Program Overview

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Criminology MSc, PgCert, PgDip

Course Overview

Dive into the thrilling world of Criminology with our dynamic master's course. We will help you navigate the intricate landscapes of crime, deviance, and justice.

You will tackle global challenges like international security, alternative justice systems, domestic abuse, and the investigation of serious crimes. Drawing on the expertise of our passionate and research-active staff, you will gain a comprehensive understanding of key theories and contemporary issues that shape our world today.

Real-World Experience

We offer you an emphasis on real-world application as part of your studies. You will engage with pressing contemporary issues and have opportunities for collaborations with a range of organisations, including Gloucestershire Constabulary, Restorative Gloucestershire, and dedicated charities tackling critical topics like domestic abuse, sexual violence, and victim support. This is your chance to make a tangible impact while honing your criminological skills.

Study Style

You will study with us over 2 days – currently Tuesdays and Wednesdays, offering an immersive learning experience. We will support your learning in a vibrant environment filled with seminars, workshops, lectures, and independent projects. Assessment is varied and will test a range of skills, featuring essays, portfolios, poster presentations, and a final dissertation that lets you showcase your interests.

Beyond the Classroom

You can embrace the full Criminology experience with our extensive range of extracurricular activities, such as joining our specialized research groups – the Sexual Violence Research Group and the Homicide Research Group, where you will work on real projects for external organizations. These opportunities not only enrich your learning but also pave the way for potential dissertation topics and career paths.

Entry Requirements

• Typical Offers: You should hold at least a 2.2 Bachelors Honours degree in a related subject. We will also consider social sciences degrees such as psychology, sociology, international relations, security studies, and politics.
• International students: Please read the entry requirements for your country – and contact our admissions team if you have questions.

Course Modules

You're viewing course modules for the MSc Full Time (1 years) course option. Choose a different course option to see corresponding course modules.

Here's an example of the types of modules you'll study (the contents and structure of the course are reviewed occasionally, but it is unlikely that there will be significant change).

Module information is not available for this programme.

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• Level 7 (Postgraduate)

All students must complete these modules:

• Contemporary Issues in Crime and Justice (NS7525)

This module aims to engage students in learning and critical analysis of contemporary issues facing the criminal justice system and society. It will examine crime as social harm, injustices, and forms of discrimination, along with the responses to these issues. The module also explores the systems of laws, justice, regulation, and punishment which attempt to deal with contemporary crime and social harms, with comparative and historical analysis. It will offer students an opportunity to engage with critical analysis of the criminal justice system and state responses to crime and disorder.

Scheduled Contact Hours: 48 Independent Learning Hours: 252 Assessment 001: 50% Assignment: Individual: 3000 words 002: 50% Assignment: Individual: 3000 words

• Public Criminology (NS7526)

In this module, the focus is on learning key criminological theories and examining the role/value of criminology generally and criminological theories specifically to audiences beyond academia, including practitioners and the general public.

This public criminology approach includes an applied, evidence-based orientation that is committed to empowerment, human rights, and social justice. It also requires transparency which involves identifying and critically assessing your own values and choices. In each session, we will delve into one of the main paradigms of the discipline and discuss how this translates into individual values, public purpose, policies, and practices. With this in mind, you will be asked to actively engage not only with the learning process but also in developing your personal criminology.

Scheduled Contact Hours: 24 Independent Learning Hours: 126 Assessment 001: 100% Portfolio: Individual: 4000 words

• Advanced Research Methods (NS7527)

This module will equip students with the knowledge and skills necessary to undertake social research at an advanced level. It will support your work toward developing a research study of your own choosing, or a project commissioned by an external partner (NS7555 Dissertation). It will deliver taught content on data collection methods such as surveys, interviews, and observation, alongside more creative ways of recording and collecting data, such as photovoice, participatory methods, and visual representations. This will expand your toolbox of how to conduct research in the social world.

The readings and classroom activities provide a space to critically engage with (sometimes competing) research philosophies. You will be equipped to explore these independently and to demonstrate and apply your learning by producing a theoretically and methodologically robust research project proposal as your assessment.

In order to achieve module learning outcomes and assessment criteria in full, you will need to select a suitable topic for an investigative primary or secondary research project. You are given freedom to select an area that interests you. You also need to be able to critically and comparatively reflect on your chosen research methodology and theoretical perspective(s).

Scheduled Contact Hours: 24 Independent Learning Hours: 126 Assessment 001: 100% Assignment: Individual: 4000 words or equivalent

• Dissertation (NS7555)

The Dissertation is a sustained and intensive investigation of one topic relevant to the course and the student’s interests. A scholarly document of up to 12000 words is presented in accordance with academic conventions, demonstrating achievement of high-level cognitive and intellectual skills. A poster presentation demonstrates skills of delivering complex material in a concise and visually engaging format.

Scheduled Contact Hours: 10 Independent Learning Hours: 590 Assessment 001: 80% Dissertation / Major Project: UNKNOWN 002: 20% Presentation: Individual: UNKNOWN

You can choose from the following modules:

• Criminal Investigation (NS7515)

This module takes a critical and research-informed approach to examining how violent crime, especially homicide, is investigated and represented through the criminal justice system. It examines the crucial role of officers attending a crime scene, covering the importance of robust crime-scene management and considering the practical requirements for preserving, collecting, and interpreting evidence at the crime scene. The module draws upon case studies to extend study of how forensic narratives are constructed in the process of investigation, how this is reported in the media, and how it might be interpreted for the courts.

