BSc (Hons) Available in Clearing

Policing and Criminology

Jump-start your career in the criminal justice sector with our specialist Policing and Criminology degree in Chelmsford.

Start date: September
Location: Chelmsford
Duration: 3 years
UCAS course code

Start date: September
Location: Chelmsford
Duration: 4 years with foundation
UCAS course code

Start date: September
Location: Chelmsford
Duration: 4 years with placement
UCAS course code

1st

in the East of England for undergraduates employed as managers, directors or senior officials.

Source: GOS 2025

Explore the English legal and criminal justice systems, including the police, courts, prisons, probation, and youth justice system.

You’ll discover the origins, ethos, and legal and ethical frameworks of the system, and complex issues such as media representation, public attitudes and the impact of crime on victims and offenders.

You’ll also pick up key skills like research methods and investigative psychology, and take an in-depth look at recruitment processes in the sector – ensuring you’re ready for professional life.

Hear more about our criminology degrees in Cambridge, which include opportunities to explore policing or sociology in-depth.

Why ARU?

Learn from staff with real-world experience, including active and former policing and criminal justice practitioners.
Get hands-on with the latest case studies and research, field trips, and a optional placement year.
Build your network and find work placements, through our links to organisations including police forces.
Attend events organised by our International Policing and Public Protection Research Institute.
Join a university at the forefront of shaping cultural change in uniformed services, with our record £11million research grant.
Hear from key criminal justice professionals, attend employment fairs, and build a portfolio and CV.

Study at an award-winning university

We were named Times Higher Education University of the Year 2023. We've also been awarded a Gold rating in the Teaching Excellence Framework – a reflection of the outstanding education we offer our students.

Careers

Work towards your career goals from day one, with opportunities to get involved in research, events and campaigns.

We’ll support you to get involved in justice causes, charities and voluntary work that contributes to civic duty so you can gain relevant experience in the criminal justice system. You’ll also boost your CV as you become proficient in critical analysis, research and communication.

Engage with professionals through guest lectures (including those organised by our International Policing and Public Protection Research Institute), workshop events, study trips and research projects.

You could also develop a specialism or start a career in research by taking part in our academic shadowing scheme or Cambridgeshire County Council’s violence prevention analysis programmes.

What can you do with a Policing and Criminology degree?

Where have other Policing and Criminology graduates worked?

How can ARU help with my employability and career development?

Teaching and modules

Prepare for a role as a criminal justice professional, by exploring the key elements of England’s criminal justice system (police, courts, prisons, probation, and youth justice) as well as current issues in criminology.

You'll also consider the impact of crime on victims and offenders and the relationships between media, technology, and crime, as well as discovering research methods that will allow you to take your skills into the real world.

Finally you’ll learn more about the youth justice system and investigative psychology, and pool your learning in a research project of your choice.

Student experience

Dani studied on our BA Criminology and MA Criminology as a mature student, and has since taught at a local secondary school as well as working as an Associate Lecturer at ARU. Hear how Criminology at ARU helped Dani follow her interests.
Emma works as a Probation Officer in Cambridge after graduating from our Criminology degree.
Find out why our Criminology students love their annual celebration of their work.
Colleen Moore tells us what hides behind the headlines.
There's more to Criminology than you might think.

What will I study?

Modules are subject to change and availability, and may vary by location. If you have the choice of optional modules, these are indicated with a *.

Year 1

Into ARU
Introduction to Policing
Introduction to Contemporary Issues in Criminology
Policing Practice
Criminal Justice in England and Wales

Year 2

Researching Society and Culture
Violence and Confrontation
Victims of Crime
Crime, Media and Technology
Crime and Data Science
Ruskin Module

Year 3

Undergraduate Major Project - Criminology
Youth, Crime and Aggression
Becoming a Criminal Justice Professional
Investigative Psychology
Criminology and Policing in Policy and Practice
Crimes of the Powerful
Exploitation, Trafficking and Sexual Violence

Module details

To prepare you for university study, you can take a foundation year at the start of this course. Find out more about foundation years.

Year 1

Foundation in Law and Policing

Module details

You can choose to take an optional placement year as part of this course. Placements typically happen in Year 3, and your course will take four years overall. Find out more about placement years.

