Criminology BSc (Hons)
Subject and course type
- Law, Criminal Justice and Criminology
- Undergraduate
Our Criminology BSc (Hons) course gives you the opportunity to take your learning out of the classroom, so you can practise your skills and gain valuable experience for your future career.
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Study crime, its consequences, and how to control it
Join the Kingston School of Law, Social and Behavioural Sciences.
This programme offers both work placement and volunteering options. Thanks to these opportunities, you can benefit from our connections with criminal justice organisations, international NGOs, charities, and governmental organisations. Fieldwork may include court observations, our crime scene house, and empirical research and case study analysis, which allow you to apply theory to real-life situations.
We also have a comprehensive programme of guest speakers, from detective sergeants and undercover operatives to probation officers and NGO founders. They will all share their insights and experiences with you.
For our Criminology BSc (Hons) course, we have set up a form of community-engaged learning. This is where real world organisations set our students a live brief as part of their assessment to help develop work-based skills. To date, we have worked with local government, charities working on supporting and reintegrating offenders, and campaign organisations.
The lecturing team at Kingston is amazing. The lecturers know me personally and are so happy to help academically and emotionally. They have emailed me with opportunities and talks that match my interests.
Why choose this course
Criminology combines the study of politics, law, psychology, society and culture to understand the processes of criminalisation, the consequences of crime and the practices of crime control and prevention.
On this course, you'll study patterns and perceptions of crime, both nationally and globally, and the impact of different practices of punishment on offenders. Issues of diversity and discrimination in criminal justice, and police power and culture are also examined. You may explore youth justice, new technologies of risk management, crime prevention, terrorism and security too.
You'll be introduced to the theoretical perspectives and debates that inform criminology, and to the institutions, processes and legal foundations of the criminal justice system in England and Wales.
This course offers the opportunity to undertake a placement year, designed to support you in achieving your goals while helping you gain valuable experience and develop essential skills. There is also a range of authentic assessments which mimic real world tasks relevant to future employment.
Prepare for global impact
Kingston School of Law, Social and Behavioural Sciences offers courses in economics, sociology, law, psychology and criminology. Our degrees are underpinned by a vibrant research culture and delivered by a blend of practitioners and academics who are dedicated to equipping you with the employability skills to thrive in your career.
Course content
Take a look at some of the content and modules that you may have the opportunity to study on this course. Please note: Optional modules only run if there is enough demand. If we have an insufficient number of students interested in an optional module, that module will not be offered for this course.
Foundation year – Social Sciences
If you would like to study this degree at ÂÌñ»»ÆÞ but are not yet ready to join the first year of a BSc (Hons) course, you may want to consider studying this course with a foundation year.
Year 1
In Year 1, you will be introduced to a range of theoretical perspectives and debates that inform criminology, and the institutions, processes and legal foundations of the criminal justice system in England and Wales. You will learn about how social order is produced and reproduced and the relationship between formal criminal justice institutions and wider practices of social control. You'll understand how researchers utilise qualitative and quantitative research methods and will gain hands-on experience of research skills.
Core modules
30 credits
Who gets labelled as ‘dangerous’ or ‘problematic’ - and why? This module dives into how crime and deviance are shaped by society, politics, and culture, both past and present.
You’ll explore who is policed and disciplined, how certain behaviours become criminalised, and how others go unnoticed.
Looking at real-world case studies, you’ll examine the blurred lines between offender and victim, the impact of criminalisation, and the role of media and state institutions in shaping our perceptions of crime. Through key criminological debates, you’ll question what justice really means and who it serves.
30 credits
This module will focus your attention on how social scientists have utilised a range of qualitative and quantitative methods to research social life in its various forms. This module grounds your understandings of research methods through the practical application of data collection and analysis, and critical reflection on the research process. You will gain hands-on experience of research skills throughout the module that can be applied to future study and employability.
You will also be introduced to Future Skills through engagement with Navigate; an innovative programme designed to support your personal and professional development, and your ability to articulate your skills and graduate qualities in an external context.
