Introduction
Develop your knowledge of public services such as policing, the Armed Forces and youth justice in the UK – and gain a full BA (Hons) degree in just one year.
If you already have a foundation degree or HND in Public Service, our Top-Up course is for you.
Created with public service employers, our one-year degree gives you the chance to advance your understanding in specialist areas such as youth justice and psychology, and find out what drives policy in the UK’s public services today.
It’s a hands-on course with plenty of opportunities to learn through study trips, simulated training sessions, and visits from public service professionals.
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With a focus on issues such as public services policy, youth justice and politics, our top-up degree will further your academic knowledge and work-based skills.
Thanks to our links with fire and ambulance services, the police, the Prison Service, HM Revenue & Customs and the Armed Forces, you’ll benefit from course content that aligns closely with current professional practice – delivered by lecturers who have first-hand experience of working in the sector.
But you won’t just learn in the classroom. You might go on a trip to Berlin and tour a Stasi prison, roleplay as a casualty in simulated mass emergency situations for London Fire Brigade, take part in Public Order policing training, or go on a teambuilding trip to the Lake District involving activities such as kayaking, ghyll-scrambling and abseiling.
Throughout our BA (Hons) Public Service Top-Up course there’s a focus on your future career. The Major Project module gives you the chance to explore your chosen area of public service and find out where your degree could take you after graduation.
Facilities and showcase
Practical experience
As a Public Service Top-Up student at ARU you’ll benefit from:
- taking part in simulated public health scenarios
- joining a study trip to Berlin, which includes a tour of a Secret Police prison
- exploring an area of public service that’s of interest to you and gaining valuable research skills, through your Major Project
- studying an up-to-date, relevant course that’s been designed in collaboration with public sector organisations.
Outstanding student support
Join our student community and:
- benefit from award-winning learning facilities, including extensive library and IT resources
- learn from staff who have first-hand experience of working in public service
- attend events and seminars organised by our Policing Institute for the Eastern Region
- access support, should you need it, with study skills, careers advice, health and wellbeing, and more.
Take a closer look
Our Creative Showcase shines a spotlight on what makes ARU creative and cultural – our spaces, places and people. Find out more about our community, the difference we make, the stories we tell, and the things that inspire us.
Meanwhile, Present is an exhibition that you curate for yourself. Explore the work of our graduating students in this eye-catching virtual degree show.
Careers
The public services sector employs around five million people in the UK (Office for National Statistics, 2019), in a huge range of roles. You might find yourself working on the front line, or taking up a valuable role in analysis, research or management.
Our Public Service students have gone on to work with uniformed services such as the police, the fire service, the Prison Service and all branches of the military, as well as in HM Revenue & Customs, and primary, further or higher education.
Whichever path you follow, you can be sure you’ll graduate with the knowledge, skills and abilities that employers need. They help us review what we teach and how we teach it, and they come on to campus to support your learning.
Graduation doesn’t need to be the end of your time with us, of course. You might decide to stay at ARU and study for a Masters in fields such as policing, social care or education. Take advantage of our Alumni Scholarship and get 20% off your fees.
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.