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Criminology and Psychology

Entry requirements


A level

B,B,C

Excludes General Studies.

Access to HE Diploma

D:30

The Access to HE Diploma in a Science, Social Science or Health subject to include 30 Level 3 credits at Distinction. Plus GCSE English and Mathematics at grade 4 / C or above.

GCSE/National 4/National 5

5 GCSEs at grade 4 / C or above to include English and Mathematics.

International Baccalaureate Diploma Programme

27

Pearson BTEC Level 3 National Extended Diploma (first teaching from September 2016)

DMM

Scottish Higher

C,C,C,C,D

UCAS Tariff

112

[1] 4 qualifications for tariff points allowed [2] May also include AS level and EPQ [3] Specific subject not required

About this course


This course has alternative study modes. Contact the university to find out how the information below might vary.

Course option

3years

Full-time | 2024

Other options

4 years | Sandwich | 2024

Subjects

Criminology

Psychology

**This course is designed to give you an understanding of the study of human behaviour, the causes of criminal behaviour, public reactions to crime and the psychology of all those involved in and affected by crime.**

After a grounding in first year, you will specialise in a range of areas of crime, victimology, criminal justice, and crime prevention emphasising key transferable skills in preparation for graduate level employment in a global market.

You will have the opportunity to:

- Link major theoretical perspectives to contemporary issues and debates – putting theory into practice.

- Reflect analytically and critically on a wide range of issues and emerging trends relating to crime, criminal behaviour, control, and criminal justice in local and global contexts.

- Apply creative solutions to crime problems, and to systemic failures in dealing with crime.

**Key Benefits**

- Applied approach designed to develop the skills required for graduate employment in various criminal justice roles

- Expert speakers from agencies involved in criminal justice complement and contextualise your understanding

- Explore international perspectives on crime

- Opportunities to participate in international field trips – previous criminology trips have included South Africa, the USA, Finland, Estonia, and Poland*.

*For further information please check the course page on the Coventry University website.

Modules

This course has a common first year.
The common first year enables you to work alongside students doing similar courses to you, to widen your knowledge and exposure to other subject areas and professions. You will have the opportunity to collaborate with other students, so you can share your insights and experience which will help you to develop and learn.

If you discover an interest in a specific subject you have studied, upon successful completion of your first year, you could swap degrees with another course in your common first year (subject to meeting progression requirements).

Common first year courses:

Criminology BA (Hons)
Criminology and Law BA (Hons)
Criminology and Psychology BA (Hons)

Year One
Year one aims to give you a thorough grounding in the study of crime, criminal behaviour, justice, and the law in a global context. Working alongside students from Criminology, and Criminology and Law, you will not only develop the knowledge you need to progress in your degree, but also be encouraged to think critically about the issues, see crime from legal and moral viewpoints, and be creative in finding solutions to problems.

Modules
Crime and Society - 20 credits
Criminal Behaviour - 20 credits
Criminal Justice - 20 credits
Crime Typologies - 20 credits
Forensic Mental Health - 20 credits
Legal Approaches to Crime - 20 credits

Year Two
In year two you will continue to build on your knowledge and understanding of crime and criminal justice by looking deeper into forensic psychology and at key institutions, such as policing, and systems of punishment. You will also be introduced to the concept of victimology. Finally, you will begin preparing for your final year research project by exploring methods and processes for researching crime.

Modules
Researching Crime - 20 credits
Victims and Victimology - 20 credits
Perspectives in Forensic Psychology - 20 credits
Forensic Psychology in Context - 20 credits
Policing and Society - 20 credits
Punishment and Control - 20 credits

Placement Year
There’s no better way to find out what you love doing than trying it out for yourself, which is why a work placement can often be beneficial. Work placements usually occur between your second and final year of study. They’re a great way to help you explore your potential career path and gain valuable work experience, whilst developing transferable skills for the future.

If you choose to do a work placement year, you will pay a reduced tuition fee of £1,250. For further information please check the course page on the Coventry University website. During this time you will receive guidance from your employer or partner institution, along with your assigned academic mentor who will ensure you have the support you need to complete your placement.

Final Year
In the final year you will apply the knowledge from your first two years in the more specialised areas of violence and exploitation and organised crime. You will also be able to develop specific interests and expertise to suit your career plans through options in Psychology including crime-related areas such as addiction or aggression, or other areas such as counselling or educational psychology. You will also take your research project in which you will produce a research paper on your own contribution to knowledge.

