Overview
Examine real-life case studies to piece together the inner workings of serious crime, and the methods used to police it. You’ll gain the skills and knowledge needed for many careers in criminal justice, such as the Police, youth justice, the Home Office or border agencies.
- Study with a school ranked 8th in the UK for Criminology (The Guardian University Guide 2018)
- Feel supported by our close community of students and staff, including dedicated social media groups
- Learn from professional criminal justice practitioners through lectures, workshops and other activities
- Take part in events including field trips, guest lectures and our end-of-year Criminology Conference
- Join forces with PIER, our Policing Institute for the Eastern Region, with links to local and regional forces and policing bodies and chief officers at local and national level
Focusing on serious crime, you’ll explore the practice and theory of criminal activities, including how crime is detected and policed, methods of social control, and sanctions.
By examining different theoretical standpoints, you’ll form an understanding of various Western legal and social traditions and how they compare to each other.
You’ll investigate issues such as organised illicit trade and criminal enterprise, using case studies of criminal activities including financial crime, human trafficking, and violence prevention.
Our modules will let you specialise in other areas of interest too, such as the nature of violence, terrorism, and policing transnational crime.
Most of your teaching will take place in research-seminar format to allow you to develop critical thinking, but your learning will also be supported by lectures, guest speakers and debates. You’ll have a chance to contribute to our research seminar series, and take part in our annual criminology study trips abroad.
And if you need advice, our experienced teaching staff will always be available to help you.
Careers
This course will prepare you for many criminal justice-related careers, such as the immigration and border agencies, the Police, the Prison Service, the National Probation Service, youth justice, the Home Office, the court system, violence prevention or social policy and research.
Your department and faculty
At the School of Humanities and Social Sciences, we believe in thinking critically about the past, present and future to challenge perceptions and better understand communities and people.
With expertise from gender issues to literary analysis to exploring how the past has shaped our modern world, all our staff members are active researchers. This is reflected in our teaching, allowing us to support our students with the latest theories and practices, as well as essential employability advice.

My name is Kavisha Prince Anthony, and I always had a dream of studying abroad. Thankfully, that dream came to life since I applied to the Study Advisor. I was able to receive my visa within four days. I also had some visa refusals in the past; I had about six UK visa refusals in the past, but thankfully, it was not an issue since the Study Advisor was able to make things work this time. I highly recommend Study Advisor for your dreams of going abroad, whether it be the UK or any other European country there is.