Introduction
Jump-start your career in the criminal justice sector with our specialist Criminology and Policing degree in Cambridge.
As a BA (Hons) Criminology and Policing student at ARU, we’ll help you work towards your career goals from day one.
Through our relationship with regional police forces and practitioners, you’ll have opportunities to engage with professionals from the criminal justice sector through guest lectures (including those organised by our Policing Institute for the Eastern Region), workshop events, study trips and research projects.
You may also have opportunities to work closely with local police forces. A recent student project, sponsored by Cambridge Constabulary, carried out research on police officer demographics and recruitment.
You’ll learn from staff with real-world experience: a significant part of your teaching in some modules will be delivered by policing and criminal justice practitioners such as former and active Crime Scene Investigators. Our criminology lecturers are active researchers with experience of working on real-life crimes with the police. You can also choose to an optional placement year.
Course options
Key facts
Entry requirements
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Fees and paying for university
Facilities and showcase
Hands-on learning
All our BA (Hons) Criminology and Policing students have the opportunity to:
- go on field trips in the UK and overseas
- take part in workshops, research projects and other events with regional police forces and other professionals
- study abroad for a semester, with funding available to help cover the cost
- choose from a range of optional modules and pursue their own areas of interest.
Outstanding student support
Join our student community and:
- benefit from award-winning learning facilities, including extensive library and IT resources
- learn from staff who have first-hand experience of working in public service
- attend events and seminars organised by our Policing Institute for the Eastern Region
- access support, should you need it, with study skills, careers advice, health and wellbeing, and more.
Take a closer look
Our Creative Showcase shines a spotlight on what makes ARU creative and cultural – our spaces, places and people. Find out more about our community, the difference we make, the stories we tell, and the things that inspire us.
Meanwhile, Present is an exhibition that you curate for yourself. Explore the work of our graduating students in this eye-catching virtual degree show.
Careers
Our graduates go on to work in the police force, probation, prisons and youth justice, as well as the Border Force, the military, security, charities and NGOs, local government, and the public sector more generally. Others are using their skills in areas such as policy, PR, communication and the media.
If you’re already working in the criminal justice sector, you could follow in the footsteps of former students who’ve been able to progress their careers to graduate level.
You could also develop a specialism or start a career in research by taking part in our academic shadowing scheme or Cambridgeshire County Council’s violence prevention analysis programmes.
Or there’s the option to study for a Masters, such as our MA Contemporary Policing, MA Criminology or MA International Relations. Take advantage of our Alumni Scholarship and get 20% off your fees.
Whichever path you choose, you can be sure you’re graduating with the knowledge, skills and abilities that employers need. They help us review what we teach and how we teach it – and they offer hands-on, practical opportunities to learn through work-based projects, internships or placements.
Maddi
"I adored my modules this first trimester. For example this included learning about crime in the news and applying skills to working in the criminal justice system."
Maddi
BA (Hons) Criminology
Maddi's storyWant to talk to someone?
Do you have a question that we haven't answered so far? Talk to our application experts. You can also ask our Student Ambassadors about life at ARU.
We're here Monday-Thursday 9am-5pm (please note we close at 3.30pm on the first and third Thursday of the month for staff training), and Friday 9am-4.30pm.
Life in Cambridge
Our friendly, bustling campus is a stone’s throw from the centre of Cambridge, often described as the perfect student city.
Our favourite places in Cambridge Did you know...? Facts about CambridgePlacement year available
You have the option to take a placement year as part of this course. It’s a great chance to get hands-on experience in the industry you want to work in.
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