phd criminology nottingham

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Social Science Research (Criminology) MA

University of nottingham, different course options.

• Key information

Course Summary

Tuition fees, entry requirements, university information, similar courses at this uni, key information data source : idp connect, qualification type.

MA - Master of Arts

Subject areas

Criminology Social Sciences

Course type

Course overview

Our MA Social Science Research (Criminology) is aimed at students who are interested in PhD studies in criminology and criminal justice, or developing a wide range of social science research techniques. It will equip you with the theory and practical skills that are needed to carry out independent research.

You'll learn about methods and techniques used in social science research such as:

• data collection and analysis
• the philosophical, ethical and political issues that underpin social science research
• theories of research design

You'll be lead by experts who are involved in projects that inform public and social policy, in areas such as criminal justice, social care, and identities. You'll graduate ready for research posts in academic, voluntary, private and third-sector settings.

Expert staff can help you research career options and job vacancies, build your CV or resume, develop your interview skills and meet employers.

Each year 1,100 employers advertise graduate jobs and internships through our online vacancy service. We host regular careers fairs, including specialist fairs for different sectors.

International students who complete an eligible degree programme in the UK on a student visa can apply to stay and work in the UK after their course under the Graduate immigration route. Eligible courses at the University of Nottingham include bachelors, masters and research degrees, and PGCE courses.

UK fees Course fees for UK students

For this course (per year)

International fees Course fees for EU and international students

2:1 (or international equivalent) in a relevant subject in the arts, humanities, or social sciences

The University of Nottingham is a pioneering institution with a long and distinguished heritage in education. It ranks in the top 20 universities in the UK (Times Higher Education World University Rankings, 2024). It is also a research-intensive university and a member of the prestigious Russell Group of universities, making it a superb place to study for a postgraduate qualification. In addition to being one of the world’s top 100... more

Criminal Justice LLM

Full time | 1 year | 23-SEP-24

Social Science Research (Socio Legal Studies) MA

Full time | 12 months | 23-SEP-24

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Forensic and Criminological Psychology

Entry requirements.

Minimum of 2:1 honours degree in Psychology (BA/BSc single or joint or international equivalent) recognised by the BPS as conferring Graduate Basis for Chartered Membership. Minimum grade of 60% overall for batchelors degree & 60% in final year project.

Months of entry

Course content.

The MSc (by research) Forensic and Criminological Psychology is accredited by the British Psychological Society (BPS) . At successful completion, it fulfils Stage I of the BPS professional training in forensic psychology and therefore gives eligibility to enter Stage II of the BPS Diploma or at a later date, apply for the Top up Doctorate in Forensic Psychology at the University of Nottingham.

Qualification, course duration and attendance options

• Campus-based learning is available for this qualification

Course contact details

Midlands Graduate School ESRC DTP

Sociology, social policy and criminology.

Core Research Areas:

We conduct research across the following areas:

We have expertise in cutting edge qualitative and quantitative methods and analysis.

Research Centres:

These thematic foci are channelled through the School's four research centres:

Applicants with an interest in Sociology, Criminology, Social Policy   and Social Work should contact a prospective supervisor or, if you have yet to identify an appropriate advisor Dr Elisabetta Zontini by Fri day 8th December 2023.

Please send your CV , a one-page note on your preparation and motivation to conduct research to PhD level on a topic in Sociology, Criminology, Social Policy or Social Work, using social science methods, and a one-page outline of your proposed research topic . We can advise on your eligibility and the fit of your proposed research with our interests and expertise.

Quick Links:

• School of Sociology and Social Policy
• Find a supervisor
• How to apply for admission to the University of Nottingham
• MGS guidance notes for applicants
• MGS funding application information and link to form

@uonsociology on Twitter Link opens in a new window

Criminology BA

University Park Campus, Nottingham, UK

IMPORTANT INFORMATION

Please note that we are currently updating our undergraduate prospectus pages for 2025 entry, so the information below is subject to change. We expect to have our pages fully updated by the end of March 2024.

Course information

• Qualification : Bachelor of Arts with Honours Bachelor of Arts with Honours
• Start date : September 2025 September 2025

Entry requirements : 34 AAB

6.5 (no less than 6.0 in any element)

English language requirements

As well as IELTS (listed above), we also accept other English language qualifications. This includes TOEFL iBT, Pearson PTE, GCSE, IB and O level English. Check our  English language policies and equivalencies  for further details.

For presessional English or one-year foundation courses, you must take IELTS for UKVI to meet visa regulations.

If you need support to meet the required level, you may be able to attend a  Presessional English for Academic Purposes (PEAP) course . Our Centre for English Language Education is accredited by the British Council for the teaching of English in the UK.

If you successfully complete your presessional course to the required level, you can then progress to your degree course. This means that you won't need to retake IELTS or equivalent.

Check our country-specific information for guidance on qualifications from your country.

GCSE English grade 4 (C) or above

General studies, critical thinking and CIE thinking skills

Please note: Applicants whose backgrounds or personal circumstances have impacted their academic performance may receive a reduced offer. Please see our contextual admissions policy for more information.

All candidates are considered on an individual basis and we accept a broad range of qualifications. The entrance requirements listed apply to 2025 entry.

Visa restrictions

International students must have valid UK immigration permissions for any courses or study period where teaching takes place in the UK. Student route visas can be issued for eligible students studying full-time courses. The University of Nottingham does not sponsor a student visa for students studying part-time courses. The Standard Visitor visa route is not appropriate in all cases. Please contact the university’s Visa and Immigration team if you need advice about your visa options.

Alternative qualifications

We recognise that applicants have a wealth of different experiences and follow a variety of pathways into higher education.

Consequently we treat all applicants with alternative qualifications (besides A levels and the International Baccalaureate) on an individual basis, and we gladly accept students with a whole range of less conventional qualifications including:

Access to HE Diploma

• Advanced Diploma
• BTEC HND/HNC
• BTEC Extended Diploma  

This list is not exhaustive. The entry requirements for alternative qualifications can be quite specific; for example you may need to take certain modules and achieve a specified grade in those modules. Please contact us to discuss the transferability of your qualification. Please see the alternative qualifications page for more information.

RQF BTEC Nationals

• RQF Level 3 BTEC National Extended Diploma DDD
• RQF Level 3 BTEC National Diploma DD plus one A level grade A
• RQF Level 3 BTEC National Extended Certificate D plus two A levels grades AB
• Access to HE Diploma 30 Level 3 credits at Distinction and 15 Level 3 credits at Merit

Notes for applicants

We are looking for students who have the ability and motivation to benefit from our courses and who will make a valued contribution to the school and university. We will take into account a wide range of factors including post-school experience and breadth of interests as well as exam results.

Our courses require a combination of different skills, and an ability to engage with new subjects and ideas. These qualities in part relate to academic performance, but we will also look at your interests and experience.

Mature students

At the University of Nottingham, we have a valuable community of mature students and we appreciate their contribution to the wider student population. You can find lots of useful information on the  mature students webpage .

Contextual offers

We recognise the potential of talented students from all backgrounds. We make contextual offers to students whose personal circumstances may have restricted achievement at school or college. These offers are usually one grade lower than the advertised entry requirements. To qualify for a contextual offer, you must have Home/UK fee status and meet specific criteria – check if you’re eligible .

• UCAS Code : L316 L316

Duration : 3 years full-time (available part-time) 3 years full-time (available part-time)

Study abroad

On this course, you can apply to study abroad at one of our partner institutions or at University of Nottingham China or University of Nottingham Malaysia. 

If you are successful in applying to study abroad, you will get the opportunity to broaden your horizons and enhance your CV by experiencing another culture. Teaching is typically in English, but there may be opportunities to study in another language if you are sufficiently fluent.  

You can choose to study similar modules to your counterparts in the UK or expand your knowledge by taking other options.  

The school you are joining may also have additional study abroad options available. Please visit the school website for more information.  

Please note:  In order to study abroad you will need to achieve the relevant academic requirements as set by the university and meet the selection criteria of both the university and the partner institution. The partner institution is under no obligation to accept you even if you do meet the relevant criteria.

Optional placement year

If your course does not have a compulsory placement, integrated year in industry or compulsory year abroad where there is already an opportunity to undertake a work placement as part of that experience, you may be able to apply to undertake an optional placement year. While it is the student’s responsibility to find and secure a placement, our Careers and Employability Service will support you throughout this process. Contact [email protected] to find out more. 

The school/faculty you are joining may also have additional placement opportunities. Please visit the  school/faculty website  for more information.  

Please note:  In order to undertake an optional placement year, you will need to achieve the relevant academic requirements as set by the university and meet any requirements specified by the placement host. There is no guarantee that you will be able to undertake an optional placement as part of your course.

Key information

Please be aware  that study abroad, compulsory year abroad, optional placements/internships and integrated year in industry opportunities may change at any time for a number of reasons, including curriculum developments, changes to arrangements with partner universities or placement/industry hosts, travel restrictions or other circumstances outside of the university’s control. Every effort will be made to update this information as quickly as possible should a change occur.  

Please note: In order to study abroad you will need to achieve the relevant academic requirements as set by the university and meet the selection criteria of both the university and the partner institution. The partner institution is under no obligation to accept you even if you do meet the relevant criteria.

The school/faculty you are joining may also have additional placement opportunities. Please visit the school/faculty website for more information.  

Please note: In order to undertake an optional placement year, you will need to achieve the relevant academic requirements as set by the university and meet any requirements specified by the placement host. There is no guarantee that you will be able to undertake an optional placement as part of your course.

Please be aware that study abroad, compulsory year abroad, optional placements/internships and integrated year in industry opportunities may change at any time for a number of reasons, including curriculum developments, changes to arrangements with partner universities or placement/industry hosts, travel restrictions or other circumstances outside of the university’s control. Every effort will be made to update this information as quickly as possible should a change occur.  

Fees : £23,000 per year £9,250 per year

For full details including fees for part-time students and reduced fees during your time studying abroad or on placement (where applicable), see  our fees page .

If you are a student from the EU, EEA or Switzerland, you may be asked to complete a fee status questionnaire and your answers will be assessed using  guidance issued by the UK Council for International Student Affairs (UKCISA) .

Additional costs

All students will need at least one device to approve security access requests via Multi-Factor Authentication (MFA). We also recommend students have a suitable laptop to work both on and off-campus. For more information, please check the  equipment advice .

As a student on this course, you should factor some additional costs into your budget, alongside your tuition fees and living expenses.

You should be able to access most of the books you’ll need through our libraries, though we also make recommendations of specific titles which you may wish to consider purchasing.

