Program Overview

BA Criminology

Overview

Our BA Criminology course enables you to understand how and why crime has become viewed as a dominant social problem and how issues of crime and deviance relate to other social issues.

Course Description

The course allows you to develop an understanding of the sociological and psychological explanations for crime and criminal behaviour. You will study the criminal justice system and criminal law alongside theories of criminal behaviour. You will also begin to appreciate the methods used to research crime and deviance.

Key Features

• Study abroad
• Industrial experience
• Scholarships available
• Field trips

Duration and Year of Entry

• Duration: 3 or 4 years
• Year of entry: 2026

UCAS Course Code and Institution Code

• UCAS course code: M901
• UCAS institution code: M20

Typical A-Level Offer

• AAB, including at least one of the following A-Level subjects:
  • Accounting
  • Economics
  • Finance
  • Business Studies
  • Development Studies
  • Government and Politics
  • Economic and Social History
  • Mathematics
  • Anthropology
  • Sociology
  • Philosophy
  • Religious Studies
  • English Language
  • English Literature
  • Geography
  • Psychology
  • Classical Civilisation
  • History
  • Archaeology
  • Communication Studies
  • Environmental Studies
  • World Development
  • Biology
  • Chemistry
  • Physics
  • Modern Languages

A-Level Contextual Offer

• BBB, including at least one of the following A-Level subjects:
  • Accounting
  • Economics
  • Finance
  • Business Studies
  • Development Studies
  • Government and Politics
  • Economic and Social History
  • Mathematics
  • Anthropology
  • Sociology
  • Philosophy
  • Religious Studies
  • English Language
  • English Literature
  • Geography
  • Psychology
  • Classical Civilisation
  • History
  • Archaeology
  • Communication Studies
  • Environmental Studies
  • World Development
  • Biology
  • Chemistry
  • Physics
  • Modern Languages

UK Refugee/Care-Experienced Offer

• BBC, including at least one of the following A-Level subjects:
  • Accounting
  • Economics
  • Finance
  • Business Studies
  • Development Studies
  • Government and Politics
  • Economic and Social History
  • Mathematics
  • Anthropology
  • Sociology
  • Philosophy
  • Religious Studies
  • English Language
  • English Literature
  • Geography
  • Psychology
  • Classical Civilisation
  • History
  • Archaeology
  • Communication Studies
  • Environmental Studies
  • World Development
  • Biology
  • Chemistry
  • Physics
  • Modern Languages

International Baccalaureate

• 35 points overall, with 6,6,5 in Higher Level subjects

GCSE/IGCSE

• Applicants must demonstrate a broad general education including acceptable levels of Literacy and Numeracy, equivalent to at least Grade C or 4 in GCSE/iGCSE English Language and Mathematics.

Other Entry Requirements

• Scottish Advanced Highers and Highers in one of the following combinations:
  • Three Advanced Highers at grades ABB
  • Two Advanced Highers at grades AB, plus two additional Highers at grades BB
• Welsh Baccalaureate
• Foundation year
• Pearson BTEC qualifications
• OCR Cambridge Technical qualifications
• Access to HE Diploma
• T Level
• Extended Project Qualification (EPQ)

Fees

• Fees for entry in 2026 have not yet been set. For entry in 2025, the tuition fees were £9,535 per annum for home students.

Scholarships/Sponsorships

• Scholarships and bursaries, including the Manchester Bursary, are available to eligible home/EU students.

Application and Selection

• Apply through UCAS
• Advice to applicants: Please enable JavaScript to watch this video.
• Home-schooled applicants: If you are a student who has followed a non-standard educational route, e.g. you have been educated at home; your application will be considered against the standard entry criteria of the course for which you are applying.
• Non-standard educational routes: Mature students are some of our most well-equipped learners, bringing skills and attributes gained from work, family and other life experiences.

Course Details

• Course description: Our BA Criminology course enables you to understand how and why crime has become viewed as a dominant social problem and how issues of crime and deviance relate to other social issues.
• Special features:
  • Societies
  • Paid placement opportunity
  • Professional Experience Year
• Teaching and learning:
  • Lectures
  • Tutorials
  • Skills sessions
• Coursework and assessment:
  • Essays
  • Oral presentations
  • Short exercises or written pieces
  • Project work
  • Exams
• Course content for year 1:
  • Compulsory course units:
    • Crime and Society
    • Criminological Research Methods
    • Foundations of Criminal Justice
    • Psychology, Crime and Criminal Justice
    • Foundations of Criminological Scholarship
    • Making Sense of Criminological Data
    • Criminal Law (Humanities)
• Course content for year 2:
  • Extend your understanding of criminological theory and your knowledge of the practices and techniques used in contemporary criminal justice systems.
  • Develop your knowledge of specific patterns of crime and criminality, as well as your understanding of research methods.
  • Compulsory course units:
    • Policing and the Police
    • Explaining Crime and Deviance
    • Making Sense of Criminological Data
    • Modelling Criminological Data
    • Understanding Punishment
    • Criminology and Criminal Justice in Action
    • Qualitative Approaches to Data Collection and Analysis in Criminology
• Course content for year 3:
  • Continue to extend your understanding of criminological theory and your knowledge of the practices and techniques used in contemporary criminal justice systems.
  • Study a unique range of optional subjects delivered by leading experts teaching from original research projects.
  • Topics include:
    • Drugs and Society
    • The Criminal Psychopath
    • Serious and Organised Crime
  • Hone your research and project management skills with a dissertation on a criminological topic of your choosing.
  • Compulsory course units:
    • Long Dissertation
  • Optional course units:
    • Drugs and Society
    • Comparative Criminology
    • Journeys out of Offending
    • Victims, Crime and Justice
    • Understanding and Responding to Organised Crime
    • Criminology and Mass Violence
    • Youth, Crime and Justice
    • White-Collar and Corporate Crime
    • Crime Mapping: an introduction to GIS and spatial analysis
    • The Criminal Psychopath

Careers

• Career opportunities:
  • Criminal justice system-related professions
  • Police and offender management
  • Community justice
  • National intelligence and security agencies
  • Charity and voluntary sector organisations
  • Government
  • Teaching
• The University of Manchester has an excellent reputation for employability.
• Our graduates pursue a variety of careers, including those mentioned above.
• The BA Criminology course has employability skills embedded throughout.
• You will have access to specialist careers events covering a broad range of professions and opportunities for you to meet professionals working in criminal justice-related areas.
• The University has its own dedicated Careers Service that you will have full access to as a student and for two years after you graduate.