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Criminology and Psychology BA (Hons)

UCAS code: C5P3

Eager to learn about crime, criminal justice and the fundamental principles of psychology? Fascinated by the science of mind and behaviour? Our criminology and psychology degree combines both subjects in a lively and engaging fashion.

Overview

Course length: 3 years full-time
5 years part-time
Start dates: September 2024
September 2025
Location: Edge Hill University
Example offers: BBC-BBB (A Level) or DMM (BTEC) View full entry criteria
Subject(s): Criminology
Faculty: Arts and Sciences
Department: Law, Criminology and Policing
Two students chat while stood near the top of the stairs in the Law and Psychology building.

Want to get a deeper understanding of the criminal justice system and how it works? Ready to untangle the complexities of criminal behaviour? By combining the study of criminology and psychology, you’ll explore contrasting and complementary perspectives of these two subjects.

We’ve designed this course to allow you some freedom of choice when it comes to choosing your modules – so you’ll be able to explore topics that complement one another. For example, you might examine forensic psychology to understand what motivates people to carry out criminal behaviour in Psychology, alongside the relationships between crime and place in Criminology.

In your final year, an optional dissertation will give you the chance to independently research your specific areas of interest across both fields of study, with the support and guidance of your tutors.

Please note: This criminology and psychology degree doesn’t confer eligibility for the Graduate Basis for Chartered Membership (GBC) with the British Psychological Society (BPS), which is the first step towards becoming a chartered psychologist. If you want to gain this accreditation by studying a slightly higher number of psychology modules, take a look at our BSc (Hons) Psychology & Criminology degree.

Course features

  • International students can apply

  • Sandwich year option available

  • Studying abroad option available

What you'll study

In your first year of your criminology and psychology degree, we’ll introduce you to the key concepts and principles of criminology and psychology. You’ll study criminological theory, the criminal justice process, criminology in contemporary society, applied psychology and various elements of behavioural psychology. This will give you a solid grounding for your next two years of study.

Compulsory modules:

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Criminology and the Modern World
Essential Skills in Applied Psychology
Introduction to Cognitive & Biological Psychology
Introduction to Criminological Theory
Introduction to Personality, Social & Developmental Psychology
Introduction to the Criminal Justice Process

In your second year, you’ll start to get a much deeper understanding of critical criminological theory. You’ll choose two criminology modules and three psychology modules from a range of options. You might choose to focus on the relationship between crime, criminology and the media, or the impact of stereotypes on particular social groups. On the psychology side of things, you could choose to specialise in developmental, social, cognitive or biological psychology.

Compulsory modules:

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Critical Criminological Theory

Five of:

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Biological Psychology
Cognitive Psychology
Crime, Law and Society
Crime, Media and Criminology
Developmental Psychology
Doing Criminological Research
Gender, Sex and Violence
Generating Reputations
‘Race’, Crime and Criminology
Social Psychology
Violence and Society
Youth Justice

Your final year gives you the chance to specialise in an area of particular interest. You might choose to study crimes perpetuated by states and powerful organisations or look into substance misuse from a psychological perspective. Perhaps you’ll be interested to explore the expanding field of forensic psychology. You’ll also have the opportunity to complete a criminological dissertation that will combine insights from both disciplines.

60 credits from:

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Crime and Place
Crimes of the Powerful 1
Crimes of the Powerful 2
Dissertation
Expanding the Criminological Imagination
Justice, Rights and the State
Learning Together: The Sociological Imagination
The Politics of Imprisonment
The Politics of Policing

Three of:

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Applying Psychology to Lifestyle Behaviour
Applied Psychopharmacology
Clinical Psychology and Mental Health
Cognitive Neuroscience
Evolutionary Psychology
Forensic Psychology: Eyewitnesses and Suspects
Foundations for Learning
Personality and Individual Differences
Psychology and the Virtual World
Psychology in the Courtroom
Psychology of Language
Psychology of Substance Use
Social Neuroscience
Special Educational Needs

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 is delivered through a combination of lectures, tutorials, student-led seminars, small group work, practical workshops, directed study (preparing for classes) and independent study.

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 include essays, formal examinations, statistical exercises, group research projects, report writing, oral presentations, designing a research proposal and completing a dissertation.

Who will be teaching you

You will be taught by a highly-committed team of research-active, expert tutors whose primary areas of specialism correspond directly with the themes of the modules available across this programme.

Entry criteria

Entry requirements

Typical offer 112-120 UCAS Tariff points, for which no specific subjects are required, plus GCSE Mathematics at Grade C or Grade 4 or above (or equivalent).

Please note, for the purposes of studying psychology, level 2 numeracy qualifications are not considered as equivalent to GCSE Grade C or Grade 4 in Mathematics.

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 2024 part-time.

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 buildingThe £6million Law and Psychology building provides contemporary teaching and learning facilities for students in the School of Law, Criminology and Policing and the Department of Psychology.

The three-storey building includes a 250-seat lecture theatre, seminar and tutorial rooms, and social learning areas which encourage a more informal and interactive style of learning. There are also specially designed laboratory and experimental facilities for psychological research.

Where you'll study

Law and Psychology

Learning resources

Psychology resources include state-of-the-art eye trackers, transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS) methods, and near-infrared spectroscopy (NIRS) for examining cognitive functioning and brain activity. Other specialist laboratories include a group testing laboratory, bi-directional observation rooms, a ‘bar simulation laboratory’ (for alcohol research), audio-visual suites and dedicated IT facilities equipped with subject specific software installed to support experimental work.

Finance

Tuition fees

UK Full-Time

£9,250

a year

UK Part-Time

£77 per credit

for 360 credits

International

£16,500

a year

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 maintenance loan funding to help with living costs. Please view the relevant Money Matters guide for comprehensive information about the financial support available to eligible UK students, together with details of how to apply for potential funding.

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.

Your future career

By the time you achieve your criminology and psychology degree, you’ll have a wide range of transferable skills that will equip you for a graduate role or further study.

Our graduates go on to have exciting careers in the police, HM prison service and the Home Office, as well as in these areas:

  • criminal or youth justice agencies
  • youth and community work
  • law and research
  • offender management
  • social work
  • outreach

Other students continue on to postgraduate study, or train to become teachers or chartered psychologists.

One option is to continue your studies on a postgraduate conversion course in psychology. This would enable you to pursue a career where successful completion of a higher education programme accredited by the British Psychological Society is required.

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