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BSc (Hons)
Undergraduate degree - single or combined honours
We accept a wide range of qualifications for entry to our undergraduate programmes. The main ones are listed under 'Typical offers' in the main column below. For combined courses, please check both subjects. If your qualification is not listed, please email admissions@bathspa.ac.uk with your specific details.
We're fascinated by crime. Turn on the television or search for something online and you'll soon encounter images, reports and programmes about crime, justice and punishment. Crime saturates media and popular culture, suggesting both our enduring fascination with wrongdoing and its consequences, and crime's status as an ongoing social problem.
But, what's the story behind these representations of crime? Criminology explores the causes, motivations and patterns of criminal conduct. In addition to improving our knowledge and understanding of crime, Criminology also informs policies and practices in policing, law, criminal justice and punishment.
With our Criminology degree, you'll study crime from a variety of approaches, gain practical and relevant experience, and develop a range of transferable skills that you can take into a range of careers and employment sectors.
You can choose to study Criminology alongside another subject as part of a combined course.
Criminologists study crime from a variety of approaches, making this a diverse field of study. You’ll study crime from a variety of angles and perspectives. Core modules focus on the main theories, debates, issues and research problems in criminology and criminal justice, while optional modules enable you to develop your particular interests.
We’ll support and encourage you to gain practical experience in relevant fields through voluntary work and placements. You’ll develop practical and analytical skills as well as subject knowledge in crime and criminal justice.
Year one
You’ll learn about the research traditions of criminology and be introduced to key concepts, theories and issues. You’ll investigate different types of crime such as property crime, sexual and violent crime, homicide, corporate crime, anti-social behaviour and drug use. You’ll also learn about criminal law and criminal justice agencies and institutions.
Optional modules will increase your understanding of psychological and social dimensions of crime. You’ll study models of individual personality and behaviour, and visualise and analyse key sources of social science data. You’ll also study a complementary subject.
Year two
You’ll study contemporary debates in criminology, criminal justice, and the psychology of crime, and train in research methods and crime mapping techniques.
You can choose from a number of optional modules to create a programme tailored to your personal interests. You can investigate the ecology of crime, delve more deeply into the social divisions associated with crime, study justice and punishment, or explore crime in the media and popular culture.
Year three
You’ll undertake an original piece of criminological research in an area that interests you, along with comparative study of criminal justice and penalty in a global context.
Again, you can select from a range of modules, a number of which highlight the global dimensions of crime and justice. There will be opportunities to undertake a voluntary placement in an organisation relevant to the criminal justice sector.
We use a range of assessments to gain a comprehensive measure of your performance. Assignments may include essays, book reviews, examinations, portfolios, creative work, contributions to online resources, presentations, reports, in-class tests, reflective writing and individual and group projects.
We take pride in our innovative and engaging modules that inspire and challenge, and we encourage you to reflect critically on your subject.
We’ll guide you through your studies, support you, and help you make the most of your academic studies. Your personal timetable will comprise all the modules for which you have been registered, and these incorporate different modes of teaching.
You’ll participate in a wide variety of activities including lectures, seminars, workshops, one-to-one tutorials, and sessions with visiting speakers.
To find out more about how we teach and how you'll learn, please read our Learning and Teaching Delivery Statement.
This course offers or includes the following modules. The modules you take will depend on your pathway or course combination (if applicable) as well as any optional or open modules chosen. Please check the programme document for more information.
As part of your degree, you could study abroad on a placement at one of Bath Spa’s partner universities.
We’ll strongly encourage you to take advantage of placement opportunities in your second and third year, so you can apply your learning in the real world contexts of criminal justice. Practitioners contribute to teaching in some modules and you can find out more from them about working in fields related to criminal justice. Fieldwork opportunities, such as trips to local courts, will also provide opportunities to observe the legal system in action and learn more about potential careers. We also have links with local criminal justice organisations including local police services and prisons.
Project work enables you to focus on your particular interests and is built into all three years of the programme. Through individual and group projects you’ll develop employment-related skills in research, analysis, time management, leadership, problem-solving and planning.