Year 1

Into ARU
Introduction to Policing
Introduction to Contemporary Issues in Criminology
Policing Practice
Criminal Justice in England and Wales

Module details

What happens on a foundation year?

What happens on a placement year?

How is Policing and Criminology assessed?

Who teaches Policing and Criminology at ARU?

Read profiles of teaching and research staff on this course.

Dr Joanne Traynor
Senior Lecturer
John Greenan
Senior Lecturer
Vicky Gadd
Senior Lecturer
Dr Christian Kemp
Deputy Head of School
Dr Aimee Neaverson
Senior Lecturer

Facilities

Join our student community and benefit from award-winning learning facilities, including extensive library and IT resources.

You’ll have the opportunity to go on field trips in the UK and overseas and study abroad for a semester with funding available to help cover the cost.

There's also support, should you need it, with study skills, careers advice, health and wellbeing, and more.

Take a guided tour and meet our students.

Please enable JavaScript for "Fees Information" section to function.

Entry requirements

Standard entry requirements

96 UCAS Tariff points. We accept A Levels, T Levels, BTECs, OCR, Access to HE and most other qualifications within the UCAS Tariff.
3 GCSEs at grade C, or grade 4, or above, including English.
If English is not your first language you will be expected to demonstrate a certificated level of proficiency of at least IELTS 6.0 (Academic level) or equivalent English language qualification, as recognised by Anglia Ruskin University. You may also be accepted to this course with an IELTS 5.5 (Academic level) or equivalent English language qualification as recognised by Anglia Ruskin University, but will then be required to undertake additional compulsory free English language modules in your first year.

Important additional notes

Our published entry requirements are a guide only and our decision will be based on your overall suitability for the course as well as whether you meet the minimum entry requirements.

Other equivalent qualifications may be accepted for entry to this course; please email [email protected] for further information. Applicants to undergraduate courses can also check our information about undergraduate entry qualifications.

You'll need a computer and reliable internet access to successfully engage with your course.

We don't accept AS level qualifications on their own for entry to our undergraduate degree courses. However for some degree courses a small number of tariff points from AS levels are accepted as long as they're combined with tariff points from A levels or other equivalent level 3 qualifications in other subjects.

Main

5 GCSEs at grade D, or grade 3, or above and evidence of two years post-GCSE study at Level 3.

If you have achieved at least grade E in one A level, or equivalent, you are exempt from the two years post-GCSE study requirement, but you still must meet the GCSE requirements.

Applicants who do not meet the two years post GCSE study at level 3 may be considered based on their satisfactory employment history, which must be a minimum of two years full time employment supported by employer evidence and deemed appropriate by the University for meeting the course of study applied for.

If English is not your first language you will be expected to demonstrate a certificated level of proficiency of at least IELTS 5.5 (Academic level) or equivalent English Language qualification, as recognised by Anglia Ruskin University.

Important additional notes

Our published entry requirements are a guide only and our decision will be based on your overall suitability for the course as well as whether you meet the minimum entry requirements.

You'll need a computer and reliable internet access to successfully engage with your course.

See entry requirements for the BA or BSc (Hons)

Important additional notes

Our published entry requirements are a guide only and our decision will be based on your overall suitability for the course as well as whether you meet the minimum entry requirements.

You'll need a computer and reliable internet access to successfully engage with your course.

International students

English language requirements

Contextual offers

Please enable JavaScript for "Fees Information" section to function.

Fees and funding

UK students

£9,535 UK students starting 2025/26 (full-time, per year)

If you're a UK student, you don't need the money to pay for university now.

If you accept an offer to study at university, you can apply for a Tuition Fee Loan to cover your course fees.

Both full-time and part-time students can apply for a Tuition Fee Loan. Part-time students should be studying more than a quarter (25% intensity) of a full-time course each year.

You'll start repaying the loan in the April after you graduate.

If you start a course on or after 1 August 2023, you won't repay anything until you earn more than £25,000. This is called repayment Plan 5. At this point, you'll repay 9% on everything you earn over £25,000. After 40 years (from the April after graduation), all remaining debt is wiped.

If you started a course on or before 31 July 2023, you won't repay anything until you earn more than £27,295. This is called repayment Plan 2. At this point, you'll repay 9% on everything you earn over £27,295. After 30 years (from the April after graduation), all remaining debt is wiped.