If you choose to take an optional placement module, you will need to factor in travel costs, which will be dependent on location of placement and proximity to term-time address.

Scholarships and bursaries

The University of Nottingham offers a wide range of bursaries and scholarships. These funds can provide you with an additional source of non-repayable financial help. For up to date information regarding tuition fees, visit our  fees and finance pages .

International students

We offer a range of international undergraduate scholarships for high-achieving international scholars who can put their Nottingham degree to great use in their careers.

All students will need at least one device to approve security access requests via Multi-Factor Authentication (MFA). We also recommend students have a suitable laptop to work both on and off-campus. For more information, please check the equipment advice .

The University of Nottingham offers a wide range of bursaries and scholarships. These funds can provide you with an additional source of non-repayable financial help. For up to date information regarding tuition fees, visit our fees and finance pages .

Home students*

Over one third of our UK students receive our means-tested core bursary, worth up to £1,000 a year. Full details can be found on our financial support pages .

* A 'home' student is one who meets certain UK residence criteria. These are the same criteria as apply to eligibility for home funding from Student Finance.

Course overview

Are you ready to embark on an exciting journey into the world of criminology? Join our BA Criminology course to explore crime, harm, victimization, and crime control. You will develop critical thinking and research skills for your career.

Learn from experienced criminologists who are leaders in their fields. Gain an understanding of areas of crime and justice with insights from sociology, law, social policy, psychology, politics, history, and media studies.

For example, you'll examine the social and legal construction of ‘crime’ and consider its causes, as well as thinking about how societies should respond to harmful behaviours.

With a wide range of optional modules, you can tailor your degree to your interests and career aspirations. You can choose to learn about punishment, victimology, or the crimes and harms of the powerful.

Study abroad in locations such as the Netherlands, Singapore, or the USA to gain a global perspective. Take part in the placements scheme for hands-on experience, putting your knowledge to the test in the real world.

A degree in criminology can provide a solid foundation for a number of careers. Our graduates work across many different sectors making a positive impact on society. Embark on this journey into criminology and discover exciting opportunities for your future career.

Why choose this course?

• 8th for criminology in the UK in The Times and Sunday Times Good University Guide 2023
• Tailor your degree to your career aspirations through a wide range of optional modules
• Study abroad opportunities in  locations  such as the Netherlands, Singapore or the USA
• Gain real experience as part of our placements scheme
• Award-winning teaching - teaching often recognised by awards such as the University Chancellor's Award for teaching quality
• Diverse career options - our graduates develop successful careers across the private, public and charitable sectors, including local government  

Important information

This online prospectus has been drafted in advance of the academic year to which it applies. Every effort has been made to ensure that the information is accurate at the time of publishing, but changes (for example to course content) are likely to occur given the interval between publishing and commencement of the course. It is therefore very important to check this website for any updates before you apply for the course where there has been an interval between you reading this website and applying.  

Indicative modules

Criminology: Understanding Crime and Victimisation

Introduction to the Criminal Justice 'System' in England and Wales

Investigating Social Worlds

Punishment and Penalty

Contemporary Theories of Crime, Justice and Society

Research Design and Practice (Qualitative Methods)

Research Design and Practice (Quantitative Methods)

China Beyond the Headlines

Controversy: Experts, Post-Truth and Fake News

Crime Stories: Crime, Justice and the Media

Police, Policing and the Police

Prisons and Society

Rehabilitation, Risk and Desistance

Social Inequalities: Causes, Patterns and Change

#Sociology: Identity, Self and Other in a Digital Age

The Body, the Self and Others

Youth Crime and Justice

• Dissertation

Analysing Public Policy

Crimes and Harms of the Powerful

Cults and New Religious Movements: Power, Belief and Conflict

Cyber Crime

Education and Society

Exploring Social and Cultural Life Through Films

Gender, the Family and Social Policy

Migration and Transnationalism

‘Race’, Ethnicity and Colonial Modernity

Southern Criminology: Decolonising the Study of Crime and Justice

Victimology

About modules

The above is a sample of the typical modules we offer, but is not intended to be construed or relied on as a definitive list of what might be available in any given year. This content was last updated on Monday 2 October 2023.

Language study as part of this degree

You may be able to choose to study a language as part of this degree.

Learning another language can open career opportunities around the globe and enriches your CV. It could also help you in your studies by being able to access learning materials in other languages.

If you are planning to travel or work abroad it will help you to broaden your cultural understanding.

Our Language Centre offers many languages, and you may start as a beginner or at a more advanced level.

Find out more about learning a language as part of your degree .

This module lays the foundations for further study in criminology by looking at its development as a discipline. You will consider how crime is defined and counted, and investigate the sources of criminological knowledge.

The main focus is on key theoretical perspectives in criminology, and how they help us to understand and explain crime and victimisation and social reactions to it.

This module seeks to introduce and contextualise the function and processes of the agencies and institutions that operate within the criminal justice system.

The module will encourage you to identify the tensions and inequalities that lead criminologists and criminal justice practitioners to promote reform of the criminal justice system. Summary of the topics to be covered include:

• Theorising criminal justice and punishment: Exploring models of criminal justice and penology.
• Overview of the Criminal Justice System in England and Wales
• Key agencies, processes and institutions within the Criminal Justice System including: police, prosecution, judiciary, sentencing, management of offenders, youth justice and alternatives to custody
• Criminal Justice policy-making process, the role of victims and the politicisation of criminal justice
• Inequalities and bias within the Criminal Justice System: race, gender and class
• International influences of criminal justice-policy making: organised crime and terrorism; European Union; International cases studies influencing reform agenda

This module introduces you to the nature of social research through exploration of the fundamental philosophical, methodological and ethical debates on 'how to think of social research' and 'how to do social research'.

The module begins with discussions of the primary features, functions and characteristics of social research, the distinctions between social research and other modes of investigating and producing knowledge about the social world and the steps typically involved in conducting social research.

Next, attention is focused on social research paradigms and how the different ontological, epistemological and methodological specificities map onto research questions, methods and designs. Attention will then be placed on some of the principal methods of data collection in the social sciences such as surveys, social experiments, interviews, visual methods, group discussions and observation.

The module concludes by examining issues of ethics, status, power and reflexivity in social research. 

This module will introduce you to a range of debates about the nature of punishment and its roles in society. We will explore the philosophical, political and historical reasons why societies use punishment and examine accounts of the changing nature of punishment since the Enlightenment.

We will also examine the nature of contemporary systems of punishment based on imprisonment, the challenges they face and the alternative forms of punishment that have emerged in the second half of the 20th century.

The module will also examine key social questions relating to why and how societies punish lawbreakers differentially based on major social divisions.

This module is concerned with how we can make sense of crime, and responses to it, in today’s society. It sets out to look at contemporary theories about crime, justice and society in their historical context. It looks at how ideas have been revised to take account of 21st century realities including globalisation, mass migration, changing gender relations, terrorism, economic and environmental crisis and the rise of risk society.

This module will introduce you to the principles of research design, practice and ethics in relation to qualitative research, and provides experience in designing a qualitative research project.  

This module will introduce you to the principles of research design and ethics in relation to quantitative research, and provides you with experience in designing and conducting your own small-scale research project.  

This module emphasises sociological theories with reference to current events and social policy making in China. Topics change every year according to what is in the news, but may include:

• nationhood, identity and ethnicity
• gender, family and sexualities
• inequalities, social capital and welfare
• health, education and popular culture
• crime, deviance and justice

This module will examine the role of experts and expertise in modern society. In many cases conflicting information circulates in the media and people do not know who to trust and what to believe. Should we listen to ‘the science’? We are allegedly living in a post-truth society where participants in polarized debates go as far as accusing each other of presenting fake news. Experts are supposed to provide neutral advice but often get drawn into the fray, too.

We will examine selected case studies that allow us to better understand the role of experts in society. Case studies may include climate change; Brexit; legal and illegal drugs; and vacation.

What is the relationship between crime, justice and the media? Does media depiction simply reflect public interests and attitudes, or help to shape them? Does media representation of 'crime', 'criminals' and criminal justice impact penal and social policies?

These are some of the questions we will debate through drawing on theory, research and illustrative media examples.

This module is concerned with the sociology and politics of policing. The main focus will be on England and Wales but the module will draw on literature and experiences from other jurisdictions around the world and from the United States of America in particular. It will cover a range of topics such as:

• the meaning of, and differences between, police, policing and the police
• the history and development of policing and the police since the 18th century
• the occupational and organisational cultures of the police
• the governance and accountability of the police
• police powers
• specialisation in policing e.g. crime detection, traffic policing, public order policing, terrorism and political policing
• policing strategies and tactics
• policing and the media
• police ethics
• policing social diversity
• the pluralisation of policing

This module focuses on the relationship between imprisonment and society, paying specific attention to the England and Wales prison estate and UK society. The module requires reading, questioning, and evaluating of the following topics:

• Notion of a criminally deviant act and consequent ramifications (for example, imprisonment)
• Relationship between welfare provision and imprisonment rates (for example, social exclusion issues)
• The political and historical natures of punishment (for example, overt versus covert practices)
• Prisoner population demographics in England and Wales
• Roles, responsibilities, and issues for Her Majesty’s Prison Service
• Prison culture (both staff and inmate)
• Institutionalisation theory and the nature of imprisonment
• Provision and receipt experiences of prison mental healthcare
• Sociological research in prisons (for example, (in)famous ethnographies/contemporary analysis)
• Future directions for imprisonment (for example, reducing reoffending strategies)

This module aims to develop critical understandings of:

• the concepts of 'offender' rehabilitation and the changing nature of rehabilitative enterprises over time
• the role of risk in the organisation of the criminal justice system and responses to offending
• research about desistance from crime and its relationship to rehabilitation and risk

The module will explore the role of key agencies involved in rehabilitation including the National Probation Service and Community Rehabilitation Companies and the experiences of those subject to community justice.

This module provides an overview of socio-economic inequalities within and between societies, exploring major theoretical and practical issues regarding data analysis and policy evaluation. Key topics to be covered include:

• theoretical overview of social divisions and inequalities
• exploring patterns and measuring inequalities
• the impact of social inequalities on individuals and society as a whole
• major social divisions: class, gender and race
• other social divisions and intersectionalities
• space and inequalities: local, national and global perspectives
• the social construction and reproduction of inequalities: social control and the role of institutions
• how policy makes and unmakes inequalities
• resistance, alternatives and social change

All these aspects are discussed on the basis of a range of case studies, both national and international, historical and based on current affairs. These are also used to examine different approaches to evidence analysis and data presentation, thus supporting the development of the specific skills necessary to undertake the course assessment. 