Modules
Global Organised Crime - 20 credits
Violence and Exploitation - 20 credits
Optional module - 20 credits. Choose one from the following:
Criminal Behaviour and its Contexts
Addictive Behaviours
Child and Educational Psychology
Optional module - 20 credits. Choose one from the following:
Clinical Neuroscience
Counselling Psychology
Aggression and Violent Behaviour
Research Project in Criminology - 40 credits

We regularly review our course content, to make it relevant and current for the benefit of our students. For these reasons, course modules may be updated. For further information please check the course page on the Coventry University website.

Assessment methods

This course will be assessed using a variety of methods which will vary depending upon the module. Assessment methods include for example:

Short writing exercises such as abstracts, opinion pieces, and precis
Extended writing exercises such as essays, reports, and research papers
Group and individual presentations
Posters and infographics
Problem solving scenarios such as assessment centre exercises.

The Coventry University Group assessment strategy ensures that our courses are fairly assessed and allows us to monitor student progression towards achieving the intended learning outcomes.

Tuition fees

Select where you currently live to see what you'll pay:

Channel Islands
£9,250
per year
England
£9,250
per year
Northern Ireland
£9,250
per year
Republic of Ireland
£9,250
per year
Scotland
£9,250
per year
Wales
£9,250
per year

The Uni


Course location:

Coventry University

Department:

School of Psychological, Social and Behavioural Sciences

Read full university profile

What students say


We've crunched the numbers to see if overall student satisfaction here is high, medium or low compared to students studying this subject(s) at other universities.

85%
Criminology
74%
Psychology

How do students rate their degree experience?

The stats below relate to the general subject area/s at this university, not this specific course. We show this where there isn’t enough data about the course, or where this is the most detailed info available to us.

Sociology

Teaching and learning

82%
Staff make the subject interesting
89%
Staff are good at explaining things
84%
Ideas and concepts are explored in-depth
83%
Opportunities to apply what I've learned

Assessment and feedback

Feedback on work has been timely
Feedback on work has been helpful
Staff are contactable when needed
Good advice available when making study choices

Resources and organisation

86%
Library resources
90%
IT resources
86%
Course specific equipment and facilities
77%
Course is well organised and has run smoothly

Student voice

Staff value students' opinions
Feel part of a community on my course

Who studies this subject and how do they get on?

87%
UK students
13%
International students
15%
Male students
85%
Female students
69%
2:1 or above
14%
First year drop out rate

Most popular A-Levels studied (and grade achieved)

C
C
C

Psychology (non-specific)

Teaching and learning

79%
Staff make the subject interesting
90%
Staff are good at explaining things
77%
Ideas and concepts are explored in-depth
78%
Opportunities to apply what I've learned

Assessment and feedback

Feedback on work has been timely
Feedback on work has been helpful
Staff are contactable when needed
Good advice available when making study choices

Resources and organisation

76%
Library resources
88%
IT resources
86%
Course specific equipment and facilities
65%
Course is well organised and has run smoothly

Student voice

Staff value students' opinions
Feel part of a community on my course

Who studies this subject and how do they get on?

77%
UK students
23%
International students
22%
Male students
78%
Female students
74%
2:1 or above
15%
First year drop out rate

Most popular A-Levels studied (and grade achieved)

C
B
D

After graduation


The stats in this section relate to the general subject area/s at this university – not this specific course. We show this where there isn't enough data about the course, or where this is the most detailed info available to us.

Sociology

What are graduates doing after six months?

This is what graduates told us they were doing (and earning), shortly after completing their course. We've crunched the numbers to show you if these immediate prospects are high, medium or low, compared to those studying this subject/s at other universities.

£20,000
med
Average annual salary
98%
med
Employed or in further education
49%
med
Employed in a role where degree was essential or beneficial

Top job areas of graduates

20%
Welfare and housing associate professionals
9%
Business, finance and related associate professionals
8%
Protective service occupations

We have quite a lot of sociology graduates, although numbers fell last year. But graduates still do pretty well. Most sociology graduates go straight into work when they complete their degrees, and a lot of graduates go into jobs in social professions such as recruitment, education, community and youth work, and housing. An important option for a sociology graduate is social work - and we're short of people willing to take this challenging but rewarding career. Sociology is a flexible degree and you can find graduates from the subject in pretty much every reasonable job — obviously, you don't find many doctors or engineers, but you do find them in finance, the media, healthcare, marketing and even IT. Sociology graduates taking further study often branch out into other qualifications, like teaching, law, psychology, HR and even maths, so don’t think a sociology degree restricts you to just one set of options.

