BSc (Hons) Criminology & Forensic Investigation

You will need a minimum of 64 UCAS Tariff Points or above from one or more of the following:

• A levels
• BTEC Level 3 Extended Diploma/Diploma/Subsidiary Diploma/Certificate
• BTEC National Award/Certificate/Diploma
• International Baccalaureate
• Access to Higher Education Diploma (minimum 30 credits at Merit or above)
• GCSE English Language and Maths at Grade C (old specification) or Grade 4 (new specification) or above OR a Level 2 equivalent such as Functional Skills

For any qualification not identified above the HE Admission Team will determine equivalences through UKNARIC.

Applicants wishing to be considered for entry to the second year of study or wishing to import credits or evidence of prior learning into the course for which they are applying will be considered in accordance with the awarding bodies policy on Accreditation of Prior (Experiential) Learning.

DBS Check (Disclosure and Barring Service):

An enhanced DBS check is required for this programme and must be paid for by the student. This will be required at the end of Year 2, before progressing to the work placement in Year 3. The current fee is £49.50.

Applicants who have lived overseas will be required to provide a criminal record check or certificate of good conduct from any country in which they have resided before starting the course.

Further information about the DBS process will be provided after enrolment. 

Contact hours: 13 hours per week over two days plus independent study (suggested 30 hours per week). 

You are taught through a combination of lectures, seminars and workshops, which enable you to discuss and develop your understanding of the disciplines of Criminology and Forensic Investigation. A range of appropriate facilities, including the library and online learning resources, the Learning Resource Centre and the Forum, supports your independent learning. 

You will receive:

• Ongoing feedback as part of your one-to-one sessions with your unit teachers
• Summative feedback on all formal assessments undertaken by coursework
   

Feedback is intended to help you learn, and you are encouraged to discuss it with your unit leader. Feedback can be given in a range of different ways in order to accommodate a variety of learning styles and aptitudes, including group critiques, recorded verbal feedback and written feedback. 

Feedback on the Dissertation module in Year 3 is provided throughout and through supervision meetings as scheduled. 

Work placements: 40 hours at Level 6 of formally agreed workplace learning within a relevant criminological or forensic investigation field. There is a dedicated Practice Learning team to support students with the placement process.

The cost of this course is £9,790 for 2027 entry.

Fees are per academic year for Home/UK students.

The following course-related costs are included in the fees:

• Loan of Personal Protective Equipment required for practical sessions
• Provision of crime scene protective coveralls
• An allowance of printing credit

Potential career routes include working in mainstream policing, possibly as a uniformed officer or scenes of crime officer; joining the Police Graduate Scheme; working within the criminal justice system as a solicitor or within HM Prison and Probation Service; and pursuing roles in financial and cybercrime investigation. Graduates of this degree programme may also seek employment in related areas, such as teaching, following a period of further study.

Further study options include:

• MA/MSc Criminology
• MSc Forensic Science
• MA/MSc Forensic Psychology
• MA Social Work

You could also train to teach the subject by studying the PGCE available at University Centre South Essex.

Graduate destinations:

Employment from previous graduating cohorts have included roles within Essex and Metropolitan Police disaster victim identification counter terrorism within financing teaching domestic abuse co-ordinators laboratory testing prison workers crime scene investigators and within human rights groups.

Students have also progressed on to higher level training and have entered Masters Qualifications in Criminology Terrorism Studies Digital Forensics Anthropology and Research. In addition graduates of the programme have also undertaken teacher training and have achieved either QTS or QTLS enabling them to take up roles in mainstream schools across the primary secondary and further education sectors.

Full Time