Program Overview

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BASS Criminology and Data Analytics

Overview

Course Overview

Learn theories about the nature and determinants of crime, and how to contrast these theories in real life, using data analytic and data science techniques.

Use data and data analytic methods to evaluate policies, understand trends in crime, predict and classify criminological phenomena and map and analyse complex network relationships between criminals, criminal organisations and other agents in society.

Enjoy using a variety of statistical software used in government, industry, and academia, including R, SPSS and other popular packages.

Have the opportunity to study abroad or complete a professional placement on a four-year optional course.

Study at a UK Top 10 university for Social Sciences (Times Higher Education World University Rankings by Subject 2025).

A Study Experience that Makes a Difference

We place social responsibility at the heart of your learning which means you can take advantage of unique ways to make a difference while studying with us, through your course or through extra-curricular activities.

Complete our Ethical Grand Challenges to learn how you can create a better world and become more socially responsible.

Work with an external organisation to tackle real-world sustainability problems through our University Living Lab.

Discover subjects that broaden your horizon with our interdisciplinary learning opportunities.

Explore how you'll make your mark

Every course at Manchester contributes towards the UN's Sustainable Development Goals, so no matter what you're studying you'll be playing an active role in the protection of people and planet.

You will explore the following goals in your course:

• Goal 1: No poverty

Entry Requirements

A-Level

ABB, 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.

We accept native language A Levels providing they are taken in the same sitting as your other subjects. We will not accept the combination of Mathematics, Further Mathematics and a native language.

Practical skills are a crucial part of science education and therefore will be a requirement to pass the practical element of any science A Level taken.

Applicants taking A Levels are normally expected to offer three full A Levels. If you’re taking more than three A Levels, these won’t be included in your offer. We will only make offers consisting of three A Levels.

Please check for specific GCSE/IGCSE subject entry requirements below.

A-Level Contextual 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.

We accept native language A Levels providing they are taken in the same sitting as your other subjects. We will not accept the combination of Mathematics, Further Mathematics and a native language.

Practical skills are a crucial part of science education and therefore will be a requirement to pass the practical element of any science A Level taken.

Applicants taking A Levels are normally expected to offer three full A Levels. If you’re taking more than three A Levels, these won’t be included in your offer. We will only make offers consisting of three A Levels.

Please check for specific GCSE/IGCSE subject entry requirements below.

Contextual offers are available for applicants who:

• live in the UK and will be under the age of 21 on 1 September of the year they will start their course; and
• live in an area of disadvantage or with low progression into higher education; and
• have attended a UK school or college for their GCSEs or A-levels (or equivalent qualifications) that has performed below the national average over multiple years.

See our contextual admissions page for full details and to check your eligibility.

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.

We accept native language A Levels providing they are taken in the same sitting as your other subjects. We will not accept the combination of Mathematics, Further Mathematics and a native language.

Practical skills are a crucial part of science education and therefore will be a requirement to pass the practical element of any science A Level taken.

Applicants taking A Levels are normally expected to offer three full A Levels. If you’re taking more than three A Levels, these won’t be included in your offer. We will only make offers consisting of three A Levels.

Please check for specific GCSE/IGCSE subject entry requirements below.

UK refugee/care-experienced offers are available for applicants who:

• have been looked after in care for more than three months; or
• have been granted refugee status by the UK government or have been issued a UK visa under one of the Ukrainian schemes (Homes for Ukraine, Ukraine Family Scheme or Ukraine Extension Scheme).

See our contextual admissions page for full details and to check your eligibility.

International Baccalaureate

34 points overall. 6,5,5 in Higher Level subjects

Applicants studying the International Baccalaureate Career Related Programme (IBCP) should contact the admissions team prior to applying so that their academic profile can be considered.

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. GCSE/IGCSE English Literature will not be accepted in lieu of GCSE/IGCSE English Language.

Please note that if you hold English as a second language IGCSE qualification, we may also require you to offer one of our acceptable equivalent English Language qualifications or achieve a higher grade in your IGCSE than the one stated above. Please contact the admissions team in your academic School for clarification.

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.

