Policing and Criminology [with Placement Year]

Jump-start your career in the criminal justice sector with our specialist Policing and Criminology degree in Chelmsford.

• Learn from staff with real-world experience: a significant part of your teaching will be delivered by active and former policing and criminal justice practitioners.

• Get hands-on with the latest case studies and research, interactive sessions, opportunities for field trips and a one-year work placement.

• Our links to local and national organisations, including police forces, will help you find work placements and engage with professionals.

• Attend events organised by our International Policing and Public Protection Research Institute.

• Our record £11million research grant from Research England puts us at the forefront of initiating cultural change in uniformed services.

• Prepare for your career: build a portfolio and CV, hear from key criminal justice professionals, and attend employment fairs.

Explore the English legal and criminal justice systems, including the police, courts, prisons, probation, and youth justice system.

You’ll discover the origins, ethos, and legal and ethical frameworks of the system, and complex issues such as media representation, public attitudes and the impact of crime on victims and offenders.

You’ll also pick up key skills like research methods and investigative psychology, and take an in-depth look at recruitment processes in the sector - ensuring you’re ready for professional life when you graduate.

Careers

We’ll help you work towards your career goals from day one. Through our relationship with regional police forces and practitioners, you’ll have opportunities to engage with professionals from the criminal justice sector through guest lectures (including those organised by our International Policing and Public Protection Research Institute), workshop events, study trips and research projects.

We’ll support you to get involved in justice causes and campaigns, charities and voluntary work that contributes to civic duty so you can gain relevant experience in the criminal justice system. You’ll also boost your CV as you become proficient in critical analysis, research and communication.

You could also develop a specialism or start a career in research by taking part in our academic shadowing scheme or Cambridgeshire County Council’s violence prevention analysis programmes.

You’ll be well-equipped for a career in a number of public services, such as the probation service, prison service, police, the Home Office, the Crown Prosecution Service, the Court Service, youth offending teams and crime reduction partnerships.

The multidisciplinary nature of this course, and its focus on employability and transferable skills, can also open doors for you elsewhere, for example in adult guidance work, charity work, counselling, local government, political analysis, and legal careers.

You might decide to stay at ARU to study for a Masters, such as our MA Contemporary Policing, MA Criminology or MA International Relations. Take advantage of our Alumni Scholarship and get 20% off your fees.

Our graduates go on to work in the police force, probation, prisons and youth justice, as well as the Border Force, the military, security, charities and NGOs, local government, and the public sector more generally. Others are using their skills in areas such as policy, PR, communication and the media.

Emma Moldevanu found work as a Probation Officer after graduating from our BA (Hons) Criminology, while Dani Redgrave has taught A-Level Criminology at Secondary School level, and also works as an Associate Lecturer at ARU.

If you’re already working in the criminal justice sector, you could follow in the footsteps of former students who’ve been able to progress their careers to graduate level.