BA Criminology

Our BA Criminology (including Foundation Year) could be suitable for you if your academic qualifications do not yet meet our entry requirements for a three-year version of our social sciences courses and you want a programme that improves your skills to support your academic performance.

Open to UK and EU applicants, this four-year course includes a Foundation Year (known as Year Zero) which is delivered by our Essex Pathways Department followed by a further three years of study in our Department of Sociology and Criminology.

During Year Zero you will study on our Social Sciences Pathway which will cover topics such as Analysing the Social and Political World, and People and Society. At the end of Year Zero all students who pass the Social Sciences Pathway will have a choice of which course to progress with. As well as BA Criminology students on the Social Sciences Pathway could also study BA Politics or BA Sociology, amongst other courses.

From Year One of BA Criminology you will explore the nature of crime, criminal justice and punishment within wider social contexts. Our flexible course means that you can study an exciting range of topics, from the impact of computer games on crime, to terrorism and migration, to policing and controlling society.

We are a large and friendly department, offering a range and diversity of research interests, with leading international experts in the areas of:

• Organised crime, surveillance and counter-terrorism
• Environmental harm
• Visual criminology
• Social history and crime

You'll also receive training in criminological methods – how to design a survey, conduct an interview, and use quantitative analysis from basic statistic to big data – in order to ask the difficult questions.

Our BA Criminology is run by the Department of Sociology and Criminology, which is 2nd in UK for research power in sociology (Times Higher Education research power measure, Research Excellence Framework 2021).

Our expert staff

Our lecturing staff are actively researching at the cutting edge of their respective disciplines and wherever possible bring the very latest research findings into the classroom. All are prominent writers and the criminology team collectively authored the best-selling criminology textbook, ‘Criminology: A Sociological Introduction', used on undergraduate courses across the country.

Our staff have worked at local, national and international level with bodies like local councils, the Home Office, Amnesty International and the United Nations.

Core staff on this programme include:

• Professor Anna Sergi

  Professor Anna Sergi researches how organised crime groups form and how they influence everyday life, from trade to politics. She explores ways of identifying and countering the dangers of mafia infiltration, focusing specifically on the ‘ndrangheta, one of the world's most extensive and powerful criminal organizations.

• Professor Eamonn Carrabine

  Professor Eamonn Carrabine has published widely in criminology and sociology. He is most well-known for his award winning research on visual criminology, and he is currently writing a series of books on the ‘iconography of punishment'. The first of which concentrates on representations of punishment in medieval and renaissance worlds, indicating that the relationships between the history of art and history of punishment are closer and stranger than we might think. He currently serves as the Editor-in-Chief on the British Journal of Criminology, and between 2015 to 2019 Michele Brown (University of Tennessee) and Eamonn co-edited the journal Crime, Media, Culture.

• Dr Samuel Singler

  Samuel's research in Border Criminology focuses on the impact of border security technologies on the criminalisation of migration, with empirical work on the International Organisation for Migration’s (IOM) initiatives in Nigeria. He integrates pragmatism and performativity into criminological theory to study technology. Holding a DPhil in Criminology and an MPhil in International Relations from Oxford, he has lectured at Oxford, the University of Law, and Roehampton. He has worked as a border management consultant for the IOM and contributed to research at RAND Europe and Cambridge University. Since 2020, he has been an Associate Director for Events with the Border Criminologies network.

• Dr Darren Thiel

  Darren studied sociology at the London School of Economics, completing his PhD there in 2006, which was awarded the Robert McKenzie prize for outstanding academic performance. His book, Builders, based on his PhD thesis was a finalist in the British Sociological Association's 2013 Philip Abrams memorial prize for the best first sole-authored book in sociology. Following his PhD studies, Darren worked as researcher at the Home Office and at the Police Foundation, before taking up his post at the University of Essex.

• Dr Alejandra De Leon

  Alejandra Diaz De Leon is a qualitative researcher specialising in undocumented migration. Her work employs ethnography, qualitative interviews, and participant observation in both Mexico and the United States. Her research focuses on two primary areas. The first explores transit migration, violence, and trust, examining ethnographically how Central American migrants in transit through Mexico build trust and bonds to survive and support one another. She has recently published a book on this topic. Her second area of research investigates how humanitarian actors and migrants perceive the climate crisis as a factor driving migration. This three-year project involves a team conducting fieldwork in migrant shelters along Mexico's migration route, interviewing migrants, activists, and stakeholders.

