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Professional Policing BSc (Hons)

UCAS code: PP46

Socially conscious? Committed? Responsible? Interested in the Criminal Justice System? Gain practical and transferable skills for a wide range of future careers on our professional policing degree which is also one of the recognised pathways into policing in England and Wales.

Overview

Course length: 3 years full-time
5 years part-time
Start dates: September 2025
Location: Edge Hill University
Example offers: BBC-BBB (A Level) or DMM (BTEC) View full entry criteria
Subject(s): Policing and Criminal Justice
Faculty: Arts and Sciences
Department: Law and Criminal Justice
Policing students search a room in our EHU Police Training and Simulation Facility.

Are you interested in: modern policing, applied criminology, social psychology, and the law? Do you want to learn about the Criminal Justice System, how to run an investigation, preserve a crime scene, protect vulnerable adults and children, and use criminal intelligence? Do you want to develop your skills in teamwork, leadership, communication, empathy, negotiation, inclusion, and decision-making? Do you want a degree that will grant you access to a host of different careers and opportunities, and is one of the recognised pathways into policing in England and Wales?

Our BSc (Hons) Professional Policing degree does all this and more. It is accredited by the College of Policing and taught by a mix of academics, pracademics and practitioners with a wealth of experience in policing, law enforcement and academic research.

You will benefit from being taught by our expert team of internationally recognised academics and former Chief Superintendents, Detective Chief Superintendents, Directors of Intelligence, Criminal Intelligence Analysts and Cyber Crime specialists, and can take advantage of our extensive industry links.

Joining our Policing programme means you’re embarking on an immersive learning experience, with opportunities to put your learning into practice in our on-campus Moot Court Room and our Police Training and Simulation Facility (‘Crime House’). In our crime house, you can undertake crime scene work, investigative interviewing, arrest, custody, and suspect welfare work utilising our state-of-the-art simulation suite.

At our School, we pride ourselves on providing not only an excellent academic experience but also a supportive environment where you can thrive. Our programme is not just for police or policing and offers a range of opportunities for students interested in many different career pathways. We offer a broad range of extra-curricular activities to enhance your university experience, which includes work placement opportunities, guest speakers, Careers Fairs, Alumni Panels, our student-led Policing Society, wellbeing weeks, insight days at Police Force Headquarters (e.g. Merseyside, Cumbria and Greater Manchester), educational visits to, for example, prisons and Liverpool Football Club – to learn about policing crowds – and specialist on-campus workshops.

Licensed by the College of Policing, our Professional Policing degree is ideal preparation for a career as a police officer, enabling you to focus on key policing competencies as outlined in the National Policing Curriculum.

Course features

  • Work placement opportunity

  • International students can apply

  • Sandwich year option available

  • Studying abroad option available

james ford professional policing

My favourite thing about my degree is when we complete practical exercises at the crime house.

James Ford

BSc (Hons) Professional Policing

View student profile

What you'll study

During the first year of the BSc (Hons) Professional Policing degree, you’ll build a solid and comprehensive foundation in the knowledge and skills that are at the heart of good policing and academic learning. You’ll come to understand the role of policing in society and be introduced to the criminal justice system. You will also cover what motivates people to commit a crime, along with modules in evidence-based policing, response policing, and how police help protect society’s most vulnerable.

Compulsory modules:

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Criminal Justice
Evidence Based Policing
Introduction to Core Policing and Decision-Making
Public Protection, Vulnerability and Risk 1
Response Policing
Skills for Professional Policing

In the second year of the BSc (Hons) Professional Policing degree, you’ll study community policing, roads policing, policing crime, including exploring historical and contemporary challenges in policing like stop and search, diversity, and bias, and build your knowledge and expertise in public protection, vulnerability and risk. You’ll be introduced to the complexities of investigation and investigative interviewing, and you’ll start to learn how to access, use and then create research on policing and law enforcement issues, ready to conduct an independent research project in the third year.

Compulsory modules:

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Criminal Investigation and Investigative Interviewing
Doing Police Research
Policing Communities
Policing Crime
Policing the Roads
Public Protection, Vulnerability and Risk 2

Building on the skills and knowledge you’ve gained in the first and second year, in the final year of the BSc (Hons) Professional Policing degree, you’ll get the chance to start to explore emerging and specialist fields like digital policing, cybercrime, and counter terrorism, along with further developing your investigation and intelligence knowledge and skills. You’ll also take a deep dive into ethics, integrity, and professional standards. You’ll have the chance to focus on your specific areas of interest through the policing research project and through the choice of an optional module, which might see you developing your employability skills and experience through work-placed learning.