We now live in a digital age where new technology, online platforms, applications and wearable devices are an indispensable and, in some ways, an inescapable part of our lives. New digital technologies enable us to track our daily lives and routines, to filter our realities, to present different versions of ourselves, to form attachments and intimacies, engage in politics and protest. From selfie culture, through Tinder love and Twitter revolutions, new digital technologies and social media shape not only our perceptions of Self but also our relations with others.

This module introduces you to the key debates in digital sociology, paying particular attention to the rise of new social media and how this affects identity, belonging, intimacy and civic participation. The main focus of this module is a critical engagement with how Web 2.0 has affected perceptions of self and social relations, exploring why some people engage with new technology whilst others actively resist it.

This module explores the ways in which social identities and subjectivities can be created, maintained and expressed through the body and with reference to 'Others'. It particularly considers:

• existing sociological theories of identity and 'Otherness'
• the sociologies of various 'geographies' of the body, including the sociology of food and diet; body modification and adornment; extreme sport
• presentations of 'self' through work, especially 'bodywork'
• the corporeal 'mapping' of class, gender, ethnicity and sexuality
• surveillance discourses and the Foucauldian body

This module explores the phenomena of youth, crime and justice. Analysis of official statistics and self-report survey data will be placed within a broader understanding of the social construction of youth, drawing on political, media and other sources. The module will critically assess explanations of youth crime and desistance, including major theoretical explanations and developmental/life course perspectives.

The second half of the module considers social responses to youth crime and the role of the youth justice system in particular. The various discourses which inform youth justice will be compared and the ways in which they have been applied in different jurisdictions will be assessed. Finally, the module will consider the recent focus on early intervention, emerging arguments for minimum intervention and the potential for youth justice reform.

You will undertake an extended piece of investigative and synthesising work on a subject of particular interest and produce a final written dissertation of 8000 words.

• provide practice in researching a topic independently and in depth
• involve use of a range of primary and/or secondary information sources
• create coherent and sustained analysis and argument in both writing and speech.

This module examines how public policy is made within government. It provides a critical understanding of how policy is formulated, implemented and evaluated.

The module focuses on key phases of the policy process, from agenda-setting to policy impact. The module provides an applied understanding of policy analysis by examining relevant case studies (for example, child abuse, ageing population).

This module will cover the following broad themes:

• State crime, corporate crime, state-corporate crime, harm, green crime
• State-facilitated and state-initiated corporate crime
• Capitalism, neoliberalism, austerity and indifference
• Crimes of commission and omission
• Command and control regulation vs. business self-regulation

This module serves as an introduction to the study of new religious movements, including groups sometimes referred to as 'cults', and the theoretical concepts used to understand them. A particular focus will be on the degree of tension such groups exhibit with their broader social and religious environments, as well as how they are conceived, both in academia and the media.

It will also consider how issues discussed more broadly in sociology, such as deviance, authority, violence, modernity, globalisation, sex and gender, and group dynamics, bear on our understanding of new religious movements.

This module introduces you to the criminological study of cyber crime. It draws on key literature and current research to consider the ways in which new and emerging forms of digital media and information and communication technologies provide opportunities for a variety of deviant and criminal behaviours. The module will typically cover the following broad themes:

• Criminological definitions and theories of cyber crime
• Case studies of types of cyber crime, including, for example: fraud, identify theft, hacking, revenge porn, sexting, online harassment, trolling and cyberstalking
• Victims’ experiences of cyber crime
• Why individuals commit certain types of cyber crime
• Cyber crime in a global world
• The policing, surveillance and regulation of cyber crime
• The implication of the ‘internet of things’ for privacy and security

This module seeks to connect the historical and more contemporary debates in education to a critical understanding of society. The main focus is through a discussion of sociological, philosophical and policy based issues to explore the purpose of education in a modern globalised world. This however only becomes possible if we question more neutral and instrumental approaches to education and seek to more explicitly explore its connection to more normative values and concerns.

In this respect, the module will seek to connect ideas in education to a diversity of ways of conceiving of citizenship now and within the past. Most of the module is informed by European, North and South American traditions within sociology although it will also draw on examples and ideas from elsewhere.

Using different genres of film, this module examines contemporary theoretical and empirical debates in relation to a host of issues closely associated with the production and contestation of identity, culture, and everyday life, by underpinning the central theoretical theme of cultural production, consumption, and practices.

The module will illustrate the problematics of culture through the sociological exploration of social condition; identity; consumerism; consumption; consumer culture; slavery; choice; voluntary simplicity; intimacy; body; embodiment; sexual culture; desire; sexuality; bisexuality; transgenderism; dress; fashion; multiculturalism; human rights; and social inclusion/exclusion.

Introducing feminist approaches to social policy, this module considers how social policy and the development of the welfare state have been underpinned by ideas around gender difference and the structure and responsibilities of the family.

We will examine feminist perspectives on welfare, considering how policy might reflect and perpetuate the gendered division of labour in the family and society more broadly. For example, we will examine whether the 'male breadwinner' model has been replaced by a policy commitment to gender equality.

The module will thus examine how social policy excludes or incorporates women at the intersection of the public/private divide, problematising the terms 'justice', 'citizenship' and 'inequality' in relation to gender. Throughout, we will also consider how gender intersects with other axes of difference and inequality, such as 'race' and class.

This module examines key issues and concepts connected to the movement and settlement of people in Europe and beyond. Informed by a transnational studies perspective, the module considers migration debates and practices in a critical, comparative and historically informed manner.

The first part of the module explores the political, social and economic factors that cause people to move in an increasingly interconnected world. The second part of the module is dedicated to the examination of the different theories of integration and settlement and processes of inclusion and exclusion.

The key issues and concepts addressed will include those of transnationalism and diaspora; gender and intersectionality; transnational families and global care chains; multiculturalism, integration and assimilation; identity, home and belonging.

This module examines the intersection of three key concepts in contemporary sociology - ethnicity, 'race', and colonial modernity. It particularly considers:

• existing sociological theories of everyday life concerning its political relevance and historical specificity, as well as methodological issues as to how 'the everyday' has been researched
• sociological models of ethnicity and 'race', the construction of ethnic boundaries and identities, the relationship between 'culture' and 'ethnicity', and its relevance in the contemporary world
• a series of empirical case studies illustrating the experience and complexities of ethnic and racial identities in the realm of everyday life

Criminology is starting to recognise how our modern-day criminological knowledge and criminal justice systems have been produced by the global north and for the global north. This module sets out to explore how criminology can confront its colonial past and what we can learn from anti-colonial struggles.  

This module will chart the evolution of the social construction of the victim and presence in criminal justice policy by examining the historical, theoretical and research material in victimology. The module will cover the following broad themes:

• Theoretical underpinnings of ‘victimology’
• The victim’s movement
• Key issues and debates in the field of victimology
• Various approaches to responding to victim needs by both governmental and non-governmental organisations

How you will learn

Our teaching is delivered through several modes including lectures, seminars and workshops. Independent study is an important aspect of learning at university and you will be expected to undertake preparatory reading and/or research before you attend your classes.

Our staff deliver teaching that is essential for you to understand the key ideas and contemporary thinking in your discipline (known as core modules) and teaching that is more specialist and based on their own research expertise (known as optional modules). All students will be required to take specific core modules relevant for their programmes and be given flexibility in the optional modules they choose to fit with their own personal interests. Find out more by watching our optional module videos .

You can also visit our open days on demand to watch pre-recorded lectures and general talks and see some of our lecturers in action.

Teaching methods

• Masterclasses

How you will be assessed

You will be assessed through a combination of methods including exams, essays, project work and presentations, as well as a final year dissertation. You will normally receive feedback within three weeks of submission to enable you to improve for next time.

At the end of each semester, you will meet with your personal tutor to discuss all of the assessments and help you identify areas for improvement.

Assessment methods

• Examinations
• Presentations

Contact time and study hours

A typical 20-credit module on the first year of the BA Criminology will involve a weekly two-hour lecture and one-hour seminar, independent reading, seminar preparation and assessment activities. You will study six 20-credit modules in the first year.

Careers overview

A degree in criminology can provide a solid foundation for a criminal justice career, for example, in the police, prison or probation service.

Your personal tutor will oversee your academic and personal development, and will offer support with your studies and welfare. There are also regular careers talks and events on enhancing your CV.

In addition to the subject-specific knowledge that you will build throughout this course, you'll develop key transferable skills that are in high-demand by employers. These skills will benefit you in roles within local or national government, voluntary associations engaged with the social issues deriving from criminal behaviour, and with private companies with interests in security and risk assessment.

Graduate destinations

Our BA Criminology can open doors to a  career in various sectors including criminal justice, law enforcement, law practice and community safety.

Recent graduates from the school are now working with the Youth Justice Board, Ministry of Justice and other governmental departments.

Job prospects

Average starting salary and career progression.

85.70% of undergraduates from the Faculty of Social Sciences secured graduate level employment or further study within 15 months of graduation. The average annual starting salary for these graduates was £29,197.

HESA Graduate Outcomes (2017-2021 cohorts). The Graduate Outcomes % is calculated using The Guardian University Guide methodology. The average annual salary is based on graduates working full-time within the UK.

Careers advice

Studying for a degree at the University of Nottingham will provide you with the type of skills and experiences that will prove invaluable in any career, whichever direction you decide to take.

Throughout your time with us, our Careers and Employability Service can work with you to improve your employability skills even further; assisting with job or course applications, searching for appropriate work experience placements and hosting events to bring you closer to a wide range of prospective employers.

Have a look at our careers page for an overview of all the employability support and opportunities that we provide to current students.

The University of Nottingham is consistently named as one of the most targeted universities by Britain’s leading graduate employers (Ranked in the top ten in The Graduate Market in 2013-2020, High Fliers Research).

Your Campus - University Park

University Park Campus covers 300 acres, with green spaces, wildlife, period buildings and modern facilities. It is one of the UK's most beautiful and sustainable campuses, winning a national Green Flag award every year since 2003.

Related courses

Faculty of Social Sciences

3 years full-time (available part-time)

Sociology BA Hons

Qualification BA Hons

Entry requirements ABB

UCAS code L300

Criminology and Sociology BA Jt Hons

Qualification BA Jt Hons

UCAS code 1L22

3 years full-time

Social Work BA Hons

UCAS code L509

Faculty of Sciences

Psychology BSc Hons

Qualification BSc Hons

Entry requirements AAA

UCAS code C800

Law BA Hons

Entry requirements A*AA

UCAS code M100

Course data

Book an open day.