30 credits
This module will provide students with an introduction to the institutions, processes and legal foundations of the criminal justice system in England and Wales. The module is core to the undergraduate degree. The module familiarises students with the language and reasoning of the criminal law and the structure and chronology of the criminal justice process. There is an emphasis on the development and practice of key academic skills especially information retrieval.
30 credits
This module will introduce students to a range of theoretical perspectives and debates that inform criminology, and which underpin their learning throughout the criminology programme. Theories will be evaluated in relation to academic scholarship, empirical evidence, popularity and application in crime policy and practice, and in relation to their geographical, social, cultural, historical locations.
Students will learn about a changing and dynamic field of study, which has encompassed both positivistic and social analyses of crime and criminalisation. They will learn to evaluate criminological theory in relation to a range of intellectual movements. They will be encouraged to understand criminological theory in relation to shifts across allied subjects like sociology, gender studies, critical race studies, social policy, politics and psychology.
Year 2
In Year 2, you'll develop critical insight into key issues and controversies in the delivery of justice, social control and punishment. You will explore the different ways of approaching criminology and assess how these different approaches relate to different kinds of criminological methods. Alongside this you will build upon your existing research skills.
Core modules
30 credits
This module provides a critical insight into key issues and controversies in the delivery of justice, social control and punishment. It encourages you to think critically about the role of the state in the regulation of behaviour and provides an overview of key changes that have occurred in the field of crime control and criminal justice. The first part of the module is dedicated to developing understanding of the concepts of 'policing' and the 'police'. Key issues confronting contemporary policing are explored together with an enhanced awareness of the historical context within which contemporary policing has developed.
Debates about policing are situated within broader debates of social control and governance, with a critical appreciation of the police function and role. It also considers the implications of globalisation for policing both at an organisational and conceptual level. The second part of the module provides you with the opportunity to undertake a critical examination of contemporary debates on the purpose of punishment. You will be introduced to a range of theoretical perspectives and debates on the use of punishment to address criminality and will consider the purpose of punishment in modern societies. This will be accompanied by an examination of different forms of punishment including an in-depth exploration of the use of imprisonment and comparative penal systems.
30 credits
In this module, you’ll work in small teams to research and address a social problem affecting your community or society. Each member will explore different aspects of the issue, and together, you’ll create an informative website outlining the problem and proposing solutions or policies.
Alongside learning about your chosen topic, you’ll develop key research, teamwork, and problem-solving skills. You’ll also take part in a Graduate Assessment Centre to practice the skills for job applications and interview techniques.
This module helps you grow in confidence, preparing you for the workplace with essential professional skills.
30 credits
This module explores how true crime and fiction drama - across video games, podcasts, social media, and traditional media - shape our understanding of crime and justice.
Media can sensationalise crime, create ethical dilemmas, and distort reality, influencing public attitudes and trust in the justice system. With crime increasingly treated as entertainment, research shows it can heighten fear, increase punitive attitudes, and fuel distrust in law enforcement.
Miscarriages of justice, widely covered on streaming platforms like Netflix, raise concerns about fairness, potentially discouraging crime reporting and encouraging informal justice. This module critically examines these issues and their real-world impact.
30 credits
This module will enable you to contextualise criminology's past and present engagement with diversity and discrimination. The relationship between crime and discriminatory processes will be explored within different contexts such as within the law, prisons and cultural practices (e.g. FGM). The responses of the criminal justice process to diversity will also be discussed and evaluated with regard to institutional racism and domestic abuse. In addition, you will critique the gendered social construction of the categories of 'offender' and 'victim'. This will be further challenged by the exploration of female membership and affiliation with criminal gangs and their perpetration of crimes, and male victims of sexual violation.
Optional year
You have the option to take an additional year to study abroad or to undertake a year-long work placement overseas (or even a mix of both).
Professional placement year
This course has a professional placement year option which takes place between Year 2 and your Final year. During this professional placement year you will take a placement within a relevant setting, ensuring you gain essential experience to add to your CV and help you secure a graduate job.