Compulsory modules:

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Counter Terrorism
Digital Policing and Cybercrime
Information and Intelligence
Police Ethics, Integrity and Professional Standards
Police Research Report

One of:

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Criminal Investigation of Serious and Complex Crime
Professional Policing Work Experience

Where your course includes optional modules, these are to provide an element of choice within the course curriculum. The availability of optional modules may vary from year to year and will be subject to minimum student numbers being achieved. This means that the availability of specific optional modules cannot be guaranteed. Optional module selection may also be affected by timetabling requirements. Some restrictions on optional module choice or combinations of optional modules may apply.

How you'll study

The programme will be delivered through a combination of lectures, seminars and workshops. All students will also receive support in developing their academic skills, as well as transferable skills, through the programme, Uniskills workshops and Careers Team events.

Timetables for your first week are normally available at the end of August prior to enrolment in September. You can expect to receive your timetable for the rest of the academic year during your first week. Please note that while we make every effort to ensure that timetables are as student-friendly as possible, scheduled teaching can take place on any day of the week. Wednesday afternoons are normally reserved for sports and cultural activities.

How you'll be assessed

Assessment methods on the BSc (Hons) Professional Policing degree take account of both the need to develop and demonstrate academic skills and learning, and to demonstrate learning relevant to careers in policing, law enforcement, the wider criminal justice system, and graduate jobs market. Assessment methods include: report writing, essay writing, practice-based work, reflections, problem-based scenarios, posters, presentations, and some examinations.
All students will receive assessment support in each module and will have access to additional support via Uniskills. You will also receive timely feedback throughout the module and after each assessment.

Who will be teaching you

You will be taught by our highly qualified and experienced team composed of former Chief Superintendents, Detective Chief Superintendents, Directors of Intelligence, Criminal Intelligence Analysts and Cyber Crime specialists, as well as internationally recognised academics. Staff have practical and research experience across a number of relevant fields including homicide investigations, decision-making in policing, policing protests, intelligence and data analysis, international data sharing, multi-agency working, policing large-scale events, and violence.

Your future career

Whether you are planning a career in the criminal justice system, policing or a career in another field of expertise, our BSc Professional Policing programme will develop your transferable skills and inspire you to reach your career goals.

Recent Edge Hill Professional Policing students have gone on to have a wide variety of successful careers including: police officers in Forces across England and Wales; positions with the British Transport Police and the Civil Nuclear Constabulary; Policing and Law Enforcement Analysts; roles in Public Protection and Child and Youth Services and criminal and youth justice charities; for HM Prisons and Probation Service; and graduate training schemes in companies like Enterprise Cars.

If you are wishing to pursue a career in policing, whilst successful completion of this programme does not guarantee recruitment to a police force in England and Wales, the degree will greatly enhance your prospects in securing a role as a police constable via the College of Policing’s dedicated Pre-Join route. The programme has a currency of five years following graduation for recruitment into policing.

As a School, we are committed to enhancing your employability and helping you to find the right career path for you. Professional development opportunities are embedded into your programme or offered through extra-curricular activities, such as:

  • Practice-focused modules – develop your practical skills through our practice focused modules and state-of-the art Police Training and Simulation Facility (‘Crime House’), learning how to conduct interviews and investigate crime scenes.
  • Work placement opportunities – whether taken as part of our work placement modules or as an extra-curricular activity, there are numerous opportunities to undertake work experience.
  • Careers fairs, alumni panels, site visits – benefit from our extensive networks with the Probation Service, Home Office and Police Forces in England and Wales, grow your network and build connections with our specialist School Careers Fair and Alumni Panel events.

Entry criteria

Entry requirements

Typical offer 112-120 UCAS Tariff points. No specific subjects are required.

Example offers

Qualification Requirement
A Level BBC-BBB.
BTEC Extended Diploma (or combination of BTEC QCF qualifications) Distinction, Merit, Merit (DMM).
T Level Overall grade of Merit.
International Baccalaureate (IB) We are happy to accept IB qualifications which achieve the required number of UCAS Tariff points.
Access to Higher Education Diploma 45 credits at Level 3, for example 15 credits at Distinction and 30 credits at Merit or 24 credits at Distinction and 21 credits at Merit. The required total can be attained from various credit combinations.