Open days are a great way to learn more about your course, meet academics and chat to students. They also help you to get a feel for the place, so that you can decide whether life as a Nottingham student is right for you.

Criminology BA

University Park Campus, Nottingham, UK

Course information

• Qualification : Bachelor of Arts with Honours Bachelor of Arts with Honours
• Start date : September 2024 September 2024

Entry requirements : 34 AAB

6.5 (no less than 6.0 in any element)

English language requirements

As well as IELTS (listed above), we also accept other English language qualifications. This includes TOEFL iBT, Pearson PTE, GCSE, IB and O level English. Check our  English language policies and equivalencies  for further details.

For presessional English or one-year foundation courses, you must take IELTS for UKVI to meet visa regulations.

If you need support to meet the required level, you may be able to attend a  Presessional English for Academic Purposes (PEAP) course . Our Centre for English Language Education is accredited by the British Council for the teaching of English in the UK.

If you successfully complete your presessional course to the required level, you can then progress to your degree course. This means that you won't need to retake IELTS or equivalent.

Check our country-specific information for guidance on qualifications from your country.

GCSE English grade 4 (C) or above

General studies, critical thinking and CIE thinking skills

Please note: Applicants whose backgrounds or personal circumstances have impacted their academic performance may receive a reduced offer. Please see our contextual admissions policy for more information.

All candidates are considered on an individual basis and we accept a broad range of qualifications. The entrance requirements listed apply to 2024 entry.

Visa restrictions

International students must have valid UK immigration permissions for any courses or study period where teaching takes place in the UK. Student route visas can be issued for eligible students studying full-time courses. The University of Nottingham does not sponsor a student visa for students studying part-time courses. The Standard Visitor visa route is not appropriate in all cases. Please contact the university’s Visa and Immigration team if you need advice about your visa options.

Alternative qualifications

We recognise that applicants have a wealth of different experiences and follow a variety of pathways into higher education.

Consequently we treat all applicants with alternative qualifications (besides A levels and the International Baccalaureate) on an individual basis, and we gladly accept students with a whole range of less conventional qualifications including:

Access to HE Diploma

• Advanced Diploma
• BTEC HND/HNC
• BTEC Extended Diploma  

This list is not exhaustive. The entry requirements for alternative qualifications can be quite specific; for example you may need to take certain modules and achieve a specified grade in those modules. Please contact us to discuss the transferability of your qualification. Please see the alternative qualifications page for more information.

RQF BTEC Nationals

• RQF Level 3 BTEC National Extended Diploma DDD
• RQF Level 3 BTEC National Diploma DD plus one A level grade A
• RQF Level 3 BTEC National Extended Certificate D plus two A levels grades AB
• Access to HE Diploma 30 Level 3 credits at Distinction and 15 Level 3 credits at Merit

Notes for applicants

We are looking for students who have the ability and motivation to benefit from our courses and who will make a valued contribution to the school and university. We will take into account a wide range of factors including post-school experience and breadth of interests as well as exam results.

Our courses require a combination of different skills, and an ability to engage with new subjects and ideas. These qualities in part relate to academic performance, but we will also look at your interests and experience.

Mature students

At the University of Nottingham, we have a valuable community of mature students and we appreciate their contribution to the wider student population. You can find lots of useful information on the  mature students webpage .

Contextual offers

We recognise the potential of talented students from all backgrounds. We make contextual offers to students whose personal circumstances may have restricted achievement at school or college. These offers are usually one grade lower than the advertised entry requirements. To qualify for a contextual offer, you must have Home/UK fee status and meet specific criteria – check if you’re eligible .

• UCAS Code : L316 L316

Duration : 3 years full-time (available part-time) 3 years full-time (available part-time)

Study abroad

On this course, you can apply to study abroad at one of our partner institutions or at University of Nottingham China or University of Nottingham Malaysia. 

If you are successful in applying to study abroad, you will get the opportunity to broaden your horizons and enhance your CV by experiencing another culture. Teaching is typically in English, but there may be opportunities to study in another language if you are sufficiently fluent.  

You can choose to study similar modules to your counterparts in the UK or expand your knowledge by taking other options.  

The school you are joining may also have additional study abroad options available. Please visit the school website for more information.  

Please note:  In order to study abroad you will need to achieve the relevant academic requirements as set by the university and meet the selection criteria of both the university and the partner institution. The partner institution is under no obligation to accept you even if you do meet the relevant criteria.

Optional placement year

If your course does not have a compulsory placement, integrated year in industry or compulsory year abroad where there is already an opportunity to undertake a work placement as part of that experience, you may be able to apply to undertake an optional placement year. While it is the student’s responsibility to find and secure a placement, our Careers and Employability Service will support you throughout this process. Contact [email protected] to find out more. 

The school/faculty you are joining may also have additional placement opportunities. Please visit the  school/faculty website  for more information.  

Please note:  In order to undertake an optional placement year, you will need to achieve the relevant academic requirements as set by the university and meet any requirements specified by the placement host. There is no guarantee that you will be able to undertake an optional placement as part of your course.

Key information

Please be aware  that study abroad, compulsory year abroad, optional placements/internships and integrated year in industry opportunities may change at any time for a number of reasons, including curriculum developments, changes to arrangements with partner universities or placement/industry hosts, travel restrictions or other circumstances outside of the university’s control. Every effort will be made to update this information as quickly as possible should a change occur.  

Please note: In order to study abroad you will need to achieve the relevant academic requirements as set by the university and meet the selection criteria of both the university and the partner institution. The partner institution is under no obligation to accept you even if you do meet the relevant criteria.

The school/faculty you are joining may also have additional placement opportunities. Please visit the school/faculty website for more information.  

Please note: In order to undertake an optional placement year, you will need to achieve the relevant academic requirements as set by the university and meet any requirements specified by the placement host. There is no guarantee that you will be able to undertake an optional placement as part of your course.

Please be aware that study abroad, compulsory year abroad, optional placements/internships and integrated year in industry opportunities may change at any time for a number of reasons, including curriculum developments, changes to arrangements with partner universities or placement/industry hosts, travel restrictions or other circumstances outside of the university’s control. Every effort will be made to update this information as quickly as possible should a change occur.  

Fees : £21,500 per year £9,250 per year

For full details including fees for part-time students and reduced fees during your time studying abroad or on placement (where applicable), see  our fees page .

If you are a student from the EU, EEA or Switzerland, you may be asked to complete a fee status questionnaire and your answers will be assessed using  guidance issued by the UK Council for International Student Affairs (UKCISA) .

Additional costs

All students will need at least one device to approve security access requests via Multi-Factor Authentication (MFA). We also recommend students have a suitable laptop to work both on and off-campus. For more information, please check the  equipment advice .

As a student on this course, you should factor some additional costs into your budget, alongside your tuition fees and living expenses.

You should be able to access most of the books you’ll need through our libraries, though we also make recommendations of specific titles which you may wish to consider purchasing.

If you choose to take an optional placement module, you will need to factor in travel costs, which will be dependent on location of placement and proximity to term-time address.

Scholarships and bursaries

The University of Nottingham offers a wide range of bursaries and scholarships. These funds can provide you with an additional source of non-repayable financial help. For up to date information regarding tuition fees, visit our  fees and finance pages .

International students

We offer a range of international undergraduate scholarships for high-achieving international scholars who can put their Nottingham degree to great use in their careers.

All students will need at least one device to approve security access requests via Multi-Factor Authentication (MFA). We also recommend students have a suitable laptop to work both on and off-campus. For more information, please check the equipment advice .

The University of Nottingham offers a wide range of bursaries and scholarships. These funds can provide you with an additional source of non-repayable financial help. For up to date information regarding tuition fees, visit our fees and finance pages .

Home students*

Over one third of our UK students receive our means-tested core bursary, worth up to £1,000 a year. Full details can be found on our financial support pages .

* A 'home' student is one who meets certain UK residence criteria. These are the same criteria as apply to eligibility for home funding from Student Finance.

Course overview

Are you ready to embark on an exciting journey into the world of criminology? Join our BA Criminology course to explore crime, harm, victimization, and crime control. You will develop critical thinking and research skills for your career.

Learn from experienced criminologists who are leaders in their fields. Gain an understanding of areas of crime and justice with insights from sociology, law, social policy, psychology, politics, history, and media studies.

For example, you'll examine the social and legal construction of ‘crime’ and consider its causes, as well as thinking about how societies should respond to harmful behaviours.

With a wide range of optional modules, you can tailor your degree to your interests and career aspirations. You can choose to learn about punishment, victimology, or the crimes and harms of the powerful.

Study abroad in locations such as the Netherlands, Singapore, or the USA to gain a global perspective. Take part in the placements scheme for hands-on experience, putting your knowledge to the test in the real world.

A degree in criminology can provide a solid foundation for a number of careers. Our graduates work across many different sectors making a positive impact on society. Embark on this journey into criminology and discover exciting opportunities for your future career.

Why choose this course?

• 8th for criminology in the UK in The Times and Sunday Times Good University Guide 2023
• Tailor your degree to your career aspirations through a wide range of optional modules
• Study abroad opportunities in  locations  such as the Netherlands, Singapore or the USA
• Gain real experience as part of our placements scheme
• Award-winning teaching - teaching often recognised by awards such as the University Chancellor's Award for teaching quality
• Diverse career options - our graduates develop successful careers across the private, public and charitable sectors, including local government  

Important information

This online prospectus has been drafted in advance of the academic year to which it applies. Every effort has been made to ensure that the information is accurate at the time of publishing, but changes (for example to course content) are likely to occur given the interval between publishing and commencement of the course. It is therefore very important to check this website for any updates before you apply for the course where there has been an interval between you reading this website and applying.  

Indicative modules

Criminology: Understanding Crime and Victimisation

Introduction to the Criminal Justice 'System' in England and Wales

Investigating Social Worlds

Punishment and Penalty

Social Science Uncovered 1

Social Science Uncovered 2

Contemporary Theories of Crime, Justice and Society

Research Design and Practice (Qualitative Methods)

Research Design and Practice (Quantitative Methods)

China Beyond the Headlines

Controversy: Experts, Post-Truth and Fake News

Crime, Justice and Psychology

Crime Stories: Crime, Justice and the Media

Drugs, Substances and Addiction

Police, Policing and the Police

Prisons and Society

Rehabilitation, Risk and Desistance

Social Inequalities: Causes, Patterns and Change

#Sociology: Identity, Self and Other in a Digital Age

Sustainable International Social Policy

The Body, the Self and Others

Youth Crime and Justice

• Dissertation

Analysing Public Policy

Crimes and Harms of the Powerful

Cults and New Religious Movements: Power, Belief and Conflict

Cyber Crime

Education and Society

Exploring Social and Cultural Life Through Films

Gender, the Family and Social Policy

Migration and Transnationalism

‘Race’, Ethnicity and Colonial Modernity

Sensory Criminology

Southern Criminology: Decolonising the Study of Crime and Justice

Survey Design and Analysis

Victimology

War and State Violence

About modules

The above is a sample of the typical modules we offer, but is not intended to be construed or relied on as a definitive list of what might be available in any given year. This content was last updated on Monday 2 October 2023.