Final year
In your Final year, you will be introduced to relevant issues within the realm of globalisation, terrorism and international crime. You will undertake an advanced research project on a topic of interest and receive training in research skills. You will also choose between a Criminology Dissertation or the Applied Social Science module.
Core modules
30 credits
The aim of the module is to introduce you to relevant issues within the realm of globalisation and transnational crime: e.g. terrorism, environmental crime, piracy, human trafficking, criminal networks and cybercrime. It will enable you to develop a detailed comprehension of the complexity of these criminogenic experiences.
The course opens with consideration as to what transnational crime is and how it is researched. Various topics are then examined to illustrate the dimensions of transnational crime over the following weeks. Topics include organized crime; sex trafficking and pornography; illegal markets; problems caused by crimes against the environment and the role of technology in perpetrating crime across the globe. Politically motivated crimes such as terrorism are considered, including the interaction between terrorist discourses and the media, the work of international law enforcement bodies in relation to global security and counter-terrorism. Alongside the structural and political aspects of crime, the module also considers interpersonal and cultural experiences of harm, for example, violence against women and honour-based violence.
15 credits
This module explores how risk has become a key tool in understanding and managing crime today.
Risk assessment now shapes policing, sentencing, and offender management, influencing areas like organised crime, cybercrime, terrorism, and domestic abuse. Theories of risk help explain why this shift has happened and how it affects our perceptions of crime and security. Some see risk management as reducing bias, while others argue it fuels a ‘culture of fear.’
This module examines risk in both theory and practice, questioning how it has changed criminal justice, institutions, and even our relationships with one another.
30.00 credits
This module will be examining some deeply troubling events in recent history and politics and the various ethical, legal and political responses that they have generated. It has been argued that the Holocaust was a critical turning point, a catastrophe which required a fundamental ethical, legal and political rethinking of how the rights of human beings could be protected when states in the modern world engage in the systematic attempt to murder large numbers of people, including many of their own citizens.
The module begins with reflections on the Nazi attempt to eliminate a whole group of people (the Jews) and to murder and enslave millions of others. It then considers a range of responses, including the Nuremberg trials, the Genocide Convention, and the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. It examines a number of cases of genocide and crimes against humanity that have nevertheless occurred subsequently. It evaluates the repeated failure for decades to halt or prevent these crimes and then considers the rethinking caused by the genocides in Yugoslavia and Rwanda, and the setting up of ad hoc tribunals and an International Criminal Court to prosecute perpetrators and provide justice to victims.
It concludes with reflections on how much progress has been made in protecting citizens in a world of sovereign nation states and what forms of justice can work after such crimes have been committed. These are highly contested questions and the module is designed to encourage the critical analysis and evaluation of a wide range of arguments that have been put forward from a variety of perspectives.
15 credits
This module provides you with a dedicated opportunity to develop your Future Skills Graduate Attributes. At the start of the module, you will be supported to self-assess your current skills profile and determine which attributes and skills you need to develop to support your career ambitions. You will be supported in this process by a dedicated career coach, who will help you to explore a range of options including self-employment/freelancing, starting your own business, higher level study, and other professional Graduate level opportunities. Students will also be given opportunities to engage with external mentors throughout the module to support reflection and to develop a professional network.
You will then undertake a tailored series of activities and projects, aligned to your goals from a menu of development options. This could include short courses, enrichment activities and experiential learning options such as micro-placements. You will also be able to reflect on activities that you undertake outside the university through which you are developing your graduate attributes, such as work or volunteering.
Optional modules (choose one)
30 credits
This is a Level 6 optional module that draws upon social science debates and knowledges. Students will learn by observing and undertaking work-based practice. The principle underlying this module is that worksites are important contexts for students to test, validate, expand upon, supplement and enrich their academic learning. The module requires students to undertake a minimum of 40 hours of fieldwork in an organisational setting. The form that the fieldwork will take will depend upon the type of placement secured, but, typically it may involve interning, shadowing or volunteering in subject relevant placements (for example across social justice, criminal justice/crime prevention, welfare and support fields). Whilst in their placements students are encouraged to think about the social aspects of organisations and working life, including their structural forms, interpersonal relationships and their practices. Students will be supported in securing their placement at Level 5 in preparation for the commencement of the module at level 6.
