Criminology and Cybercrime

This is a Connected Degree

Portsmouth is the only University in the UK with the flexibility to choose when to do an optional paid placement or self-employed year. Either take a placement in your third year, or finish your studies first and complete a placement in your fourth year. You can decide if and when to take a placement after you've started your course.

Overview

Join the global mission to stop criminals exploiting the internet. On the UK’s first BSc (Hons) Criminology and Cybercrime degree, you'll explore the future of policing and how criminal organisations operate online. You'll learn to make a difference, not by fighting tech with tech, but by understanding the human aspects of cybercrime.

Cyber is always evolving, so this course does too. You can choose from wide range of innovative and topical modules – from cybersecurity, online terrorism and digital forensics, to cyberdeviance and cyberpsychology.

Course highlights

• Learn from cybercrime, criminology, probation and policing experts whose expertise is requested by organisations around the world

• Tailor the course to meet your interests, by studying modules that match your career aspirations

• Explore up-to-the-minute topics based on our own team’s research, including hacktivism and the incel subculture

• Investigate issues as varied as cyber fraud, cyberbullying and online piracy, to discover how they affect people, organisations and government

• Work with practitioners providing professional cybersecurity advice in our award-winning Cybercrime Awareness Clinic

• Practise digital investigative techniques and develop transferable skills in analysis, research and new technologies

• Meet visiting professionals who work in areas of cyber like the dark web and penetration testing

Careers and opportunities

Employers around the globe are very interested in graduates with cybercrime expertise. In our increasingly digital world, the demand is likely to grow.

You'll be well prepared for a wide range of roles, especially those focused on the human side of cybercrime.

What areas can you work in with a criminology and cybercrime degree?

You'll graduate ready for opportunities in the police force, policy making organisations and new technology. Specialist areas for you in the public and private sector include:

• specialised cybercrime units

• crime prevention

• criminological research

• intelligence analysis

• digital investigations

• security consultancy

• the prison system

You could also progress to postgraduate study in criminology or cybercrime.

What jobs can you do with a criminology and cybercrime degree?

You could have a career in digital investigation, crime prevention, and security consultancy. With skills that are in high demand, potential roles could include:

• chief infosec officer

• security consultant

• incident responder

• security analyst

• digital forensics expert

• penetration tester

• vulnerability assessor

Professional recognition

If you're interested in probation work or community justice, you can graduate from this course with pre-entry qualifications for a career in those fields. This can give you a real advantage when applying for jobs. Your lecturers can advise you on the right modules to choose.

Ongoing careers support

Get experience while you study, with support to find part-time jobs, volunteering opportunities, and work experience.

Towards the end of your degree and for up to five years after graduation, you’ll receive one-to-one support from our Graduate Recruitment Consultancy to help you find your perfect role.

The University of Portsmouth is passionate about creating career-focused modules that do more than support your studies, they empower your academic journey and prepare you for what comes next.

We design modules that have:

• Clear themes and skills development as you progress through each year
• Assessments that feel meaningful, often based on real-world tasks rather than isolated exams
• Career-enhancing opportunities such as placements, live projects, enterprise and volunteering

For a full list of the modules you will study on this course, please visit https://www.port.ac.uk/study/courses/undergraduate/bsc-hons-criminology-and-cybercrime#modules

You’ll be assessed through:

coursework
examinations
presentations
group projects
dissertation

You’ll be able to test your skills and knowledge informally before you do assessments that count towards your final mark.

You can get feedback on all practice and formal assessments so you can improve in the future.

The way you’re assessed may depend on the modules you select. As a guide, students on this course last year were typically assessed as follows:

Year 1 students: 18% by written exams, 7% by practical exams and 75% by coursework
Year 2 students: 10% by practical exams and 90% by coursework
Year 3 students: 8% by written exams, 13% by practical exams and 79% by coursework