This module lays the foundations for further study in criminology by looking at its development as a discipline. You will consider how crime is defined and counted, and investigate the sources of criminological knowledge.

The main focus is on key theoretical perspectives in criminology, and how they help us to understand and explain crime and victimisation and social reactions to it.

This module seeks to introduce and contextualise the function and processes of the agencies and institutions that operate within the criminal justice system.

The module will encourage you to identify the tensions and inequalities that lead criminologists and criminal justice practitioners to promote reform of the criminal justice system. Summary of the topics to be covered include:

• Theorising criminal justice and punishment: Exploring models of criminal justice and penology
• Overview of the criminal justice system in England and Wales
• Key agencies, processes and institutions within the criminal justice system including: police, prosecution, judiciary, sentencing, management of offenders, youth justice and alternatives to custody
• Criminal justice policy-making process, the role of victims and the politicisation of criminal justice
• Inequalities and bias within the criminal justice system: race, gender and class
• International influences of criminal justice-policy making: organised crime and terrorism; European Union; international cases studies influencing reform agenda

This module introduces you to the nature of social research through exploration of the fundamental philosophical, methodological and ethical debates on ‘how to think of social research’ and ‘how to do social research’.   The module includes discussions of the primary features, functions and characteristics of social research, the distinctions between social research and other modes of investigating and producing knowledge about the social world and the steps typically involved in conducting social research. Indicative content also includes methods of data collection and issues of ethics, status, power and reflexivity in social research. 

This module will introduce you to a range of debates about the nature of punishment and its roles in society. We will explore the philosophical, political and historical reasons why societies use punishment and examine accounts of the changing nature of punishment since the Enlightenment.

We will also examine the nature of contemporary systems of punishment based on imprisonment, the challenges they face and the alternative forms of punishment that have emerged in the second half of the 20th century.

The module will also examine key social questions relating to why and how societies punish lawbreakers differentially based on major social divisions.

This module explains what it means to study social science, and how social sciences differ from the natural sciences. It encourages you to understand criminology, sociology, social work and other subjects in the social sciences, including social and public policy, as distinct but often overlapping and intersecting disciplines and fields of study with shared concerns about, and similar approaches to, making sense of the social world.

The module works alongside other introductory modules taken at level one by providing you with the opportunity to develop, practice and demonstrate the range of intellectual and practical skills needed to study social sciences successfully at university level. These skills include:

• finding appropriate sources and avoiding inappropriate ones
• making and organising notes effectively
• using the Harvard referencing system correctly
• asking questions and developing intellectual independence
• drawing together, analysing and evaluating information from a range of sources
• making reasoned arguments and challenging assumptions
• communicating respectfully and effectively with others
• responding positively to critical feedback
• accessing using digital technologies and resources 

This module builds on the skills, knowledge and understanding gained in Social Science Uncovered 1. The module will discuss a different social issue or phenomenon each week and explore through the lenses of criminology, sociology, social work or social and public policy. Learning will centre on how social science can help to understand the issue and, where appropriate, address it.

The module uses a problem-based, case-study approach to encourage you to develop an intellectual imagination and to become confident discussing and applying insights from subjects closely related to their own. Subjects will be topical and change from year to year. By way of example, they may include: poverty and the cost-of-living crisis; greener futures and climate activism; ageing populations and social care; the UK asylum system; health and the future of the NHS; racism and misogyny in policing; and how social policy is made and implemented in times of crisis and political turmoil.   

Together with introductory level one modules that cover theoretical, conceptual and methodological aspects of criminology, sociology and social work as distinct subjects and fields of study, this module helps you understand and apply learning about the social sciences more generally through examples of lived experience. 

The focus of this module is on contemporary theories in criminology. Leading theories will be considered in the context of the development of criminology and may include how they relate to earlier perspectives in the subject. The module will cover a range of topics through contemporary theories to explore the increasingly diverse, rapidly changing, and globalised world of the 21st century. Theories and topics may include:  

• social harm and zemiology
• state crime and denial
• cultural criminology
• green criminology
• risk and ‘net widening’ of punishment
• Southern, decolonised criminologies

You will be introduced to the principles of research design, practice and ethics in relation to qualitative research. The module has the dual aims of equipping you with both conceptual understandings of current academic debates regarding different qualitative methods, and the skills to put those methods into practice.   By the end of the module, you will be able to appreciate the breadth of qualitative approaches available as well as the methodological challenges and ethical dilemmas associated with using them to generate qualitative data. 

This module will introduce you to the principles of research design and ethics in relation to quantitative research, and provides you with experience in designing and conducting your own small-scale research project.

This module emphasises sociological theories with reference to current events and social policy making in China. Topics change every year according to what is in the news, but may include:

• nationhood, identity and ethnicity
• gender, family and sexualities
• inequalities, social capital and welfare
• health, education and popular culture
• crime, deviance and justice

This module will examine the role of experts and expertise in modern society. In many cases conflicting information circulates in the media and people do not know who to trust and what to believe. Should we listen to ‘the science’? We are allegedly living in a post-truth society where participants in polarized debates go as far as accusing each other of presenting fake news. Experts are supposed to provide neutral advice but often get drawn into the fray, too.

We will examine selected case studies that allow us to better understand the role of experts in society. Case studies may include climate change; Brexit; legal and illegal drugs; and vacation.

This module will explore the differing, yet varied facets of the field of criminal psychology. The module will cover police psychology, expert and eyewitness testimony, forensic assessment in the justice system, psychological theories/constructs of particular importance to offender behaviour and management, ethics, correctional services, and issues in working in the justice system. Landmark legal cases relevant to the field of criminal psychology will be discussed, as will the application of psychological theory and research to criminological and forensic contexts.

This module explores theory, research and illustrative media examples addressing the relationship between crime, justice and the media. Examining both factual and fictional representations of crime and justice, we reflect upon depictions of crime, criminals and victims in media and methods of analysing these representations.

Explore the core issues, debates and controversies surrounding the use of intoxicants, commonly referred to by ‘drugs’, and other chemical substances that find their way into the lives of people in contemporary society.   The module has a developmental focus. It aims to maintain a consistent engagement with the long-term processes involved in the formation of a prevailing understanding, uses and experiences of certain psychoactive substances, food additives, and narcotic replacement therapies and the ways in which these are socially constructed as deviant acts or crimes. The module also explores the nature of addiction and examines the social and medical approaches to treatment of addiction.

This module is concerned with the sociology and politics of policing. The main focus will be on England and Wales but the module will draw on literature and experiences from other jurisdictions around the world and from the United States of America in particular. It will cover a range of topics such as:

• the meaning of, and differences between, police, policing and the police
• the history and development of policing and the police since the 18th century
• the occupational and organisational cultures of the police
• the governance and accountability of the police
• police powers
• specialisation in policing, for example, crime detection, traffic policing, public order policing, terrorism and political policing
• policing strategies and tactics
• policing and the media
• police ethics
• policing social diversity
• the pluralisation of policing

Study the relationship between imprisonment and society, paying specific attention to the England and Wales prison estate and UK society. This module addresses both incarceration (routes to, reasons for, and justifications given for enforced removal of liberty and confinement) and prisons (social and institutional characteristics of imprisonment). The module requires reading, questioning, and evaluating of the following topics:

• The aims and organisation of the prison system
• The pains of imprisonment
• Prisoner societies and culture 
• Prisons and moral order
• Prison staff
• Prisons and the political economy of punishment
• Solitary confinement and the maximum security estate
• Indeterminacy and long prison sentences
• Prisons in international perspective

This course aims to develop critical understandings of the concepts of:

• ‘offender’ rehabilitation and the changing nature of rehabilitative enterprises over time
• the role of risk in the organisation of the criminal justice system and responses to offending
• research about desistance from crime and its relationship to rehabilitation and risk

The module will explore the role of key agencies involved in rehabilitation including the Probation Service and the experiences of those subject to community supervision.

This module provides an overview of socio-economic inequalities within and between societies, exploring major theoretical and practical issues regarding data analysis and policy evaluation. Key topics to be covered include:

• theoretical overview of social divisions and inequalities
• exploring patterns and measuring inequalities
• the impact of social inequalities on individuals and society as a whole
• major social divisions: class, gender and race
• other social divisions and intersectionalities
• space and inequalities: local, national and global perspectives
• the social construction and reproduction of inequalities: social control and the role of institutions
• how policy makes and unmakes inequalities
• resistance, alternatives and social change

All these aspects are discussed on the basis of a range of case studies, both national and international, historical and based on current affairs. These are also used to examine different approaches to evidence analysis and data presentation, thus supporting the development of the specific skills necessary to undertake the course assessment. 

We now live in a digital age where new technology, online platforms, applications and wearable devices are an indispensable and, in some ways, an inescapable part of our lives. New digital technologies enable us to track our daily lives and routines, to filter our realities, to present different versions of ourselves, to form attachments and intimacies, engage in politics and protest. From selfie culture, through Tinder love and Twitter revolutions, new digital technologies and social media shape not only our perceptions of Self but also our relations with others.

This module introduces you to the key debates in digital sociology, paying particular attention to the rise of new social media and how this affects identity, belonging, intimacy and civic participation. The main focus of this module is a critical engagement with how Web 2.0 has affected perceptions of self and social relations, exploring why some people engage with new technology whilst others actively resist it.

This module introduces students to comparative analyses of different welfare state models and approaches to social policy; institutions, issues and debates in international social policy; and methods of cross-country comparative analysis.

