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Policing and Criminal Investigation (with a Foundation Year)

Entry requirements


UCAS Tariff

48

About this course


Course option

4years

Full-time | 2024

Subject

Policing

This course is designed for anyone who would like to learn more about investigative techniques and criminal investigations. It will prepare you for a wide variety of roles within the public and private sectors.

Our BSc (Hons) Policing and Criminal Investigation degree will equip you with a high level of investigative expertise and policing knowledge. This will prepare you for a career with the preparing you for an investigative career in a range of public or private sector organisations.

You will benefit from our expert staff, our industry standard facilities (including our Crime Scene House, Interview Suites and Mock Courtrooms) and networks with employers.

The Foundation Year route is designed for students who may not have the necessary academic profile for entry onto the 3-year course. We recognise that some of our applicants may have also been out of formal education for a while or feel they may need to enhance their skills and capabilities first. You will study a range of modules that are designed to increase academic confidence and prepare you for the remainder of your Policing and Criminal investigation degree.
On successful completion of study, we will issue the following award: BSc (Hons) Policing and Criminal Investigation"

Modules

Foundation Year
Crime in Context, Introduction to Principles of Law, Core Legal Skills, Sociology of Crime, Theories of Criminality

Year 1
Policing Theory, Analysis of Digital Investigation, Crime Scene Processing, Introduction to Crime and Crime Prevention, Case Studies in Criminal Justice, option module
Options include: Missing Persons Investigation, Detection and Analysis of Drugs, Media and crime

Year 2
Designing Research Projects, Law, Practice and Procedure, Practical Methods of Criminal Investigation, Risk and Vulnerability, Fairness in Policing, option module
Options include: Contemporary Policing, Hate Crime, Understanding Terrorism: Causes and Theories, Organised Crime, Crime, Harm and Victimisation, Working with Victims, Offender Management, Prison and Probation Law and Regulations, Vehicle Collision Investigation, Firearms Investigation, Digital Forensics Techniques.

Year 3
Project in Policing and Criminal Investigation, Case File to Court, Policing and Complexity, two option modules
Options include: Intelligence Led Policing and Major Crime, Cybercrime, Policing and Society, Contemporary Terror Movements: Classification and Response, Transnational Organised Crime, Rehabilitation of Offenders, Mental Health Assessment for Non-Mental Health Professional, Community Justice, Mass Death Scenarios

Assessment methods

Each module normally includes practice or ‘formative’ assessments, for which you receive feedback from your tutor. Practice assessments are developmental and any grades you receive for them do not count towards your module mark. There is a formal or ‘summative’ assessment at the end of each module. This includes a range of coursework assessments, such as essays, reports, portfolios, performance, presentations, final year, independent project and written examinations. The grades from formal assessments count towards your module mark.

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
£16,750
per year
International
£16,750
per year
Northern Ireland
£9,250
per year
Scotland
£9,250
per year
Wales
£9,250
per year

The Uni


Course location:

Staffordshire University (Stoke Campus)

Department:

Justice, Security and Sustainability

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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.

50%
Policing

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

58%
Staff make the subject interesting
67%
Staff are good at explaining things
55%
Ideas and concepts are explored in-depth
56%
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

55%
Library resources
62%
IT resources
61%
Course specific equipment and facilities
42%
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?

100%
UK students
0%
International students
59%
Male students
41%
Female students
66%
2:1 or above
13%
First year drop out rate

Most popular A-Levels studied (and grade achieved)

C
C
D

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.

£18,000
med
Average annual salary
95%
low
Employed or in further education
46%
low
Employed in a role where degree was essential or beneficial

Top job areas of graduates

20%
Legal associate professionals
7%
Business, finance and related associate professionals
6%
Sales assistants and retail cashiers

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.

£17k

£17k

£21k

£21k

£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.

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Course location and department:

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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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