30 credits
Through this module you will develop your own criminological specialism by conducting an extended and in-depth study on a topic of your choosing. Students will be tutored in the skills necessary to successfully complete a final year dissertation and will work with a staff supervisor to develop a critical understanding of their research topic. You will gain hands-on experience of research skills that can be applied to future postgraduate study and careers in human resources, marketing, public sector and charitable and non-government organisations.
Future Skills and career opportunities
Graduates from our Criminology BSc (Hons) course go on to work in criminal justice and advocacy, the Police, HM Prison and Probation Service, youth offending teams, the Prison Reform Trust, crime research, health, housing and welfare, human resources, teaching, and local and central government.
Embedded within the Criminology BSc (Hons) course and throughout the whole Kingston experience is our Future Skills programme. The Future Skills programme was developed to respond to the ever-evolving demands from modern day employment.
It will help you obtain the skills most valued by employers, such as problem-solving, digital competency, and adaptability, and learn how to apply these skills in different scenarios. You’ll also learn how to articulate to employers how being able to do so gives you the edge.
You will take part in an Assessment Centre Experience, providing the opportunity to experience the pathway to employment with tailored feedback:
- Develop your understanding of the jobs market, including current trends and opportunities, different recruitment processes and how to identify relevant roles
- Receive personalised feedback reports to help you to improve and progress
- Access additional webinars on top tips, employer expectations and best practice
Social Sciences Café (SSC) is a series of events within the Department of Criminology and Social Sciences. It aims to help prepare students for life after graduation. Students can take part in seminars on employability skills and postgraduate studies. There are also speaker and panel events on topical issues which engage the broader ÂÌñ»»ÆÞ (KU) community, and social events linked to key moments in the academic calendar.
SSC is often visited by KU graduates working in the public, private and third sector in the UK and around the world. These graduates are keen to share their career journeys and advice for students at an early stage of their career planning. Professionals also visit these events for ‘meet the employer' advice and networking sessions.
At ÂÌñ»»ÆÞ, we're not just keeping up with change, we're creating it
For more information on how Kingston prepares you for the future job market, visit our Future Skills page.
Teaching and assessment
Timetabled learning and teaching on this course includes lectures, small group tutorials and seminars.
Outside the scheduled learning and teaching hours, you will learn independently through self-study which will involve reading articles and books, working on projects, undertaking research, preparing for and completing your work for assessments. Some independent study work may need to be completed on-campus, as you may need to access campus-based facilities such as studios and labs.
Our academic support team here at ÂÌñ»»ÆÞ provides help in a range of areas.
When you arrive, we'll introduce you to your personal tutor. This is the member of academic staff who will provide academic guidance, support you throughout your time at Kingston and show you how to make the best use of all the help and resources that we offer at ÂÌñ»»ÆÞ.
A course is made up of modules, and each module is worth a number of credits. You must pass a given number of credits in order to achieve the award you registered on, for example 360 credits for a typical undergraduate course or 180 credits for a typical postgraduate course. The number of credits you need for your award is detailed in the programme specification which you can access from the link at the bottom of this page.
One credit equates to 10 hours of study. Therefore 120 credits across a year (typical for an undergraduate course) would equate to 1,200 notional hours. These hours are split into scheduled and guided. On this course, the percentage of that time that will be scheduled learning and teaching activities is shown below for each year of study. The remainder is made up of guided independent study.
- Year 1: 20% scheduled learning and teaching
- Year 2: 21% scheduled learning and teaching
- Year 3: 17% scheduled learning and teaching
The exact balance between scheduled learning and teaching and guided independent study will be informed by the modules you take.
Your course will primarily be delivered in person. It may include delivery of some activities online, either in real time or recorded.
Types of assessment
- Year 1: Coursework 80%; exams 12%; practical 8%
- Year 2: Coursework 85%; practical 15%
- Year 3: Coursework 92%; practical 8%
Please note: the above breakdowns are a guide calculated on core modules only. If your course includes optional modules, this breakdown may change to reflect the modules chosen.