Topics include:

• Perspectives of international social and public policy
• The origins and development of international social rights and standards
• Welfare state typologies and cross-national comparisons
• International institutions
• The European Union
• Globalisation and welfare
• Social Policy in less developed countries
• International migration and the boundaries of welfare
• Discrimination in a multicultural world
• International cooperation, policy learning and policy transfer
• The Millennium and Sustainable Development Goals
• Comparative research methods

The aims of the module are:

• to provide students with research-led teaching on issues and debates in international social policy
• to assist students gain an understanding of international policy-making bodies and processes
• to familiarise students with different approaches across countries to social policy
• to familiarise students with methods of cross-country comparative analysis

The Body, the Self and Others explores the ways in which social identities and subjectivities can be created, maintained and expressed through the body and with reference to 'Others'. It particularly considers the following:

• Existing sociological theories of identity and 'Otherness'
• The sociologies of various 'geographies' of the body, including the sociology of food and diet; body modification and adornment; extreme sport
• Presentations of 'self' through work, especially 'body work'
• The corporeal 'mapping' of class, gender, ethnicity and sexuality
• Surveillance discourses and embodied resistance

This module explores the phenomena of youth, crime and justice. It considers the social construction of youth crime, drawing on key scholarship alongside a range of other sources (such as official statistics, and political and media sources).

The module will critically assess explanations of youth crime, including major theoretical explanations and developmental/life course perspectives. It will consider social responses to youth crime and justice, and the discourses which inform youth justice policy and practice. Finally, the course will address recent policy developments and the potential for system reform.

You will undertake an extended piece of investigative and synthesising work on a subject of particular interest and produce a final written dissertation of 8,000 words.

• provide practice in researching a topic independently and in depth
• involve use of a range of primary and/or secondary information sources
• create coherent and sustained analysis and argument in both writing and speech.

This module examines how public policy is made within government. It provides a critical understanding of how policy is formulated, implemented and evaluated.

The module focuses on key phases of the policy process, from agenda-setting to policy impact. The module provides an applied understanding of policy analysis by examining relevant case studies (for example, child abuse, ageing population).

This module will cover the following broad themes:

• State crime, corporate crime, state-corporate crime, harm, green crime
• State-facilitated and state-initiated corporate crime
• Capitalism, neoliberalism, austerity and indifference
• Crimes of commission and omission
• Command and control regulation vs. business self-regulation

This module serves as an introduction to the study of new religious movements (NRMs)—including groups sometimes referred to as ‘cults’—and the theoretical concepts used to understand them. A particular focus will be on the varying degrees of tension that might exist between such groups and their broader social environments, as well as how they are conceived, both in academia and in the media. It will also consider how issues discussed more broadly in sociology—such as deviance, authority, violence, modernity, and group dynamics—bear on our understanding of NRMs.   Each week we will focus on different NRMs, and how they relate to particular themes. Lectures will cover topics such as religious innovation, group membership, and how NRMs are led and organised. Our coverage of NRMs will be motivated by questions such as what members believe, how they were formed, and what their histories have been. Seminars will give you the opportunity to explore each week's topic in more detail.

This module introduces you to the criminological study of cyber crime. It draws on key literature and current research to consider the ways in which new and emerging forms of digital media and information and communication technologies provide opportunities for a variety of deviant and criminal behaviours. The module will typically cover the following broad themes:

• Criminological definitions and theories of cyber crime
• Case studies of types of cyber crime, including, for example: fraud, identify theft, hacking, revenge porn, sexting, online harassment, trolling and cyberstalking
• Victims’ experiences of cyber crime
• Why individuals commit certain types of cyber crime
• Cyber crime in a global world
• The policing, surveillance and regulation of cyber crime
• The implication of the ‘internet of things’ for privacy and security

This module seeks to connect the historical and more contemporary debates in education to a critical understanding of society. The main focus is through a discussion of sociological, philosophical and policy based issues to explore the purpose of education in a modern globalised world. This however only becomes possible if we question more neutral and instrumental approaches to education and seek to more explicitly explore its connection to more normative values and concerns.

In this respect, the module will seek to connect ideas in education to a diversity of ways of conceiving of citizenship now and within the past. Most of the module is informed by European, North and South American traditions within sociology although it will also draw on examples and ideas from elsewhere.

Using different genres of film, this module examines contemporary theoretical and empirical debates in relation to a host of issues closely associated with the production and contestation of identity, culture, and everyday life, by underpinning the central theoretical theme of cultural production, consumption, and practices.

The module will illustrate the problematics of culture through the sociological exploration of social condition; identity; consumerism; consumption; consumer culture; slavery; choice; voluntary simplicity; intimacy; body; embodiment; sexual culture; desire; sexuality; bisexuality; transgenderism; dress; fashion; multiculturalism; human rights; and social inclusion/exclusion.

Introducing feminist approaches to social policy, this module considers how social policy and the development of the welfare state have been underpinned by ideas around gender difference and the structure and responsibilities of the family.

We will examine feminist perspectives on welfare, considering how policy might reflect and perpetuate the gendered division of labour in the family and society more broadly. For example, we will examine whether the 'male breadwinner' model has been replaced by a policy commitment to gender equality.

The module will thus examine how social policy excludes or incorporates women at the intersection of the public/private divide, problematising the terms 'justice', 'citizenship' and 'inequality' in relation to gender. Throughout, we will also consider how gender intersects with other axes of difference and inequality, such as 'race' and class.

This module examines key issues and concepts connected to the movement and settlement of people in Europe and beyond. Informed by a transnational studies perspective, the module considers migration debates and practices in a critical, comparative and historically informed manner.

The first part of the module explores the political, social and economic factors that cause people to move in an increasingly interconnected world. The second part of the module is dedicated to the examination of the different theories of integration and settlement and processes of inclusion and exclusion.

The key issues and concepts addressed will include those of transnationalism and diaspora; gender and intersectionality; transnational families and global care chains; multiculturalism, integration and assimilation; identity, home and belonging.

This module examines the intersection of three key concepts in contemporary sociology - ethnicity, 'race', and colonial modernity. It particularly considers:

• existing sociological theories of everyday life concerning its political relevance and historical specificity, as well as methodological issues as to how 'the everyday' has been researched
• sociological models of ethnicity and 'race', the construction of ethnic boundaries and identities, the relationship between 'culture' and 'ethnicity', and its relevance in the contemporary world
• a series of empirical case studies illustrating the experience and complexities of ethnic and racial identities in the realm of everyday life

You will explore the history of sensory studies in the social sciences and the development of a sensory criminology. As humans we are sensory creatures, we smell, we touch, we hear, and we see. These elements of our experience fundamentally shape how we experience and understand issues of crime and victimisation. Sensory Criminology explores these issues and experiences in order to deepen our understanding of core criminological issues.   By the end of the module you will have an understanding of a range of topics that may include:

• the history of sensory social science
• the development of sensory criminology
• sensory criminology and the philosophy of the social sciences
• methods of sensory research
• the ethics of sensory research
• differing sensory studies in penality and criminology 
• how sensory criminology can challenge traditional criminological theory
• sensory victimology

Criminologists are beginning to recognise how knowledge about crime and criminal justice tends to have been produced in and for the countries of the Global North, and Western Europe and North America in particular.    This module looks at new southern and decolonial perspectives in criminology that question the dominance of this knowledge and its application in the Global South (broadly speaking the continents of Africa, Asia, Central and South America and Oceania).  It examines southern and decolonial theories, what they have to say, how they relate to each other, and how they can help us to understand crime problems, and criminal justice institutions, policies and practices not just in the Global South but in the North as well.    It does this by examining case studies drawn from the Global South, case studies that may involve crime problems like genocide, human trafficking and urban violence, and justice practices that involve the transfer of policies from North to South, such as community policing, or result in the over-representation of indigenous people in prison.  A central theme that runs through the module is the idea that criminology can be seen as a form of 'imperial reason' closely associated with colonialism, and that colonialism itself continues to have a profound impact on how we experience and know about the contemporary world.

In this module you will undertake a piece of empirical survey research. In small groups you will design questions for use in a questionnaire. As a class we will decide on the topic(s) which the survey will ask about, and each group will design questions on any social science-related subject that interests you. You will need to design and test draft survey questions on each other in the class using insights from the literature on cognitive interviewing.   The lectures will teach you knowledge about developing a questionnaire, and about the design procedures that need to be followed in undertaking such work. The classes will involve some revision of how to set up and analyse a data set but will also be devoted to developing and analysing your questionnaires. 

This module will chart the evolution of the social construction of the victim and presence in criminal justice policy by examining the historical, theoretical and research material in victimology. The module will cover the following broad themes:

• Theoretical underpinnings of ‘victimology’
• The victim’s movement
• Key issues and debates in the field of victimology
• Various approaches to responding to victim needs by both governmental and non-governmental organisations

This module places an in-depth focus on the study of war, state violence and crimes against humanity. The focus is to explore explanations of current and historical examples of war, drawing on a range of criminological, philosophical and zemiological (harm) theories.   Module content will introduce you to key theorists, such as Hannah Arendt, Zygmunt Bauman, Stanley Cohen, and Judith Butler. The module places a specific focus on injustices faced by the Global South, aiming to provide you with the tools to identify and understand colonial systems, structures, and relationships – both within the module and beyond.   Key debates will include how the violence of war and atrocity are made possible; how war intersects with issues of ‘race’, class, and gender; and what reconciliation efforts of ‘truth’ and justice might involve after events of mass suffering. The module will also introduce emerging debates on the impact of delivering such violence for state agents (eg soldiers).

How you will learn

Our teaching is delivered through several modes including lectures, seminars and workshops. Independent study is an important aspect of learning at university and you will be expected to undertake preparatory reading and/or research before you attend your classes.

Our staff deliver teaching that is essential for you to understand the key ideas and contemporary thinking in your discipline (known as core modules) and teaching that is more specialist and based on their own research expertise (known as optional modules). All students will be required to take specific core modules relevant for their programmes and be given flexibility in the optional modules they choose to fit with their own personal interests. Find out more by watching our optional module videos .

You can also visit our open days on demand to watch pre-recorded lectures and general talks and see some of our lecturers in action.

Teaching methods

• Masterclasses

How you will be assessed

You will be assessed through a combination of methods including exams, essays, project work and presentations, as well as a final year dissertation. You will normally receive feedback within three weeks of submission to enable you to improve for next time.

At the end of each semester, you will meet with your personal tutor to discuss all of the assessments and help you identify areas for improvement.

Assessment methods

• Examinations
• Presentations

Contact time and study hours

A typical 20-credit module on the first year of the BA Criminology will involve a weekly two-hour lecture and one-hour seminar, independent reading, seminar preparation and assessment activities. You will study six 20-credit modules in the first year.

Careers overview

A degree in criminology can provide a solid foundation for a criminal justice career, for example, in the police, prison or probation service.

Your personal tutor will oversee your academic and personal development, and will offer support with your studies and welfare. There are also regular careers talks and events on enhancing your CV.

