Program Overview

BA Criminology with International Study

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.

Entry Requirements

A-level

• AAB, including at least one of the following A-Level subjects (preference will be given to applicants studying two of these 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 (preference will be given to applicants studying two of these 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 (preference will be given to applicants studying two of these 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

• 36 points overall. 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 4 or C in GCSE/IGCSE English Language and Mathematics.

Other entry requirements

• Other entry requirements exist for this course. You may view these by selecting from the list below.
  • Scottish requirements
  • Welsh Baccalaureate
  • Foundation year
  • Pearson BTEC qualifications
  • OCR Cambridge Technical qualifications
  • Access to HE Diploma
  • T Level
  • Extended Project Qualification (EPQ)

Fees and Funding

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, and are expected to increase slightly for 2026 entry.

Scholarships/sponsorships

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

Application and Selection

How to apply

• Apply through UCAS

Advice to applicants

• There is competition for the limited places available on our four-year degrees. Unfortunately, applicants who meet our entry requirements will not always be successful in receiving an offer for the international study programme.

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
  • Benefit from networking and professional development opportunities through our student societies.
• Learning Criminology Inside
  • Learning Criminology Inside enables you to take your weekly seminars in a local prison to study a final year option alongside prison-based students.
• Paid placement opportunity
  • Apply for a paid summer Q-Step internship between Years 2 and 3.

Teaching and learning

• Lectures are delivered to a large group of students, covering an overview of a particular subject.
• Tutorials are small groups where you discuss in greater depth a topic you are learning.
• You need to prepare in advance and submit written work for each subject.

Coursework and assessment

• Methods of assessing your work are:
  • essays
  • oral presentations
  • short exercises or written pieces, for example blogs and learning portfolios
  • project work
  • exams

Careers

Career opportunities

• The University of Manchester has an excellent reputation for employability. For the past 5 years, we have been in the UK's Top Two most targeted universities by the UK's top 100 employers (High Fliers Graduate Market Report, 2020 - 2024).
• Our graduates pursue a variety of careers, including:
  • criminal justice system-related professions
  • police and offender management (such as Probation Service)
  • community justice
  • national intelligence and security agencies
  • charity and voluntary sector organisations
  • government
  • teaching

Facilities

• While you study with us, you have access to first-class facilities to interact, work, and practice your skills.
• You can also volunteer to work in our award-winning Legal Advice Centre
• Volunteering in our Miscarriages of Justice Review Centre enables you to work to support clients' claims of innocence.