Specialist facilities

By studying within our Essex Pathways Department for your foundation year, you will have access to all of the facilities that the University of Essex has to offer, as well as those provided by our department to support you:

• We provide computer labs for internet research; classrooms with access to PowerPoint facilities for student presentations; AV facilities for teaching and access to web-based learning materials
• Our new Student Services Hub will support you and provide information for all your needs as a student
• Our social space is stocked with hot magazines and newspapers, and provides an informal setting to meet with your lecturers, tutors and friends

Our Department of Sociology and Criminology also offers excellent on-campus facilities:

• Our Centre for Criminology hosts expert speakers and practitioners
• A unique Student Study Centre where you can get help with your studies, access examples of previous students' work, and attend workshops on research skills
• The common room is open all day Monday-Friday, has a hot drinks vending machine, water cooler and microwave as well as a small number of lockers available
• Links with the Institute of Social and Economic Research, which conducts large-scale survey projects and has its own library, and the UK Data Archive, which stores national research data like the British Crime Survey
• Our students' Sociology Society, a forum for the exchange of ideas, arranging talks by visiting speakers, introducing you to various career pathways, and organising debates

Your future

Careers linked to criminology are varied. Our courses provide an excellent training for work within the criminal justice system, for example as community safety officers, risk assessors, court managers, researchers, paralegals, police officers, probation officers and youth workers.

Our recent graduates have gone on to work for a wide range of high-profile companies including:

• The Institute of Public Finance
• Guardian Professional
• United
• Synergy Healthcare Research
• National Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children
• Home Office

We also work with the University's Student Development Team to help you find out about further work experience, internships, placements, and voluntary opportunities.

Enhance your degree and demonstrate your quantitative skills with Q-Step. By following the Q-Step pathway of modules within your existing course, you will graduate from Essex with a qualifier award at the end of your degree, signalling to employers your capability in highly sought after quantitative research skills.

Clearing entry requirements

We currently have places available in Clearing across a range of courses, with most offers at BBC–CCD (112–88 UCAS tariff points) or equivalent. Grade requirements may be lower in some cases, and some courses may also have subject specific requirements. We consider each application individually so get in touch if your grades are below those outlined here. .

English language requirements

English language requirements for applicants whose first language is not English: IELTS 5.5 overall with a minimum of 5.5 in each component, or specified score in another equivalent test that we accept.

Details of English language requirements, including component scores, and the tests we accept for applicants who require a Student visa (excluding Nationals of Majority English Speaking Countries) can be found here

If we accept the English component of an international qualification it will be included in the academic levels listed above for the relevant countries.

English language shelf-life

If you require a Student visa to study in the UK please see our immigration webpages for the latest Home Office guidance on English language qualifications.

Pre-sessional English courses

If you do not meet our IELTS requirements then you may be able to complete a pre-sessional English pathway that enables you to start your course without retaking IELTS.

Pending English language qualifications

You don’t need to achieve the required level before making your application, but it will be one of the conditions of your offer.

If you cannot find the qualification that you have achieved or are pending, then please email ugquery@essex.ac.uk.

Additional Notes

If you’re an international student, but do not meet the English language or academic requirements for direct admission to this degree, you could prepare and gain entry through a pathway course. Find out more about opportunities available to you at the University of Essex International College

Course structure

Our research-led teaching is continually evolving to address the latest challenges and breakthroughs in the field. The following modules are based on the current course structure and may change in response to new curriculum developments and innovation.

We understand that deciding where and what to study is a very important decision for you. We'll make all reasonable efforts to provide you with the courses, services and facilities as described on our website and in line with your contract with us. However, if we need to make material changes, for example due to significant disruption, we'll let our applicants and students know as soon as possible.

Teaching

• From year 1, undergraduate students in the Department of Sociology and Criminology typically attend a one-hour lecture and a one-hour class for each module per week. There are some variations in place depending on the module.
• Lab sessions to improve technical research skills
• Any language classes involve language laboratory sessions
• Our classes are run in small groups, so you receive a lot of individual attention

Assessment

• Your assessed coursework will generally consist of essays, reports, in-class tests, individual or group oral presentations, and small scale research projects