Our MA Applied Criminology has been developed to offer real world knowledge and experience, offering you the opportunity to consider criminology in practice, both in criminal justice and applied research. Our team includes former justice practitioners and researchers at the cutting edge of research and evaluation in areas such as youth justice, drugs and criminal justice policy. The experience and contacts this brings has given us the opportunity to develop a vibrant, applied curriculum including options of study in criminal justice policy, practice and theory, as well as the opportunity to undertake a placement in a relevant organisation. You will also cover research methods and carry out your own research. We have devised this course to suit people working in, or planning to work in, criminal justice and related areas, as well as those looking for an academic career there is no requirement that students should have previously studied criminology.

Career prospects

This course aims to equip you with the skills to progress to higher research programmes, and/or to expand and enhance your career opportunities and professional practice within criminal justice and related agencies and organisations. While the degree is discipline-specific, successful completion provides evidence of high standards in a range of transferable skills that may be relevant in unrelated career settings, for example, information retrieval, summarising complex material, producing high quality reports, and initiating and developing projects.

Previous graduates have pursued careers in probation, the police, prisons, drug services, tackling domestic abuse, research and teaching, along with graduates who have gone on to study PhDs within the field of criminology.