Criminology and Policing
Abertay University
UCAS Code: L311 | Bachelor of Arts (with Honours) - BA (Hons)
Entry requirements
A level
To include a literate subject For entry into Year 2 we would look for ABB to include one from Sociology, Politics, History, Psychology plus one other literate subject
HNC (BTEC)
Entry into Year 1 with HNC (BTEC) Health & Social Care
HND (BTEC)
Entry into Year 2 with HND (BTEC) Health & Social Care
International Baccalaureate Diploma Programme
To include a literate subject at S5 or H4 Entry into Year 2 with 34 Points to include 2 from Social & Cultural Anthropology, Global Politics, History or Psychology plus 1 other Higher subject
Leaving Certificate - Higher Level (Ireland) (first awarded in 2017)
To include a literate subject
Pearson BTEC Level 3 National Extended Diploma (first teaching from September 2016)
Health & Social Care Public Services Travel & Tourism
Scottish Advanced Higher
Entry into Year 2 to include one from Sociology, Politics, History, Psychology, Modern Studies plus one other literate subject
Scottish HNC
Entry into Year 2 with an HNC in one of the following:- Police Studies - Graded Unit B Social Science - Graded Unit B Next Gen Social Science - Graded Unit M Entry into Year 1 with an HNC in one of the following:- Additional Support Needs - Graded Unit B Childhood Practice - Graded Unit B Counselling - Graded Unit B Legal Services - Graded Unit B Social Care - Graded Unit B Social Services - Graded Unit B Working with Communities - Graded Unit B
Scottish HND
Entry into Year 2 with an HND in one of the following:- Legal Services - Graded Units BB Social Science - Graded Units BB Entry into Year 1 with an HND in one of the following:- Additional Support Needs - Graded Unit B Counselling - Graded Unit B
Scottish Higher
To include a literate subject
Accepted/considered on an individual basis
UCAS Tariff
We've calculated how many Ucas points you'll need for this course.
About this course
Our BA (Hons) Criminology and Policing degree gives you an in-depth knowledge of contemporary policing and criminal justice. You’ll learn from both academics and invited speakers with real-world policing experience, getting a genuine feel for key issues related to police work.
In the first two years you concentrate on foundations of criminology and sociology. In years three and four you study the specific areas related to criminal justice and policing, such as:
Criminal investigation and policing in practice.
Cybercrime and policing technology.
Drugs, addiction and society.
Gender, crime and victimology.
The sociology of race and ethnicity.
If you are keen to work for the police, you have the opportunity to apply to be a special constable. This experience puts you in a great position to pursue a career in the police force or to work in the police service after graduation.
We place a strong emphasis on developing your research skills, which are highly valued in the workplace. Whether it's collaboration, assessing evidence, writing reports, researching or completing project work, your criminology studies will make you extremely employable.
After the first two years of study, you can choose to specialise in other areas or carry on studying this pathway. See more in the 'How the Course Works' section below.
Our Criminology degree scored 85% for Teaching and Learning Resources in the 2021 National Student Survey.
Abertay is widely regarded as THE place to come for high quality teaching. But don't just take our word for it:
The Times and Sunday Times UK University of the Year for Teaching Quality 2021.
Guardian University Guide 2020 Top 10 in the UK for Student Satisfaction with Teaching, Course and Feedback.
National Student Survey 2020 Top 10 UK Universities for Student Satisfaction.
Modules
Year 1 core modules (subject to change over time) - CRM101 Crime & Punishment; SOC101 Contemporary Social Issues; CRM103 Criminal Justice Processes; SOC120 Social Research in Action 1: Researching Scotland; SOC110 Media & the Digital Society; Abertay 101 Being Successful at Abertay.
You are also required to select three MySuccess modules of your choosing. For detailed module information please check our website.
Assessment methods
You’ll learn through a blend of lectures, tutorials, seminars, workshops, online discussion forums, video screenings, guest speaker presentations, directed and private study, and student-focussed group work.
Other assessment methods include supervised examinations, essays, reports, portfolios, presentations, project work, class and online tests, and reflective analyses. In your final year, you’ll design and produce a research project under the dedicated supervision of an academic staff member.
Around one third of the course is assessed through examination, although the exact proportion depends on your module choices.
Put simply, we aim to give you all the skills you need to move straight into a job or further study when you graduate.
Tuition fees
Select where you currently live to see what you'll pay:
The Uni
Abertay Campus
School of Business, Law and Social Sciences
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)
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
£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