Please note, the above examples may differ from actual offers made. A combination of A Level and BTEC awards may also be accepted.

If you have a minimum of two A Levels (or equivalent), there is no maximum number of qualifications that we will accept UCAS points from. This includes additional qualifications such as Extended Project Qualification (EPQ), AS Levels that haven't been continued to A Level, and General Studies AS or A Level awards.

English language requirements

International students require IELTS 6.0, with a score no lower than 5.5 in each individual component, or an equivalent English language qualification.

If your current level of English is half a band, one band, or one-and-a-half bands lower, either overall or in one or two elements, you may want to consider our Pre-Sessional English course.

How to apply

Apply full-time

Apply online through UCAS

Read our guide to applying through UCAS to find out more about the application process.

International

Apply as an international student

Please see our international student pages for further information about how to apply as a prospective international student.

Part-time applications require a direct application to Edge Hill. Please select the year of entry that you wish to apply for.

Apply for September 2025 part-time.

Should you accept an offer of a place to study with us and formally enrol as a student, you will be subject to the provisions of the regulations, rules, codes, conditions and policies which apply to our students. These are available at www.edgehill.ac.uk/studentterms.

Did you know?

If you join a full time undergraduate degree at Edge Hill University, we will guarantee you the offer of a room in our halls of residence for the first year of your course.

Discover our accommodation

Facilities

Law and Psychology building

The £6m Law and Psychology building provides contemporary teaching and learning facilities for students in the School of Law and Criminal Justice.

The three-storey building includes a 265-seat lecture theatre, seminar and tutorial rooms, and social learning areas which encourage a more informal and interactive style of learning.

It is also where our moot court room and law clinic are located. Law, Policing and Criminal Justice students can train and practice their advocacy skills and cross-examination techniques as well as preparing for giving evidence in court.

Our Police Training and Simulation Facility know as the ‘Crime House’, part of which is furbished as a police station, is used to simulate a wide range of crime scenes, providing students with an immersive learning experience. The ‘Crime House’ includes a mock custody suite, mock living areas, interview rooms, a control room, and a state-of-the-art simulation suite.

This enables Policing, Criminal Justice and Law students to work together on practical exercises, developed by our expert staff and based on real-life scenarios, in areas such as gathering and analysing evidence, (including forensic evidence at crime scenes), practicing interview techniques and supporting mock clients during a police interview.

Where you'll study

Law and Psychology

Police Training and Simulation Facility

Finance

Tuition fees

UK Full-Time

£9,250

a year

UK Part-Time

£77 per credit

for 360 credits

International

£16,500

a year

The University may administer a small inflationary rise in tuition fees, in line with Government policy, in subsequent academic years as you progress through the course.

EU/EEA and Swiss students who have settled or pre-settled status under the EU Settlement Scheme, as well as Irish nationals, may be eligible for the UK tuition fee rate.

Financial support

Subject to eligibility, UK students joining this course can apply for a Tuition Fee Loan from the Government to cover the full cost of tuition fees. UK students enrolling on the course may also be eligible to apply for additional funding to help with living costs.

Scholarships


We offer a range of scholarships, which celebrate the determination, commitment and achievement of our students. Many of our scholarships are awarded automatically. There are some however, where you will need to be involved in an application or nomination process. To find out more about our scholarships and check your eligibility, please visit our dedicated scholarships pages.

Money Matters


Please view the relevant Money Matters guide for comprehensive information about the financial support available to eligible UK students.

EU/EEA and Swiss students who have settled or pre-settled status under the EU Settlement Scheme may be eligible to apply for financial support. Irish nationals can ordinarily apply to Student Universal Support Ireland (SUSI). If you are an EU student who does not have settled or pre-settled status, or are an international student from a non-EU country, please see our international student finance pages.

Course changes

Every effort has been made to ensure the accuracy of this information, however our courses are subject to ongoing review and development. Changing circumstances may necessitate alteration to, or the cancellation of, courses.

Changes may be necessary to comply with the requirements of professional bodies, revisions to subject benchmarks statements, to keep courses updated and contemporary, or as a result of student feedback. We reserve the right to make variations if we consider such action to be necessary or in the best interests of students.

Track changes to this course

Discover Uni: Full-Time Study

Discover Uni: Part-Time Study

Download our course leaflet