In addition to the subject-specific knowledge that you will build throughout this course, you'll develop key transferable skills that are in high-demand by employers. These skills will benefit you in roles within local or national government, voluntary associations engaged with the social issues deriving from criminal behaviour, and with private companies with interests in security and risk assessment.

Graduate destinations

Our BA Criminology can open doors to a  career in various sectors including criminal justice, law enforcement, law practice and community safety.

Recent graduates from the school are now working with the Youth Justice Board, Ministry of Justice and other governmental departments.

Job prospects

Average starting salary and career progression.

85.70% of undergraduates from the Faculty of Social Sciences secured graduate level employment or further study within 15 months of graduation. The average annual starting salary for these graduates was £29,197.

HESA Graduate Outcomes (2017-2021 cohorts). The Graduate Outcomes % is calculated using The Guardian University Guide methodology. The average annual salary is based on graduates working full-time within the UK.

Careers advice

Studying for a degree at the University of Nottingham will provide you with the type of skills and experiences that will prove invaluable in any career, whichever direction you decide to take.

Throughout your time with us, our Careers and Employability Service can work with you to improve your employability skills even further; assisting with job or course applications, searching for appropriate work experience placements and hosting events to bring you closer to a wide range of prospective employers.

Have a look at our careers page for an overview of all the employability support and opportunities that we provide to current students.

The University of Nottingham is consistently named as one of the most targeted universities by Britain’s leading graduate employers (Ranked in the top ten in The Graduate Market in 2013-2020, High Fliers Research).

Your Campus - University Park

University Park Campus covers 300 acres, with green spaces, wildlife, period buildings and modern facilities. It is one of the UK's most beautiful and sustainable campuses, winning a national Green Flag award every year since 2003.

Related courses

Faculty of Social Sciences

3 years full-time (available part-time)

Sociology BA Hons

Qualification BA Hons

Entry requirements ABB

UCAS code L300

Criminology and Sociology BA Jt Hons

Qualification BA Jt Hons

UCAS code 1L22

3 years full-time

Social Work BA Hons

UCAS code L509

Faculty of Science

3 Years full-time

Psychology BSc Hons

Qualification BSc Hons

Entry requirements AAA

UCAS code C800

Law BA Hons

Entry requirements A*AA

UCAS code M100

Course data

Ask us anything.

Our webpages contain detailed information about all processes in your student journey. Check them out alongside our student enquiry centre to find the information you need. If you’re still struggling, head to our help page where you can find details of how to contact us in-person and online.

• BA (Hons) Criminology

Criminology BA (Hons)

• Level(s) of Study: Undergraduate
• Typical Offer: 112 - 120 UCAS tariff points
• UCAS Code(s): L330
• Start Date(s): September 2024
• Duration: Three years full-time
• Study Mode(s): Full-time
• Campus: City Campus

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Introduction:

Some subjects are about hard, uncontested facts. The proven formulas; the clear truths. This criminology degree goes beyond the black and white — prepare yourself instead for some eye-opening shades of grey.

Our students are good people, and they’re on a mission. They believe in a better, safer, fairer world. Criminology at NTU is about questions, values, and perceptions — from your emotional response to big news stories, to how you feel walking home alone. What does and doesn’t work in our criminal justice system? Is rehabilitation truly possible? What’s nature, and what’s nurture? You’ll experience a sprinkling of morality, a dash of philosophy, and lot of self-reflection as we examine the ‘why’ — and not just the ‘what’ — of crime.

Alongside our fun and friendly teaching team, you’ll learn first-hand from the victims and perpetrators, the politicians and rule-makers, and even the detectives who’ve hunted down serial killers. Together, we’ll explore the past, present, and future of crime — from cities to cyberspace, and everywhere in between.

*The Prison Officer placement opportunity is via a competitive application and vetting process.

What you’ll study

Our whole sense of who we are as a society revolves around our relationship with crime. That’s why this criminology degree isn’t just about the criminal justice system — it’s about human beings. Who decides what’s wrong? Why is ‘justice’ such a contested word? Why are some communities so troubled? And why do so many people continue to ‘fall through the cracks’?

This isn’t crime through a Netflix lens. This is real life: brutal, uncomfortable, but fascinating. From the core theories — Where does our criminal justice system come from? How do we measure crime? — we’ll move through increasingly global perspectives, as you build a worldwide understanding of the discipline.

The study highlights of our criminology degree include:

• working on live projects and employer challenges, with partners like Nottingham Citizens, the Holocaust Centre, and G4S
• meeting guest speakers and alumni from across the industry, who’ll share their experiences and help you to answer that key question: ‘What can you do with a criminology degree?’
• a huge range of specialist modules to pick from in your third year, with the chance to explore crime through the contexts of media representation, race, gender, culture, ecology, and much, much more
• the opportunity to study abroad at one of our international partner universities
• the ‘Prison Sandwich’ route, where you can gain vital criminology work experience by completing a year-long paid placement in a real working prison. It’s a competitive application process and a tough environment, but our students find it a transformative and incredibly valuable experience.

Here’s a full breakdown of the criminology modules you’ll be studying throughout the course.

Core modules

The criminal justice process.

In this module, you’ll be introduced to the systems, processes and agencies that have evolved to deliver justice to offenders, victims and wider society. You’ll consider how competing philosophies and models of justice have helped to shape the modern Criminal Justice System in England and Wales (and beyond), whilst applying your knowledge to real world practice through case-studies, probation reviews, court visits and practitioner insights.

Current Issues In Criminology

Through a programme of invited speakers, you’ll be introduced to a range of current issues influencing theory, policy and practice in the Criminal Justice System and beyond. You’ll begin to examine a range of contemporary crime types and issues and consider the challenges associated with understanding and responding to crime and criminality.

Constructing Crime

In this module, you’ll understand how crime, deviance and victimisation are legally and socially constructed. Looking at the bigger picture, you’ll explore the answers to questions such as: what is crime? Who determines this? What is the role for morals and ethics? How do different stakeholders shape the conversation about crime and why does it matter?

Crime Research

This module provides the framework needed to establish what sort of data we can use to understand and interpret crime, deviance and victimisation, and how it can be recorded. You’ll gain key research design skills, tools and techniques and learn how to use real-world crime research as the basis for developing and applying your understanding.

Crime, Place and Justice

Learn how to identify how different types of crime and deviance can be affected by location, space and place. In this module, you’ll explore the heterogeneous nature of crime, where it is commissioned and those that commit it. You’ll utilise these skills and apply them directly to crime and justice issues within Nottingham as a mode of understanding crime in the real world.

Managing Justice

Building on the justice process foundations developed in Year 1, this module explores the way in which ‘offenders’ and ‘victims’ are constructed and managed within the contemporary Criminal Justice System. You’ll learn about issues relating to governance and accountability, diversity and discrimination in the Criminal Justice System, how we assess and manage risk and dangerousness, media narratives and the impact of populist discourse, implementing effective multi-agency and joined-up criminal justice, and future directions in managing justice (e.g., restorative justice).

Explaining Crime

By assessing the merits of competing theories relevant to crime, victimisation and responses to crime together with the role of criminology in society, you’ll explore the developments in criminological thought through the lens of disciplines such as sociology, psychology and criminology.

Applied Criminology

Using action research, you will work with practitioners, academics and community members to explore potential solutions to ‘real world’ live projects. Through the process of reflective practice, this module seeks to better understand how we might align the ‘doing’ of criminology with concepts such as active citizenship, identity, human rights and ultimately, ‘justice’.

Advanced Crime Research

In this module, you’ll develop your understanding of the practicalities and issues related to real-world research. You’ll explore the ethical and philosophical questions underpinning criminological research, incorporating concepts such as writing research proposals, project planning and the design of research tools and data analysis – further developing your qualitative and quantitative research skills.

Crime Reduction and Community Safety

Through exploring the nature, history and social context of crime prevention, you’ll evaluate the different approaches and models that have been developed to reduce crime and promote community safety.

Future Directions in Criminology

By exploring prevalent and emergent crime types, you’ll develop a critical understanding of how the implementation and evaluation of policy responses to crime and wider social problems translate for practitioners, service users and those researching within this context. You’ll also be asked to critically evaluate the alignment between social and criminal justice, and the role that critical criminology plays in this.

Dissertation / Research Project

Utilising the skills that you have developed as a researcher, you will have the opportunity to undertake a substantial piece of self-directed work in an area of criminology that interests you – further building on your employability skill set. Your Research Project can be entirely theoretical or draw upon empirical work (including working with a local organisation).

Optional modules

Media and crime.

This module will help you develop a critical understanding of theories that shape the connections between criminology and media studies and discover distinct approaches and representations of crime by mass and new media. You’ll explore current issues faced by the media, such as discussions about fake news and how the media approach criminal and antisocial behaviours.

Cultural Criminology

On this module, you’ll explore the limitations of existing orthodox explanations of crime, deviance and transgression and understand the relationship of cultural criminology within a broader criminological theoretical landscape.

Crime, Race and Empire

Develop an understanding of the relationship between punishment and society in colonial contexts and a familiarity of non-westernised perspectives of justice and punishment. This module will help you develop a critical awareness of historical resistance to punishment and understand and critically apply post and decolonial critiques of crime and punishment.

Gender and Crime

Explore the theoretical links between gender, crime, justice and the socio-historical context in which these theories emerged.  You will critically assess classical and contemporary feminist criminological perspectives and critically evaluate the debates surrounding the differential treatment of women and men in the Criminal Justice System as victims, offenders and/or professionals.

Hate Crime, Identity and Citizenship

As criminologists, we are aware that human societies are characterised by diversity yet some minority groups have radically different experiences of offences that are motivated by bias, prejudice and ‘hate’. It is also the case that criminal justice responses to tackling hate crimes sometimes fail to meet their stated outcomes and in some cases, worsen the experiences of victims. As such, this module aims to explore the ways in which crime and responses to it are shaped by prejudicial attitudes towards disability, race/ethnicity, gender, class, sexuality and religion. The module will explore the nature of hate crimes, and legislative and policy responses to such behaviours, whilst also assessing the impact of the intersectionality, which exists between social divisions within the UK.

Drugs, Crime and Justice

On this module you will critically assess the local, national and international significance, prevalence and nature of drug use, misuse and harm. You will explore the complexities and impacts of drugs on society and gain a critical understanding of the political, legislative and criminal justice responses to drug-related activity in England and Wales.

Young People, Crime and Justice

Inequalities and crime.

