Professional Policing
University of Plymouth
UCAS Code: L900 | Bachelor of Science (with Honours) - BSc (Hons)
Entry requirements
104 - 120 UCAS Tariff points, including a minimum of 2 A Levels.
Pass a named Access to HE Diploma with 33 Level 3 credits at Merit and/or Distinction. Any subject is considered.
Considered in combination with other qualifications.
International Baccalaureate Diploma Programme
To include a Grade 4 in any subject at Higher Level. English and Maths accepted within as GCSE equivalent.
104-120 points from Irish Highers. Any subjects are considered. English and Maths accepted within as GCSE equivalent.
Considered in combination with other qualifications.
Pearson BTEC Level 3 National Diploma (first teaching from September 2016)
Any subject is considered.
Considered in combination with other qualifications.
Pearson BTEC Level 3 National Extended Diploma (first teaching from September 2016)
Any subject is considered.
Considered in combination with other qualifications.
104-120 UCAS Tariff points, including a minimum of 2 Advanced Highers. English and Maths accepted as GCSE equivalent.
Considered in combination with Advanced Highers.
T Level
Any subject is considered.
UCAS Tariff
Considered in combination with other qualifications.
About this course
Our Professional Policing degree is licensed by the UK College of Policing and is delivered by leading criminologists and former officers with 30 years’ experience at senior rank in the police service. The course will equip you with the skills and practical experience you need to work in law enforcement, security and all aspects of policing.
Realistic crime scenes and immersive virtual reality scenarios will enhance your understanding of yourself and your place in policing by gaining deep appreciation of its fundamental philosophy and ethics and forming life-long habits of reflective practice. As Plymouth is the only University offering this degree in the Southwest Peninsula, you will enjoy a beautiful and exciting area with the unique and hidden challenges of policing in a rural, urban, and coastal environment.
* Licenced by the UK College of Policing as a Pre-Join degree for all policing roles.
* Open doors to careers in the private, public or third sector – highly transferable skills mean you will find opportunities in a diverse range of enforcement and investigative settings.
* Taught by experienced former senior police officer and leading criminological academics linking academic theory to practice. This gives unprecedented access to real examples of the materials being taught such as major event management such as the Olympic torch relay in 2012.
* Realistic crime scene investigations using real locations and scenarios which will test your forensic recovery skills as well as a sociological and criminological undertaking of why and how such crimes occur.
* State of the art 3D virtual reality crime scenes to augment the live experience of crime investigation.
* Participate in live suspect interviews using actors to develop your detective skills by real life engagement with the interview process.
* Present your evidence of the case in a simulated court room and learn with our law students who will be practicing their own skills by cross-examining you in the court environment.
Modules
In your first year, you will start with a history of the modern police, their role and function and how they respond to public need and gain insights into roads policing and the trauma experienced by first responders. Then, understanding the causes of crime and applying criminological theory, you will problem-solve real policing issues by analysing criminal and community intelligence.
In your second year, by immersing yourself in our realistic crime scene, you will form investigative hypotheses, interview live suspects, and develop policing skills to solve a murder scenario. You will then look at the ethics of the police; the police service operates in a risky environment with the need for fast paced but high-quality decision making. You will work through real-life case studies where the police have caused the death of a member of the public to enhance your decision-making capabilities under stress.
In your final year, you will challenge your understanding of how to safeguard the vulnerable, protecting children and tackling extremist radicalisation and domestic abuse. Police corruption and cyber-crime are examined in depth, and you will be able to contribute to the development of evidenced-based policing through your dissertation research into real-world policing problems.
The modules shown for this course or programme are those being studied by current students, or expected new modules. Modules are subject to change depending on year of entry and up to date information can be found on our website.
Assessment methods
For up to date details, please refer to our website or contact the institution directly.
The Uni
University of Plymouth
School of Society and Culture
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.
Law
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.
Law
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
Law graduates tend to go into the legal industry, and they usually take similar routes. Jobs are competitive — often very competitive - but starting salaries are good and high fliers can earn serious money - starting on over £24k in London on average. Be aware though - some careers, especially as barristers, can take a while to get into, and the industry is changing as the Internet, automation and economic change all have an effect, If you want to qualify to practise law, you need to take a professional qualification — many law graduates then go on to law school. If you want to go into work, then a lot of law graduates take trainee or paralegal roles and some do leave the law altogether, often for jobs in management, finance and the police force. A small proportion of law graduates also move into another field for further study. Management, accountancy and teaching are all popular for these career changers, so if you do take a law degree and decide it’s not for you, there are options.
What about your long term prospects?
Looking further ahead, below is a rough guide for what graduates went on to earn.
Law
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
£21k
£26k
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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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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