job areas of graduates
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.
£20k
£23k
£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.
£14k
£22k
£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?
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