Psychology (non-specific)

What are graduates doing after six months?

This is what graduates told us they were doing (and earning), shortly after completing their course. We've crunched the numbers to show you if these immediate prospects are high, medium or low, compared to those studying this subject/s at other universities.

£18,057
med
Average annual salary
100%
high
Employed or in further education
44%
med
Employed in a role where degree was essential or beneficial

Top job areas of graduates

15%
Welfare and housing associate professionals
12%
Teaching and educational professionals
10%
Public services and other associate professionals

20 years ago, this was a specialist degree for would-be psychologists but now it is the model of a modern, flexible degree subject. One of the UK's fastest-growing subject at degree level, and the second most popular subject overall (it recently overtook business studies), one in 23 of all graduates last year had psychology degrees. As you'd expect with figures like that, jobs in psychology itself are incredibly competitive, so to stand a chance of securing one, you need to get a postgraduate qualification (probably a doctorate in most fields, especially clinical psychology) and some relevant work experience. But even though there are so many psychology graduates — far more than there are jobs in psychology, and over 13,800 in total last year — this degree has a lower unemployment rate than average because its grads are so flexible and well-regarded by business and other industries across the economy. Everywhere there are good jobs in the UK economy, you'll find psychology graduates - and it's hardly surprising as the course helps you gain a mix of good people skills and excellent number and data handling skills. A psychology degree ticks most employers' boxes — but we'd suggest you don't drop your maths modules.

What about your long term prospects?

Looking further ahead, below is a rough guide for what graduates went on to earn.

Sociology

The graph shows median earnings of graduates who achieved a degree in this subject area one, three and five years after graduating from here.

£19k

£19k

£22k

£22k

£26k

£26k

Note: this data only looks at employees (and not those who are self-employed or also studying) and covers a broad sample of graduates and the various paths they've taken, which might not always be a direct result of their degree.

Psychology (non-specific)

The graph shows median earnings of graduates who achieved a degree in this subject area one, three and five years after graduating from here.

£19k

£19k

£22k

£22k

£25k

£25k

Note: this data only looks at employees (and not those who are self-employed or also studying) and covers a broad sample of graduates and the various paths they've taken, which might not always be a direct result of their degree.

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This is what the university has told Ucas about the course. Use it to get a quick idea about what makes it unique compared to similar courses, elsewhere.

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Teaching Excellence Framework (TEF):

We've received this information from the Department for Education, via Ucas. This is how the university as a whole has been rated for its quality of teaching: gold silver or bronze. Note, not all universities have taken part in the TEF.

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This information comes from the National Student Survey, an annual student survey of final-year students. You can use this to see how satisfied students studying this subject area at this university, are (not the individual course).

This is the percentage of final-year students at this university who were "definitely" or "mostly" satisfied with their course. We've analysed this figure against other universities so you can see whether this is high, medium or low.

Have a question about this info? Learn more here

This information is from the Higher Education Statistics Agency (HESA), for undergraduate students only.

You can use this to get an idea of who you might share a lecture with and how they progressed in this subject, here. It's also worth comparing typical A-level subjects and grades students achieved with the current course entry requirements; similarities or differences here could indicate how flexible (or not) a university might be.

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Post-six month graduation stats:

This is from the Destinations of Leavers from Higher Education Survey, based on responses from graduates who studied the same subject area here.

It offers a snapshot of what grads went on to do six months later, what they were earning on average, and whether they felt their degree helped them obtain a 'graduate role'. We calculate a mean rating to indicate if this is high, medium or low compared to other universities.

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Graduate field commentary:

The Higher Education Careers Services Unit have provided some further context for all graduates in this subject area, including details that numbers alone might not show

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The Longitudinal Educational Outcomes dataset combines HRMC earnings data with student records from the Higher Education Statistics Agency.

While there are lots of factors at play when it comes to your future earnings, use this as a rough timeline of what graduates in this subject area were earning on average one, three and five years later. Can you see a steady increase in salary, or did grads need some experience under their belt before seeing a nice bump up in their pay packet?

Have a question about this info? Learn more here