On this course, you’ll consider the psychological impact of crime upon victims, offenders and wider society, and examine how crime can be prevented and re-offending can be reduced.
for student satisfaction in our sociology courses, which include criminology
of students in work and/or further study fifteen months after graduation
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Overview
This course is designed for those who want to gain an understanding of the psychology behind criminal behaviour.
You’ll be taught by expert staff that specialise in current criminological and psychological issues, including offender rehabilitation, cybercrime, criminal profiling, social justice, and the influence of media on crime.
At Worcester, you’ll gain real-world experience alongside your academic studies, preparing you for your future. You not only get to explore a range of career options – including the police, prison, and probation services – you also get to meet people working in these areas. You’ll graduate with the practical experience and professional links needed to begin a rewarding career in the criminal justice sector.
There are no exams on this course. Instead, you’ll be assessed through a range of applied methods - such as case reports, presentations, and offender profiles - designed to prepare you for the work you may be doing after you graduate.
Course content
Each year you will study a mix of mandatory and optional modules. This flexible course lets you explore different subjects and career paths in both criminology and forensic psychology before choosing to specialise in your final year.
Optional modules will run if they receive enough interest. It is not guaranteed that all modules will run every year.
Optional modules
Careers
Our career development programme will prepare you to enter the world of work and encourage you to consider your future career options.
Our course team have a strong relationship with many local employers, and industry professionals from the police, prison and probation services join us for our annual careers fair. We also organise a range of talks and workshops from guest speakers and academic staff on topics such as interview skills and applying to work in policing.
This degree could be the first step toward your career as a:
- Prison caseworker
- Victim liaison officer
- Rehabilitation worker
- Police detective
- Crime analyst
- Crime scene investigator
- Probation officer
- Prison offender manager
- Youth justice worker
Further Study
You may wish to take your learning further and progress onto postgraduate study. Our MA Applied Criminology programme will provide you with opportunities to develop your specialist interests through a 1-year internship and extended research project.
Alternatively, if you’re hoping to become a forensic psychologist in the future, you can choose to complete our BPS-accredited MSc Psychology conversion course after graduating.
Course highlights
Teaching and assessment
You’ll be taught through a combination of interactive lectures, workshops, and seminars. You’ll also have opportunities to visit the local Courts and observe the criminal justice sector in action.
There are no exams on this course. Instead, you’ll be assessed through a range of applied methods, such as case reports, presentations, and offender profiles, designed to prepare you for your future career.
Teaching and assessment contents
You are taught through a combination of interactive workshops, lectures, seminars and practical activities. The variety of formats is intended to enable the discussion and development of understanding of topics as well as the application of learning through group activities. You will learn from guest speakers who work therapeutically with offenders in professional practice. As part of your learning, you will also be asked to attend areas of the criminal justice system such as the court, to observe the sector in an operational setting.
In addition, meetings with personal academic tutors are scheduled on at least four occasions in the first year and three occasions in each of the other years of a course.
A mixture of independent study, teaching and academic support from Student Services and Library Services, and also the personal academic tutoring system enables you to reflect on progress and build up a profile of skills, achievements and experiences that will help you to flourish and be successful.
Meet the Team
A small selection of the Health and Wellbeing lecturers who teach on this course.
Michael Allen
Michael is a former police officer who served 27 years in West Mercia Police. He was fortunate enough to serve the community in a broad range of operational front-line policing duties.
After serving 12 years in a wide variety of uniform policing roles, Michael became a Detective and later Detective Sergeant. He developed a keen interest in interviewing, which included the interviewing of suspected offenders, victims of crime, and witnesses involved in serious and major crime investigations.
Amy Johnson
Amy has been a lecturer at the University of Worcester for four years. Amy enjoys bringing real-world challenges and issues into her classroom and draws upon her experience of working with various client groups (homelessness, addictions, offending and domestic abuse) to demonstrate application. Specifically, Amy enjoys listening to her student’s ambitions and supporting them throughout their degree to reach their potential. Amy has been working with organisations across Worcestershire to ensure students have the best volunteer and work placement opportunities.
Dr Gillian Harrop
Gill is a senior lecturer in forensic psychology. She came to the University of Worcester from the University of Lincoln, and previously taught on both the MSc in Forensic Psychology at Liverpool University, and the BSc in Psychology at the University of East London. Prior to this, she worked for Lincolnshire Police as an Intelligence Analyst in the Force Intelligence Bureau and Major Crime Unit.
Sarah Lloyd
Sarah is a lecturer in Psychology, co-lead of Undergraduate Psychology Courses, and Personal Academic Tutor (PAT) Co-ordinator in the School of Health and Wellbeing. She is predominantly interested in Forensic Psychology but teaches across the Psychology curriculum, leading the Professional Skills and Practice, Evidence Based Practice, Psychology in the Real World, and Psychology and Law undergraduate modules.
Sarah completed her MSc in Forensic Psychology at Birmingham City University and is currently in the final year of her PhD which explores the group decision-making processes of juries. Before joining the team at Worcester in 2021, she was an Assistant Lecturer in the Forensic Psychology MSc at Birmingham City University.
Michael Allen
Michael is a former police officer who served 27 years in West Mercia Police. He was fortunate enough to serve the community in a broad range of operational front-line policing duties.
After serving 12 years in a wide variety of uniform policing roles, Michael became a Detective and later Detective Sergeant. He developed a keen interest in interviewing, which included the interviewing of suspected offenders, victims of crime, and witnesses involved in serious and major crime investigations.
Amy Johnson
Amy has been a lecturer at the University of Worcester for four years. Amy enjoys bringing real-world challenges and issues into her classroom and draws upon her experience of working with various client groups (homelessness, addictions, offending and domestic abuse) to demonstrate application. Specifically, Amy enjoys listening to her student’s ambitions and supporting them throughout their degree to reach their potential. Amy has been working with organisations across Worcestershire to ensure students have the best volunteer and work placement opportunities.
Entry requirements
UCAS tariff points required: 112
| Qualification | Grade |
|---|---|
| A-level | BBC |
| BTEC National Extended Diploma | DMM |
| T-level | Merit |
We do accept Access to HE Diplomas and other qualifications which may not exactly match the combinations above. Work out your estimated points with the UCAS tariff calculator.
Any questions?
If you have any questions about entry requirements, please call our Admissions Office on 01905 855111 or email admissions@worc.ac.uk.
Fees
Fees contents
UK and EU students
The Government has announced that it will increase tuition fees and maintenance loans by 3.1% from the 2025/26 academic cycle. Subject to approval, the University intends to increase our tuition fees in line with this and as per our terms and conditions. This means that from September 2025 the standard fee for full-time home and EU undergraduate students on BA/BSc/LLB degrees and FdA/FdSc degrees will be £9,535 per year for new and continuing students.
For more details on course fees, please visit our course fees page.
International students
The standard tuition fee for full-time international students enrolling on BA/BSc/LLB degrees and FdA/FdSc degrees in the 2025/26 academic year is £16,700 per year.
For more details on course fees, please visit our course fees page.
How to apply
How to apply contents
Applying through UCAS
UCAS is the central organisation through which applications are processed for full-time undergraduate courses in the UK.
Read our how to apply pages for more information on the application process, or if you’d like to apply for part-time study.
Criminology with Forensic Psychology BA (Hons) - LC38
Contact
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