What is BA Criminology with Social Psychology?
BA Criminology with Social Psychology is a three-year degree, or four years with an optional placement or study abroad year.
You’ll explore the nature of crime, criminal justice, and punishment within wider social and psychological contexts. Criminologists engage with some of the most pressing issues, decisions, and dilemmas facing societies today, and this course helps you understand how crime is shaped by individuals, groups, and society.
Why this course
How do we understand crime? Should crime be punished? This course encourages you to engage with fundamental questions about crime, criminal behaviour, and justice in contemporary society.
You will receive a thorough grounding in the foundations of criminology, while also exploring how social psychological approaches help explain criminal motivation and the interpersonal dynamics within crime control organisations. This combined perspective deepens your understanding of both individual behaviour and wider social structures.
You will study crime, criminals, and criminal justice systems within broader social and psychological contexts, developing the analytical tools needed to examine complex real-world issues.
The course is delivered by the Department of Sociology and Criminology, which is ranked 2nd in the UK for research power in sociology (Research Excellence Framework 2021, Times Higher Education analysis).
Who should apply
Students interested in understanding crime, criminal behaviour, and justice systems
Those curious about how psychology and society influence criminal motivation and decision-making
Learners who enjoy exploring social issues through both criminological and psychological perspectives
Future practitioners, analysts, researchers, or professionals in criminal justice or related fields
What you’ll learn
Crime and its control: Explore theories of crime, criminal justice systems, and approaches to crime prevention
Power: Examine how power operates within society and influences criminal justice processes
Identity: Investigate how identity shapes and is shaped by criminal behaviour and social context
Your learning experience
Research-led teaching: Learn from academics specialising in criminology, sociology, and social psychology
Interdisciplinary perspective: Combine criminological and psychological approaches to understand crime and justice
Applied understanding: Explore real-world issues in criminal justice organisations and crime control settings
Independent dissertation: Complete a supervised research project on a topic that inspires you
Supportive academic environment: Study within a department recognised for its research excellence and teaching quality
Careers and outcomes
A BA Criminology with Social Psychology degree can prepare you for careers in:
Criminal justice and policing: Police services, probation, prisons, and youth justice
Forensic and behavioural roles: Work involving behavioural analysis and offender rehabilitation support
Public policy and research: Policy development, social research, and think tanks
Community and support services: Roles supporting victims, offenders, and community safety initiatives
Further study: Postgraduate training in criminology, psychology, forensic psychology, or related disciplines
Many of our courses offer a choice of optional modules to tailor your learning experience. More information about these can be found on the University of Essex website.
This course is available in Clearing. If you have submitted an application, you can add this course. If you haven’t sent us an application yet, you can do this until 24th September 2026.
This is the equal consideration deadline. You can still apply after this date, but your application may not receive guaranteed consideration.
University of Essex has participated in the Teaching Excellence Framework. These ratings were awarded in 2023, for four years.
See why these ratings were awarded
What does this TEF outcome mean?
The following entry points are available for this course:
Discover what it's like to study Criminology with Social Psychology at University of Essex: insights on the course, making friends, personal statement tips, uni prep, and recommended books, podcasts, and videos.
Find out more about qualification requirements for this course.
At Essex we consider your whole application – not just grades. If you don’t meet the exact grade requirements, you may still be considered.
We’re dedicated to helping students from underrepresented groups to access an Essex education. We may give you a Contextual Offer up to two A-Level grades below our standard conditional offer based on where you live, your school, and other details from your application.
This section shows the range of grades that students who received offers were previously accepted on to this course with (learn more).
It is designed to support your research but does not guarantee whether you will or won't get a place.
Admissions teams consider various factors, including interviews, subject requirements, and entrance tests. Check all course entry requirements for eligibility.
We are unable to show previous accepted grades for this course. This could be because the course is new, it's a postgraduate course, there isn't enough historical data, or the provider has opted out of sharing their entry grades data for this course - learn more.
This report uses your grades to show how students with similar results have done when applying to this course in the past. Sometimes, there isn’t data for every possible set of grades. When that happens, universities and colleges occasionally fill in the gaps for sets of grades that are typically accepted.
| Location | Fee | Year |
|---|
Tuition fee status depends on a number of criteria and varies according to where in the UK you will study. For further guidance on the criteria for home or overseas tuition fees, please refer to the UKCISA website.
Fees displayed are for the 2026-27 academic year. Fees may increase for each academic intake and each academic year of study.
Get Clearing advice delivered to your inbox.
Email:admit@essex.ac.uk
Phone:01206 873666
Email:admit@essex.ac.uk
Phone:01206 873666
Fax: 01206 872808
Wivenhoe Park
Colchester
CO4 3SQ
At University of Essex