For example for students who are on repayment Plan 5:

If you earn £25,500, you'll repay £45 a year or £3.75 a month
That's because £25,500 is £500 above the threshold, and 9% of £500 is £45.

What you repay depends on how much you earn after university. The more you earn, the more you pay back.

For more information about student loans, see our undergraduate student finance page.

This information also applies to:

Irish nationals living in the UK or Ireland
EU, EEA and Swiss nationals benefiting from citizens’ rights under the UK-EU Withdrawal Agreement.

£9,535 UK students starting 2025/26 (full-time, per year)

If you're a UK student, you don't need the money to pay for university now.

If you accept an offer to study at university, you can apply for a Tuition Fee Loan to cover your course fees.

Both full-time and part-time students can apply for a Tuition Fee Loan. Part-time students should be studying more than a quarter (25% intensity) of a full-time course each year.

You'll start repaying the loan in the April after you graduate.

For example for students who are on repayment Plan 5:

If you earn £25,500, you'll repay £45 a year or £3.75 a month
That's because £25,500 is £500 above the threshold, and 9% of £500 is £45.

What you repay depends on how much you earn after university. The more you earn, the more you pay back.

For more information about student loans, see our undergraduate student finance page.

This information also applies to:

Irish nationals living in the UK or Ireland
EU, EEA and Swiss nationals benefiting from citizens’ rights under the UK-EU Withdrawal Agreement.

£9,535 UK students starting 2025/26 (full-time, per year)

If you're a UK student, you don't need the money to pay for university now.

If you accept an offer to study at university, you can apply for a Tuition Fee Loan to cover your course fees.

Both full-time and part-time students can apply for a Tuition Fee Loan. Part-time students should be studying more than a quarter (25% intensity) of a full-time course each year.

You'll start repaying the loan in the April after you graduate.

For example for students who are on repayment Plan 5:

If you earn £25,500, you'll repay £45 a year or £3.75 a month
That's because £25,500 is £500 above the threshold, and 9% of £500 is £45.

What you repay depends on how much you earn after university. The more you earn, the more you pay back.

For more information about student loans, see our undergraduate student finance page.

This information also applies to:

Irish nationals living in the UK or Ireland
EU, EEA and Swiss nationals benefiting from citizens’ rights under the UK-EU Withdrawal Agreement.

£1,400 Placement year (2024-25)

International students

£16,700 International students starting 2025/26 (full-time, per year)

You can pay your fees upfront, in full or in two instalments. We will ask for a deposit of £4,000 or a sponsorship letter

Find out about paying your fees.

£16,700 International students starting 2025/26 (full-time, per year)

You can pay your fees upfront, in full or in two instalments. We will ask for a deposit of £4,000 or a sponsorship letter

Find out about paying your fees.

£16,700 International students starting 2025/26 (full-time, per year)

You can pay your fees upfront, in full or in two instalments. We will ask for a deposit of £4,000 or a sponsorship letter

Find out about paying your fees.

Placement year fee

Living costs

Bursaries, sponsorship and working

Apply for Policing and Criminology

Clearing places available

UK students, apply through Clearing for a September 2025 start

Apply through Clearing

Apply by phone

UK students, call our Clearing line

01245 686868

UK students

Apply through UCAS for 2026

Apply through UCAS

International students

Apply direct

Apply online

Want to talk to someone?

Contact our Admissions team Talk to a student

Courses

Apply

Discover

Writtle College

Explore

Prepare

Support

Experience

Studying at ARU

Applying to ARU

Arriving at ARU

Postgraduate research

Why research at ARU?

Impact and case studies

Institutes and centres

Develop your business

Develop your people

Student and graduate talent

Case studies and news

Recent graduates

Alumni

Supporters

Legal

History and values

Jobs

Policing and Criminology

BSc (Hons)

With foundation year

With placement

Careers

Teaching and modules

Student experience

BSc (Hons)

With foundation year

With placement

Facilities

Entry requirements

BSc (Hons)

Important additional notes

With foundation year

Important additional notes

With placement

Important additional notes

International students

English language requirements

Fees and funding

BSc (Hons)

With foundation year

With placement

BSc (Hons)

With foundation year

With placement

Apply for Policing and Criminology

Clearing places available

Apply by phone

01245 686868

UK students

International students

Related courses