Program Overview

Professional Policing BSc (Hons)

Overview

This degree equips you with the knowledge, skills, and professional understanding needed to serve and protect communities through effective, evidence-based policing. Based on the National Policing Curriculum, it prepares you for careers across the police service, military police, and wider criminal justice sector. With access to first-class facilities and taught by experts with real-world policing experience, you’ll graduate ready to take the next step in your policing journey. The degree has a currency of five years following graduation for recruitment into policing.

Course Details

Year 1 Core Modules

• Foundations of Law
  • Introduces the English legal system and equips you with the methods and skills you need to study law at undergraduate level.
• Introduction to Digital Investigation
  • Explores digital data, devices in modern society, and digital investigation principles and guidelines.
• Introduction to Professional Policing
  • Examines collaborative partnership working and a range of contemporary issues in policing.
• Policing and the Community
  • Explores the role of the police within the community and the diverse nature of community issues, and partnership working.
• Thinking about Crime
  • Introduces criminology and criminological theory, including crime trends, causes of crime, and responses to crime.
• Understanding the Policing Environment
  • Examines the historical development of policing, developing understanding of specialist units and external organisations and agencies.

Year 2 Core Modules

• Counter-Terrorism in Context
  • Explores the use of the roads network for criminal activities, using counter-terrorism as a framework for exploration.
• Investigation in Practice
  • Explores the investigation of an offence, the gathering of other forms of evidence, and develops knowledge of victim and witness care and support.
• Law and Procedure
  • Develops a critical knowledge and understanding of the nature and purpose of the criminal law, the basic elements of a crime, and a variety of specific criminal offences and defences.
• Physical Evidence and Investigation
  • Provides understanding of the role of the investigator arriving at a scene of crime and how to locate, record, recover, and assess the value of evidence to an investigation.
• Professional Policing in Practice
  • Further develops understanding of vulnerability and victimisation and fair use of police powers, and intelligence-gathering.
• Research Skills for Police Practitioners
  • Prepares you for the final year research project by introducing research methodologies, in particular, evidence-based policing.

Final-Year Core Modules

• Defendants and Witnesses in the Criminal Justice System
  • Focuses on the law concerned with the obtaining and admissibility of evidence at trial.
• Ethics, Integrity, and Contemporary Issues
  • Expands knowledge of ethical issues, use of integrity, investigation, and record-making.
• From Report to Court
  • Consolidates learning gained across the course and gives opportunity to demonstrate understanding.
• Policing Research Project
  • Enables the demonstration of research skills, group working, leadership skills, and presentation skills, within a group research project based on the principles of evidence-based policing.
• Themes in Professional Policing
  • Examines motivation for offending, analysis of vulnerability, legislation, and public protection together with other specialist areas.

How You Learn

Modules are taught using a broad range of learning opportunities, including lectures, seminars, workshops, case studies, peer group discussions, independent study, e-learning, and online materials, individual and group tutorials, guest speakers, and practical sessions within the crime scene house, vehicle examination laboratory, mock police station, fingerprint and crime scene labs, interview rooms, and the mock courtroom.

How You Are Assessed

The programme is assessed through a range of formative and summative methods in oral, written, and alternative formats. These comprise traditional assessment methods, including essays, reports, reflective analysis, multiple-choice questions, practical tasks, presentations, and negotiated research and conference-style dissemination of findings.

Entry Requirements

A typical offer is 80-104 tariff points from at least two A levels, T level, or equivalent. GCSE English at grade 4 (grade C) or equivalent.

Employability

You will have the required knowledge and understanding to apply to be employed as a police officer, police staff (such as civilian investigators, detention officers), or within the military police.

Career Opportunities

All programmes are designed to incorporate employability skills development alongside your degree course. Our staff utilise their extensive connections to provide many and varied opportunities to engage with potential employers through fairs, guest lecture sessions, live projects, and site visits.

Other Course Routes

Foundation Year

Study this course with a foundation year if you need additional preparation or if you don't have sufficient grades to join Year 1.

Full-Time

• Length: 3 years
• UCAS code: L402 BSc/PP
• Start date: September
• Semester dates
• Typical offer: 80-104 points
• Overview of entry requirements

Part-Time

• Length: Up to 5 years
• Attendance: Daytime
• Start date: September
• Semester dates

Tuition Fees

Full-Time

• Fee for UK applicants: £9,535 a year

Part-Time

• Fee for UK applicants: £4,635 (120 credits)