Policy on Additional Costs

All students should normally be able to complete their programme of study without incurring additional study costs over and above the tuition fee for that programme. Any unavoidable additional compulsory costs totalling more than 1% of the annual home undergraduate fee per annum, regardless of whether the programme in question is undergraduate or postgraduate taught, will be made clear to you at the point of application. Further information can be found in the University's Policy on additional costs incurred by students on undergraduate and postgraduate taught programmes (PDF document, 91KB).

Scholarships/Sponsorships

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

Some undergraduate UK students will receive bursaries of up to £2,000 per year, in addition to the government package of maintenance grants.

You can get information and advice on student finance to help you manage your money.

Application and Selection

How to Apply

Apply through UCAS

Advice to Applicants

Applicants submitting mitigating circumstances

If you are submitting information about mitigating circumstances that have affected, or are likely to affect, your academic performance, you should include this in the referee's report.

We cannot take into account information that is supplied after an adverse decision has been made on an application.

Examples of mitigating circumstances include family illness, problems with school facilities or an unusual curriculum followed by your school of college.

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.

You will be required to demonstrate that you meet the specified academic entry requirements of the course.

We will also require a reference from somebody who knows you well enough, in an official capacity, to write about you and your suitability for higher education.

If you are a home schooled student and would like further information or advice please contact the academic School for your chosen course who will be able to help you.

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.

Students come from a whole array of backgrounds, study every kind of course, undertake full-time and part-time learning and are motivated by career intentions as well as personal interest. There is no such thing as a typical mature student at Manchester.

The application process is the same as for other prospective undergraduates.

If you require further clarification about the acceptability of the qualifications you hold please contact the academic School(s) you plan to apply to.

Further information for mature students can be found here.

Course Details

Course Description

On BASS Criminology and Data Analytics course, you learn theories about the nature and determinants of crime, but also how to translate these theories into empirical questions that can be studied using real-life data.

Specifically, you learn data analytic and data science techniques to evaluate the effectiveness of anti-crime policies, understand criminal behaviour, predict and classify criminal phenomena and describe and analyse networks of relationships between criminals, criminal organisations and society.

By completing the core and optional units, you will gain sought after skills, including:

• how to collect, describe and visualise data;
• how to build quantitative models to explain phenomena;
• how to quantitatively evaluate the effectiveness of policies;
• how to map and analyse complex social networks;
• how to implement key machine learning algorithms;
• how to implement data analytic techniques and data science algorithms using statistical software including R, as well as proprietary packages such as SPSS.

The pathway emphasises the application of modern data analytic methods to real life problems while also teaching some of the underlying theory. This will support career progression to more advanced postgraduate courses and to more challenging scenarios in policy and industry.

Special Features

Professional experience opportunity

You have the option of extending your studies and boosting your employability through a paid professional placement year.

You can apply in Year 1 or 2, complete your placement in Year 3, then return to University for Year 4.

The degree title will include 'with Professional Experience', giving you the added advantage of relevant work experience when entering the competitive graduate jobs market.

Study abroad

If you would like to broaden your horizons and your degree, you can apply to study overseas for a year at one of our partner universities. You apply in Year 2 to spend a year abroad in Year 3.

If successful, you will put together a programme of study at the host university in consultation with your Academic Exchange Advisor, to complement your studies at Manchester.

You will then come back to Manchester to study for a fourth year and graduate with a degree title including ‘with International Study'.

See The University of Manchester Study Abroad pages for more information, including eligibility criteria, destinations, costs and funding.

Paid placement opportunity

You can apply for a paid Q-Step internship during the summer between the second and third year of your course.

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,).

Our graduates pursue a variety of careers including journalism and media, charities, consultancy, civil service, finance, marketing, social work, teaching, law and postgraduate study.

Recent graduates have gone on to work at:

• AXA;
• Barclays;
• the Greater Manchester Chamber of Commerce, the Houses of Parliament, the Ministry of Justice;
• the United Nations;
• the Centre for Social Justice;
• Google;
• the Foreign and Commonwealth Office; and
• Teach First.

The University has its own dedicated Careers Service that you would have full access to as a student and for two years after you graduate. At Manchester you will have access to a number of opportunities to help boost your employability.

We work with students and the Careers Service to embed employability into our courses through careers and networking events.

You can also boost your employability by choosing course units in Year 2 from the University College for Interdisciplinary Learning.

Find out more on the careers and employability page.