Your first year involves a project with creative, critical and reflective elements. Moving into your second year, you’ll undertake in-depth study of the spatial dimensions of crime and learn digital crime-mapping using ARC-GIS software. A module in research methods will give you experience of research design and data collection and analysis to support project work. In the dissertation core module in your third year, you can apply the knowledge and skills you’ve developed to an independent research project on any criminological or criminal justice topic that interests you.
A qualification in Criminology will prepare you for a career in a variety of relevant fields in criminal justice and associated social and welfare professions including:
As a social sciences degree, the course will give you with a range of transferable skills which you can take into a career in a number of others sectors such as health and social care, marketing, HR, teaching or the media.
If you’re a full-time undergraduate student starting your first year at Bath Spa University, you can apply for the Certificate in Global Citizenship, which you’ll study alongside your degree.
You’ll gain global awareness and add an international dimension to your student experience, and funding is available. On successful completion of the programme, you’ll be awarded a Certificate in Global Citizenship. This is in addition to your degree; it doesn’t change your degree title or results.
Develop a wealth of indispensable digital skills that you can take into your future career. One of only three Adobe Creative Campuses in the UK, we provide all Bath Spa students with access to the full Adobe Creative Suite, giving you the tools to communicate creatively, whatever your course or chosen professional field.
This optional placement year provides you with the opportunity to identify, apply for and secure professional experience, normally comprising one to three placements over a minimum of nine months. Successful completion of this module will demonstrate your ability to secure and sustain graduate-level employment.
By completing the module, you'll be entitled to the addition of 'with Professional Placement Year' to your degree title.
Before your Professional Placement Year, you'll work to secure your placement, constructing a development plan with your module leader and your placement coordinator from our Careers and Employability team.
On your return to University for your final year, you'll submit your Placement Portfolio, detailing your development on your placement.
Criminology is taught at our Newton Park campus
All modules can be found on our Virtual Learning Environment, Minerva, providing unlimited online access to learning materials such as handbooks, lecture slides, assessment information, discussion boards and other resources.
Our library gives you access to books, academic journals and DVDs and an extensive range of electronic services. It also provides a place for individual study and collaborative work.
Year 1 | £9,250 |
Year 2 | £9,250 |
Year 3 | Published Autumn 2024 |
Year 1 | £9,250 |
Year 2 | Published Autumn 2024 |
Year 3 | Published Autumn 2025 |
Year 1 | Published Autumn 2024 |
Year 2 | Published Autumn 2025 |
Year 3 | Published Autumn 2026 |
Year 1 | £4,625 |
Year 2 | £4,625 |
Year 3 | Published Autumn 2024 |
Year 1 | £4,625 |
Year 2 | Published Autumn 2024 |
Year 3 | Published Autumn 2025 |
Year 1 | Published Autumn 2024 |
Year 2 | Published Autumn 2025 |
Year 3 | Published Autumn 2026 |
Year 1 | £16,150 |
Year 2 | £16,905 |
Year 3 | Published Autumn 2024 |
Year 1 | £16,905 |
Year 2 | Published Autumn 2024 |
Year 3 | Published Autumn 2025 |
Year 1 | Published Autumn 2024 |
Year 2 | Published Autumn 2025 |
Year 3 | Published Autumn 2026 |
During the placement year, the fee is reduced to 20% of the full time fee. Otherwise, fees are the same as for full time study. This applies to UK, EU and International students.
We’re looking for individuals who are interested in all aspects of crime, justice and punishment. You’ll be looking to study these issues in a multidisciplinary way, that challenges conventional or ‘common sense’ notions of criminality.
We accept a wide range of qualifications for entry to our undergraduate programmes. The main ones are listed below:
If you don’t meet the entry requirements above, we may be able to accept your prior learning or experience from outside of formal education. See our Accreditation of Prior Learning (APL) page to learn more.
English Language Requirements for International and EU Applicants
IELTS 6.0 - for visa nationals, with a minimum score of IELTS 5.5 in each element.
Course enquiries
For further information about the programme or entry requirements, please email us at admissions@bathspa.ac.uk.
Ready to apply? Click the 'apply now' button in the centre of this page.
Need more guidance? Head to our how to apply pages.
Course leader: Faye Vanstone
Email: f.vanstone@bathspa.ac.uk
Website feedback to web@bathspa.ac.uk