Criminal Investigation with Psychology
Entry requirements
A minimum of 2 A Levels required if studying only A Levels, but can be used in conjunction with other qualifications
In combination with other qualifications
Access to HE Diploma
60 Credits with 45 M Level Credits and 15 P Level Credits
HNC (BTEC)
HND (BTEC)
International Baccalaureate Diploma Programme
OCR Cambridge Technical Diploma
In combination with other qualifications
OCR Cambridge Technical Extended Diploma
In combination with other qualifications
In combination with other qualifications
In combination with other qualifications
In combination with other qualifications
Pearson BTEC Diploma (QCF)
Or can be used in combination with other qualifications.
Pearson BTEC Extended Diploma (QCF)
In combination with other qualifications
Pearson BTEC Level 3 National Diploma (first teaching from September 2016)
Or can be used in combination with other qualifications.
In combination with other qualifications
Pearson BTEC Level 3 National Extended Diploma (first teaching from September 2016)
In combination with other qualifications
In combination with other qualifications
T Level
UCAS Tariff
From a minimum of 2 A Levels or equivalent qualifications such as BTEC Extended Diploma or OCR Extended Diploma. For detailed information on accepted qualifications, please view our Course Entry Statement (https://www.solent.ac.uk/how-to-apply/documents/course-entry-requirement-statement.pdf) Solent University is a proud champion of widening participation. For further information about our contextual offer, please visit our website (https://www.solent.ac.uk/how-to-apply/what-next/contextual-offers).
In combination with other qualifications
About this course
Blending criminal investigation with forensic psychology, this specialist degree is designed to give you highly relevant skills, knowledge and professional skills for a great career in criminology, criminal justice and similar sectors.
The skills developed are benchmarked against the requirements of Investigations and Psychology employment such as analytical thinking, crime scene investigations, presentation of evidential studies and critical thinking.
The course is regularly updated and informed by the latest theory and working practice, thanks to experienced lecturing staff working within criminal justice and criminology – ensuring your tuition is current, real-world relevant and tailored to the needs of the industry.
And we are proud to offer a wide range of expert guest speakers from the industry, enhancing your learning through practical understanding of sector challenges and considerations – and offering a network of employment opportunities. The course is also supported by optional site visits, both locally and internationally, giving you the chance to broaden your perspective of the criminal justice sector.
As well as developing your personal skills, you will build a range of highly transferable communication, teamwork and group interaction skills to enhance your employability.
And the learning experience at Solent is a key feature of the course, providing opportunities for personal and group reflection alongside highly stimulating tuition. Many of the staff are current industry experts and published academics in relevant fields, with an open-door policy and a wealth of experience to share.
**What does this course lead to?**
If you’re looking for a career path in criminal investigation or psychology, this is the course for you.
You will be well placed for roles within the criminal justice sector and related fields, while your analytical and research-focused skills, along with a range of transferrable skills will aid employability in a broad range of careers, such as in the business and voluntary sectors.
**Who is this course for?**
This course is suited to students who wish to follow a career path in investigations with psychology or similar professional/voluntary capacity.
You will build analytical and research skills that can be transferred to a broad range of careers, along with valuable industry connections through site visits, guest speakers and lecturers’ own networks within the industry.
Modules
YEAR 1 - CORE MODULES
Perspectives within Psychology
Psychology and Social Change
Big Questions in Social Sciences
Criminal Justice Process
Explaining Criminal Behaviour
Researching Criminal Worlds
YEAR 2 - CORE MODULES
Individual Differences and Social Psychology
Psychology of Crime
Cybercrime and AI
Methods and Analysis in Criminology
Global Crime
Crime Scene Investigation
YEAR 3 - CORE MODULES
Issues in Forensic Psychology
Dangerous Offenders
Investigation of Serious Crime
Dissertation
YEAR 3 - OPTIONS (please note that not all options are guaranteed to run each academic year)
Cognition and Consciousness
Conceptualising Psychopathology
Quality Stats: An Assortment of Advanced Analytical Methods
Terrorism and Political Violence
Police, Law and the Community
Assessment methods
The course is assessed in a variety of ways. There are written and verbal assessments, report writing, exams, formative and summative feedback, portfolios and workshops, presentations and field trips reports.
Assessments have been tailored to meet the modern testing requirements of industry, and consider your wider learning journey – allowing time for self-reflection and preparation.
Tuition fees
Select where you currently live to see what you'll pay:
Extra funding
Solent University offers a number of bursaries, grants and scholarships. For more information, please visit https://www.solent.ac.uk/finance/grants-bursaries-scholarships/bursaries
The Uni
Solent University (Southampton)
Department of Social Science and Nursing
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.
£18k
£22k
£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.
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
£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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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.
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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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