Learning and Teaching Activities Scheduled Contact Hours: 24 Independent Learning Hours: 126

Assessment 001: 100% Portfolio: Individual: 4000 words or equivalent

• International Security (NS7516)

This module explores the complex and multifaceted processes of providing, maintaining, creating, and understanding security in a globalised world. Whilst the module focuses on the global dimensions of security issues, it also explores them in terms of implications for regional, national, and local responses to mitigate risk. Topics are delivered through interactive seminars which bring together theoretical analysis with case studies of recent and current security threats.

Learning and Teaching Activities Scheduled Contact Hours: 24 Independent Learning Hours: 126

Assessment 001: 100% Assignment: Individual: 4000 words

• Post-Conflict Societies (NS7529)

The module examines contemporary debates and challenges facing societies which are divided because of national, ethnic, and religious conflicts. The module will focus on such divided societies in varied global contexts. The module has two main avenues of enquiry: the first is the ways in which conflict at the national level over diverging aspirations and prioritisation of neoliberal development over national reconciliation continue to fragment and segment their societies, especially with respect to their everyday life. The second is the role in which civil society actors transcend and contest official narratives by providing insight to everyday life in conflicted societies from the ground.

Throughout the module, students engage with case studies of conflict, conflict resolution, post-conflict reconstruction, and transitional justice, which are used to ground the theoretical and conceptual discussion in clear empirical contexts.

Learning and Teaching Activities Scheduled Contact Hours: 24 Independent Learning Hours: 126

Assessment 001: 100% Assignment: Individual: 4000 words

• Domestic abuse, coercion, and control (NS7530)

The module includes critically challenging societal, cultural, and legal narratives, re-constructing the way we assess how these acts and patterns of domestic violence and abuse are understood, justified, and explained in various contexts. This module examines and explores violence and abuse between individuals, especially where there is, or has been, a familial or intimate relationship. We look at Domestic Abuse, Coercive Control, Stalking, and Homicide from the perspective of prevention and risk or threat assessment. As well as looking at tools used in professional settings, we put all learning in the context of case studies.

Learning and Teaching Activities Scheduled Contact Hours: 24 Independent Learning Hours: 152

Assessment 001: 100% Portfolio: Individual: 4000 words

• Alternative Justice (NS7531)

This module will critically examine alternative forms of justice, in the context of the need for reform to address discrimination and ineffectiveness in the criminal justice system. It will present students with examples of innovations to support victims, rehabilitate offenders, and restore community cohesion. Students will use case studies to examine the aims of doing justice differently, in community settings where agencies and the third sector work in partnership.

Learning and Teaching Activities Scheduled Contact Hours: 24 Independent Learning Hours: 126

Assessment 001: 100% Assignment: Individual: 4000 words

Fees and Costs

You're viewing fees for the MSc Full Time (1 years) course option. Choose a different course option to see corresponding course fees.

Students usually support themselves through a postgraduate loan, private savings, family support, or sponsorship from an employer. For advice and guidance on your funding options, contact the Money Advice team at moneyadvice@glos.ac.uk or call .

UoG graduates receive 15% off postgraduate tuition fees. Terms apply.

Start date | Location | Course code | Fee (UK) Total fee | Fee (international) Total fee ---|---|---|---|--- Sep 2025 | Francis Close Hall, Cheltenham | — | £9,025 | £17,950 Sep 2026 | Francis Close Hall, Cheltenham | — | TBC | TBC International students can benefit from a range of scholarships and bursaries across many undergraduate and postgraduate programmes. Find out more

Careers

You’ll be able to work on live projects with partner organisations. We have links with police forces, the Office of the Police and Crime Commissioner for Gloucestershire, Restorative Gloucestershire, community organisations active in crime prevention such as Gloucester City Safe, and local charities.

Students are encouraged to join one of our research groups – the Homicide Research Group, the Sexual Violence Research Group, or the Prisons Research Group. They give students and staff the opportunity to work together, develop skills, create employability-related contacts and experiences, create links with professionals, and impact on current practices and policies.

Our graduates have secured diverse roles with the Police, Probation, and Prison Services, as well as within charities, government bodies, and private companies. With personalised guidance from tutors and a wealth of resources to expand your horizons, you’ll be equipped to make your mark in the field of criminology and criminal justice.

Teaching Staff

Academic Course Leader

Dr Susie Atherton

Academic Course Leader for Criminology

Visit academic course leader's profile

View all teaching staff for this course

Shortlisted as finalists for Target Jobs National Graduate Recruitment Awards 2020

Our partnership with the Ministry of Justice means our students can take part in their mentoring scheme – which has been shortlisted as a finalist for excellence in career and employability service engagement (Target Jobs National Graduate Recruitment Awards 2020).

Join our Sexual Violence Research Group

We work on projects to improve sexual violence responses. We’ve delivered a report for a police force on learning from a detailed review of case files, and contributed expertise to a local authority initiative on sexual violence service provision for men and boys.

Join our Homicide Research Group

We work with organisations and charities to produce research which can help reduce or prevent homicide. We’ve already produced a report for the Suzy Lamplugh Trust which has been influential in assessing risk in stalking cases. Currently, we’re working with AAFDA to produce a report for the Home Office which will look at family involvement in Domestic Homicide Reviews. We’re also working with the Police and Crime Commissioner in Sussex to produce a stalking response model.

Push your possible with a master's degree

Increase your pay potential, specialise in a subject you love, or pursue your passion and switch careers.

UoG alumni can benefit from a postgraduate scholarship discount of 15% off tuition fees.

Discover the benefits of studying a master’s degree.

School of Business, Computing and Social Sciences

Gain new skills and develop innovative projects using cutting-edge facilities, labs, and suites. Work with expert lecturers and professionals from across the industry.

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Trips and Experiences

You’ll have the opportunity to join a residential field trip to explore a specialist theme such as community policing or restorative justice – recent destinations have included Belfast, Bosnia, and Toronto.