This module will build your understanding of the roles that inequalities can play in crime and our responses. You’ll evaluate complex social problems in terms of criminological theories of crime, class, victimisation and responses to crime and deviance and explore the ways which crime control strategies can help both alleviate and compound wider inequalities in experiences of crime and victimisation.

Serious and Organised Crime

Look back at the development, typologies and evolution of ‘Organised Crime Groups’ over time and build an understanding of the UK’s Organised Crime issues and how they are seated in an international context. You’ll explore the complexities of involvement in and impacts of serious and organised crime, as well as the impact developing technologies have on this issue.

Green Criminology

On this module, you’ll explore issues of green criminology and how they are seated within both a local and international context. You’ll critically appraise the effectiveness or green criminological issues and human rights issues in relation to preventive and pre-emptive measures. You’ll also look at future trajectories and challenges for green crim control within local and international communities.

Develop an understanding of theoretical debates surrounding contemporary cyber threats across the globe. You’ll demonstrate a critical appreciation of the complexities of involvement in, and impacts of, Cybercrime and its threats to victims and analyse the effectiveness of responses from criminal justice systems, police forces and the state.

Don’t just take our word for it, hear from our students themselves

Student profiles, hannah murfitt.

Criminology

Studying at Nottingham has been the stepping stone I needed to realise what I wanted to do for my future prospects, as well as providing me with the best three years ever!

Sam Phillips

It has been the best experience of my life and would not change any of it. There are so many different opportunities and things to enjoy!

There are loads of useful opportunities to gain real life experience during your studies.

Joao Paulo Garrido

Staff at NTU always go that extra mile and that is what makes this university and community unique.

Joanne Webster

Studying at NTU and having the support of the team has allowed me to develop and grow both professionally and personally and recognise that I am capable of achieving things I hadn’t dreamed of.

No results were found

How you’re taught

How will i learn.

This is a criminology degree with a difference, built on authenticity, fun, and a sense of community. You’ll learn from a teaching team with almost a century’s experience in the field — former consultants and courtroom professionals, police and probation officers, and senior civil servants. These experts have come from all around the world to explain the applied practice of criminology in countries like Brazil, Trinidad, Australia, Egypt, Denmark, and Greece — and of course, the UK.

You’ll be learning through a mix of:

• small-group seminars and workshops , designed to improve your debating, teamworking, and problem-solving skills
• one-on-one meetings with your friendly personal tutor
• independent study , as you build up your research skills
• authentic work-like experiences, including a real-world prison placement (if your application is successful)

Contact hours

As the course progresses, the amount of in-person contact time will be reduced, allowing you to focus on building your independent study / research skills. You’ll still have access to your tutors whenever you need them.

Here’s the year-by-year breakdown of contact hours throughout our criminology degree course:

• Year One — lectures / seminars / workshops (25%), independent study (75%)
• Year Two — lectures / seminars / workshops (21%), independent study (71%) and placement (8%)
• Year Three — lectures / seminars / workshops (19%), independent study (81%)

Staff Profiles

Kristan hopkins - senior lecturer.

School of Social Sciences

Claire Cohen - Senior Lecturer

Dr irene zempi - associate professor, how you’re assessed.

• Year 1 coursework (67%) and written (33%)
• Year 2 coursework (56%), written (17%) and practical (27%)
• Year 3 coursework (50%), written (43%) and practical (7%)

Careers and employability

What can you do with a criminology degree? From MI5 to the RSPCA, you’d be surprised where it can take you.

Our course attracts students who want to make things better — for society and our sense of security, for our environment, and for anyone experiencing the criminal justice system. You’ll get criminology work experience opportunities, a potential placement in a real-life prison, eligibility for membership of the British Criminological Society, and the support of our in-house Employability team .

From major players (the police, prison, and probationary services) to the grassroots charities tackling issues like addiction, sustainability, and animal welfare, criminology is an interconnected industry, with agencies of all sizes collaborating to deliver real change — so where will you fit best?

Recently, NTU Criminology graduates have found work as:

• Police and probation officers
• Civil servants in the Home Office and Ministry of Justice
• UN caseworkers
• Intelligence analysts
• Advisors for domestic violence projects.

Campus and facilities

You’ll mainly be studying in the Chaucer and Newton buildings , at the centre of our vibrant City Campus. As well as a range of classrooms and lecture theatres, the facilities including a mock prison cell, banks of open-access PCs, social spaces for either quiet study or busy group work.

NTU’s City Campus has everything you’ll need to keep occupied between lectures. As well as the Boots Library and its beautiful roof garden, there’s our superb Students’ Union building that includes a two-storey, 100-station gym; a whole host of cafés, bars, restaurants and food outlets catering to every taste; our much-loved Global Lounge; performance and rehearsal spaces for musicians; and much, much more!

If that’s not enough, just take a few steps off campus, and you’ll find yourself in the beating heart of Nottingham — one of Britain’s top 10 student cities. Enjoy lush green spaces and vintage shopping by day, and an acclaimed food, drink, and social scene by night.

Entry requirements

• International

What are we looking for?

• Standard offer: 120 UCAS Tariff points from up to four qualifications
• Contextual offer: 112 UCAS Tariff points from up to four qualifications

Other requirements

A Disclosure and Barring Service check will be necessary if you wish to become a Special Constable, but it is not required for admission onto the course.

Contextual offers

A lower offer may be made based on a range of factors, including your background (such as where you live and the school or college you attended), your experiences and individual circumstances (you may have been in care, for example). This is called a contextual offer and we get data from UCAS to make these decisions. NTU offers a student experience like no other and this approach helps us to find students who have the potential to succeed here but who may have faced barriers that make it more difficult to access university.  Find out how we assess your application .

Other qualifications and experience

We may also consider credits achieved at other universities and your work/life experience through an assessment of prior learning. This may be for year one entry, or beyond the beginning of a course where applicable, for example, into year 2. Our  Recognition of Prior Learning and Credit Transfer Policy outlines the process and options available for this route.

Meeting our entry requirements

Hundreds of qualifications in the UK have UCAS tariff points attached to specific grades, including A levels, BTECs, T Levels and many more. You can use your grades and points from up to four different qualifications to meet our criteria. Enter your predicted or achieved grades into our tariff calculator to find out how many points your qualifications are worth.

Getting in touch

If you need more help or information, get in touch through our enquiry form

• 120 UCAS Tariff points from up to four qualifications.

Other requirements:

International qualifications.

We accept qualifications from all over the world – check yours here:

• Entry requirements by country

English language entry requirements

You can meet our language requirements by successfully completing our pre-sessional English course for an agreed length of time, or by submitting the required grade in one of our accepted English language tests, such as IELTS:

• English language requirements
• Pre-sessional English for Academic Purposes (PEAP)

Undergraduate preparation courses (Foundation)

If you don’t yet meet our entry requirements, we offer Foundation courses through our partner Nottingham Trent International College (NTIC), based on our City Campus:

• Foundation courses leading to undergraduate study at NTU

Advanced standing (starting your undergraduate degree in year 2 or 3)

You may be able to start your undergraduate course in year 2 or 3 based on what you have studied before. This decision would be made in accordance with our  Recognition of Prior Learning and Credit Transfer Policy.

Would you like some advice on your study plans?

Our international teams are highly experienced in answering queries from students all over the world. We also have members of staff based in Vietnam, China, India and Nigeria and work with a worldwide network of education counsellors.

• Complete this simple form to keep in touch with the International Office.

Fees and funding

Preparing for the financial side of student life is important, but there’s no need to feel anxious and confused about it. We hope that our  fees and funding pages will answer all your questions.

Additional Costs

Your course fees cover the cost of studies, and include loads of great benefits, such as the use of our library, support from our expert Employability team, and free use of the  IT equipment across our campuses .

Library books

Most study modules will recommend one or more core text books, which most students choose to purchase. Book costs vary and further information is available in the University’s bookshop. Our libraries provide a good supply of essential text books, journals and materials (many of which you can access online) – meaning you may not need to purchase as many books as you might think! There may also be a supply of second-hand books available for purchase from previous year students.

Field trips

All essential field trip costs will be included in your course fees. There may be the opportunity to take part in optional field trips, which do incur additional costs.

If you're undertaking a placement year, you'll need to budget for accommodation and any travel costs you may incur whilst on placement. Many of our placement students do earn a salary whilst on placement which can help to cover these living costs.

Print and copy costs

The University allocates an annual printing and copying allowance of £20 depending on the course you are studying. For more details about costs for additional print and copying required over and above the annual allowance please see the Printing, photocopying and scanning information on the Library website .

For more advice and guidance, you can contact our Student Financial Support Service.

Tel:  +44 (0)115 848 2494

Fees for September 2024

Tuition fees are payable for each year that you are at the University. The level of tuition fees for the second and subsequent years of your undergraduate course may increase in line with inflation and as specified by the UK government.

Scholarships

We offer scholarships of up to 50% of your tuition fee. You can apply for your scholarship when you have an offer to study at NTU.

• International Scholarships

Living costs

Get advice on the cost of living as an international student in Nottingham and how to budget:

• Managing your money

Paying fees

Find out about advanced payments, instalment plan options and how to make payments securely to the University:

• How and when to pay your fees

How to apply

Ready to join us? Then apply as soon as you can. Just click the Apply  button at the top of the page and follow the instructions for applying. Make sure you check the entry requirements above carefully before you do.

Writing your application and personal statement

Be honest, thorough and persuasive in your application. Remember that we can only make a decision based on what you tell us, so include all of your qualifications and grades, including resits or predicted grades.

Your personal statement is a really important part of your application – it’s your chance to convince us why we should offer you a place. You’ve got 4,000 characters to impress us. Make sure you use them to show how your skills and qualities are relevant to the course(s) you’re applying for. For more hints and tips, take a look at our page on how to write a good personal statement .

Keeping up to date

After you’ve applied, we’ll be sending you important emails throughout the application process – so check your emails regularly, including your junk mail folder.

You can get more information and advice about applying to NTU on our  Your Application page. Good luck with your application!

You can apply for this course through UCAS . If you are not applying to any other UK universities, you can apply directly to us on our NTU applicant portal .

Application advice

Apply early so that you have enough time to prepare – processing times for Student visas can vary, for example.  After you've applied, we'll be sending you important emails throughout the application process – so check your emails regularly, including your junk mail folder.

• Follow our guide to the application process

Writing your personal statement

Be honest, thorough, and persuasive – we can only make a decision about your application based on what you tell us:

• Advice on writing a good personal statement

The University's commitment to delivering the educational services advertised .

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Our 5 top tips, what we’re looking for and a step-by step guide on applying to an undergraduate course at NTU through UCAS.

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