Course summary

Our accredited course brings to life this exciting field, exploring how psychology can help us understand the minds of offenders, criminal behaviours and why people commit crimes, with reference to specific crimes. You also focus on crime investigation and what happens in the courtroom in areas such as eyewitness behaviour; detecting deceptive behaviours; and exploring how juries reach their verdicts. In your final year, you develop the advanced skills needed to assess offenders and put in place interventions. Foundation Year In the Foundation year you will study three days per week. The focus will be on academic writing skills and numeracy, plus subject-specific content to fully prepare you for entry to an Undergraduate degree. It provides a balance between content related to your chosen subject and the range of wider skills required for undergraduate study. This is an integrated four-year degree, with the foundation year as a key part of the course. You will be required to pass the foundation year in order to progress to the first year of your degree. This course is ideal for those who do not meet our standard entry requirements or those with a non-standard educational background. It will allow you to graduate with a full undergraduate degree in your chosen subject in four years. Course Accreditation/Industry Endorsement This course is accredited by the British Psychological Society (BPS). Graduating from a BPS-accredited degree with a 2nd-class Honours or above makes you eligible for Graduate Basis for Chartered Membership (GBC) of the Society. Facilities and Specialist Equipment You have access to a range of specialist, industry-standard psychology laboratories and computing environments including:

• Cognitive neuropsychology lab

• Virtual reality lab

• Research cubicles

• Driving simulator

• Eyetrackers

• Physiological data-acquisition system

• EEG

• Podcasting equipment

• Data-analysis software

• Experiment and survey-building software

• Our specialised forensic psychology units have been developed with a panel of industry professionals including from the probation service and police. They help to inform our authentic assessment strategy, which means your assignments reflect real-life tasks.

• Benefit from friendly, approachable staff, small class sizes and easy access to academic support.

• Get to know your peers and academics well by taking part in the School’s many social events, which run throughout the academic year in a dedicated space for psychology students.

• Learn from a highly experienced team who are active in the criminal justice sector, bringing real-life practice to their teaching and research.

• Take up the opportunity to apply your knowledge and new skills on placement such as working with our local probations service.

• Develop your professional research skills working on cutting-edge research projects with our academic staff through our Junior Research Assistant Scheme.

• Our research addresses real-life, day-to-day issues including the accuracy of eyewitnesses in identifying criminals; reading development; cognitive function in long COVID; and prevention of gender-based violence.

• Conduct supervised research on a forensic topic of your choice, and present it to your peers and psychology professionals at our annual Student Research Conference.

• Enjoy field trips to a range of organisations and locations including Luton Crown Court where you will observe real-life cases from the public gallery.

• Hear from guest speakers who share their experience and expertise at special events run by the School.