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Forensic psychology

I'm in year 11 and I've chosen chemistry, psychology and biology as my options but I don't enjoy biology anymore as it really stresses me out I am planning on studying forensic psychology but do you need a biology a level on order to be one.
I'm also confused about what I want to really do in uni I am planning on changing my options to chemistry psychology and sociology what university degree can I do with those three options.
I feel like such a dreadful person for saying this but...

Forensic psychologist is for all intents and purposes not a real job. In the U.K., forensic science is barely a real sector of the economy. A huge number of very cynical universities are prepared to take your money to teach you about ballistics and blood splatter analysis but that is not what those graduates go on to do. Most of them end up drawing on the chemistry in their degrees to get work in water quality testing or oilfield analysis.

My understanding is that this is largely true of forensic psychology too. If I were you, I would look very closely at what your prospects will be as a graduate of this subject before signing up for it.
(edited 3 years ago)
Reply 2
Original post by CJ_bangtan
I'm in year 11 and I've chosen chemistry, psychology and biology as my options but I don't enjoy biology anymore as it really stresses me out I am planning on studying forensic psychology but do you need a biology a level on order to be one.
I'm also confused about what I want to really do in uni I am planning on changing my options to chemistry psychology and sociology what university degree can I do with those three options.

If you are talking about forensic psychology then you do not need biology but just incase as many people get confused if you are talking about forensic science then you need chemistry and another science for most universities.
Original post by Johnathan94
I feel like such a dreadful person for saying this but...

Forensic psychologist is for all intents and purposes not a real job. In the U.K., forensic science is barely a real sector of the economy. A huge number of very cynical universities are prepared to take your money to teach you about ballistics and blood splatter analysis but that is not what those graduates go on to do. Most of them end up drawing on the chemistry in their degrees to get work in water quality testing or oilfield analysis.

My understanding is that this is largely true of forensic psychology too. If I were you, I would look very closely at what your prospects will be as a graduate of this subject before signing up for it.

I would argue that forensic psychologist is very much a real job. It is basically a clinical psychologist with a specialialed knowledge of the criminal justice system, offender behaviour and disorders. As a psychologist you would work in a forensic setting such as a prison.
Many people get it confused from TV shows such as csi etc, however it has nothing to do with forensic science and isn't related in any way.
Also forensic science is very much a part of the police force, Scene of Crime Officers (SOCO) are forensic scientists or work within that field.
Original post by LisaStanley88
I would argue that forensic psychologist is very much a real job. It is basically a clinical psychologist with a specialialed knowledge of the criminal justice system, offender behaviour and disorders. As a psychologist you would work in a forensic setting such as a prison.
Many people get it confused from TV shows such as csi etc, however it has nothing to do with forensic science and isn't related in any way.
Also forensic science is very much a part of the police force, Scene of Crime Officers (SOCO) are forensic scientists or work within that field.


Quite disingenuous. A Scene of Crime Officer is very definitely not a forensic scientist. If you believe it is then I don’t know why you would encourage OP to apply for forensic science seeing as how the job spec doesn’t even demand A-levels let alone a BSc. Having seen the contents of forensic science degree up close, and having studied biochem myself, I’m confident that the contents of the average of forensic science degree would be beyond overkill for training a SOCO.

If the OP is talking about the kind of job that involves conducting reoffending risk assessments or determine who goes on long-term suicide watch in prison then I’d be prepared to agree with you that there is some prospect then of working under the title ‘Forensic Psychologist’ but even then, anything clinically orientated in the psychology field is extremely competitive.
(edited 3 years ago)
Original post by Johnathan94
Quite disingenuous. A Scene of Crime Officer is very definitely not a forensic scientist. If you believe it is then I don’t know why you would encourage OP to apply for forensic science seeing as how the job spec doesn’t even demand A-levels let alone a BSc. Having seen the contents of forensic science degree up close, and having studied biochem myself, I’m confident that the contents of the average of forensic science degree would be beyond overkill for training a SOCO.

If the OP is talking about the kind of job that involves conducting reoffending risk assessments or determine who goes on long-term suicide watch in prison then I’d be prepared to agree with you that there is some prospect then of working under the title ‘Forensic Psychologist’ but even then, anything clinically orientated in the psychology field is extremely competitive.

I wasn't encouraging the OP to apply for any degrees, just explaining the some of the job roles/areas that they seem interested in.
Yes, psychology is an extremely competitive field, forensic psychology even more so.
I’m confident that the contents of the average of forensic science degree would be beyond overkill for training a SOCO.

Oh I totally agree that you do not need a degree to work as a SOCO, a PC that has finished their probation can transfer to that unit. However there are other roles within forensics in the police and to progress to more senior roles in that sector a degree is necessary, specifically a science related degree. Although, I'm specifically referring to the Met, I'm not sure about other police forces.

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