We aim to provide feedback to you on your assessments within 20 working days.
Your individualised timetable is normally available to students within 48 hours of enrolment. Whilst we make every effort to ensure timetables are as student friendly as possible, scheduled learning and teaching can take place on any day of the week between 9am and 6pm. For undergraduate students, Wednesday afternoons are normally reserved for sports and cultural activities, but there may be occasions when this is not possible. Timetables for part-time students will depend on the modules selected.
Scheduled learning and teaching on this course includes timetabled activities including lectures, seminars and small group tutorials.
Fees and funding
| Fee category | Fee |
|---|---|
| Home (UK students) | |
| £9,535* | |
| Foundation Year: | £5,760 |
| International | |
| Year 1 (2025/26): | £18,500 |
| Year 2 (2026/27): | £19,200 |
| Year 3 (2027/28): | £19,900 |
| Year 4 (2028/29): | £20,700 |
The tuition fee you pay depends on whether you are assessed as a 'Home' (UK), 'Islands' or 'International' student. In 2025/26 the fees for this course are above.
Please visit the Fees and Funding page for more information.
For courses with Professional Placement, the fee for the placement year can be viewed on the undergraduate fees table. The placement fee published is for the relevant academic year stated in the table. This fee is subject to annual increases but will not increase by more than the fee caps as prescribed by the Office for Students or such other replacing body.
* For full-time programmes of a duration of more than one academic year, the published fee is an annual fee, payable each year, for the duration of the programme. Your annual tuition fees cover your first attempt at all of the modules necessary to complete that academic year. A re-study of any modules will incur additional charges calculated by the number of credits. Home tuition fees may be subject to annual increases but will not increase by more than the fee caps as prescribed by the Office for Students or such other replacing body. Full-time taught International fees are subject to an annual increase and are published in advance for the full duration of the programme.
Eligible UK students can apply to the Government for a tuition loan, which is paid direct to the University. This has a low interest-rate which is charged from the time the first part of the loan is paid to the University until you have repaid it.
Scholarships and bursaries
For students interested in studying this course at Kingston, there are several opportunities to seek funding support.
Additional course costs
Some courses may require additional costs beyond tuition fees. When planning your studies, you’ll want to consider tuition fees, living costs, and any extra costs that might relate to your area of study.
Your tuition fees include costs for teaching, assessment and university facilities. So your access to libraries, shared IT resources and various student support services are all covered. Accommodation and general living expenses are not covered by these fees.
Where applicable, additional expenses for your course may include:
Our libraries have an extensive collection of books and journals, as well as open-access computers and laptops available to rent. However, you may want to buy your own computer or personal copies of key textbooks. Textbooks may range from £50 to £250 per year. And a personal computer can range from £100 to £3,000 depending on your course requirements.
While most coursework is submitted online, some modules may require printed copies. You may want to allocate up to £100 per year for hard-copies of your coursework. It’s worth noting that 3D printing is never compulsory. So if you choose to use our 3D printers, you’ll need to pay for the material. This ranges from 3p per gram to 40p per gram.
ÂÌñ»»ÆÞ will pay for all compulsory field trips. Fees for optional trips can range from £30 to £350 per trip.
Your tuition fees don’t cover travel costs. To save on travel costs, you can use our free intersite bus service. This route links the campuses and halls of residence with local train stations - Surbiton, Kingston upon Thames, and Norbiton.
Courses involving placements or direct work with vulnerable groups may require a DBS check or other security checks.
If you choose to do a placement year, travel costs will vary depending on your location. These costs could be up to £2,000.
Some courses may require professional memberships.
Course changes and regulations
The information on this page reflects the currently intended course structure and module details. To improve your student experience and the quality of your degree, we may review and change the material information of this course. Find out more about course changes
for the course are published ahead of each academic year.
Regulations governing this course can be found on our website.
Key information
The scrolling banner below displays some key factual data about this course (including different course combinations or delivery modes of this course where relevant).
