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Sociology with Criminology at University of Portsmouth - UCAS

Course options

2025 - 2026
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There are other course options available which may have a different vacancy status or entry requirements – view the full list of options

University of Portsmouth has participated in the Teaching Excellence Framework. These ratings were awarded in 2023, for four years.

Course summary

This is a Connected Degree Portsmouth is the only University in the UK with the flexibility to choose when to do an optional paid placement or self-employed year. Either take a placement in your third year, or finish your studies first and complete a placement in your fourth year. You can decide if and when to take a placement after you've started your course. Overview People are not born criminals. On this course, you’ll explore how human relationships and social structures influence behaviour. You’ll discover how power dynamics and inequalities create crime. And you’ll see people who break and enforce the law in a new light. With many diverse options to choose from, you can tailor this BSc (Hons) Sociology with Criminology degree around topics that fascinate you – from identity issues, such as race and sexuality, to issues of experience, such as happiness, gang crime or serial killing. Modules are taught by experts who draw directly from their research activity – to give you the latest knowledge in the field. . Course highlights

  • Explore topics informed by our latest research, from a curriculum constantly updated to reflect new ideas in areas as diverse as black studies, gender, class and inequality
  • Learn how to persuade others through evidence-based argument, by taking a critical look at different ideas of society, crime and justice
  • Go beyond issues of crime to explore the human experience more broadly – from migration to inequalities, from food to celebrity culture
  • Practice analysing human behaviour through social research, so you can gain insights to help improve people’s wellbeing
  • Customise your degree to match your ambitions: some modules reduce the amount to time you’d need to train for a policing career or as a probation officer
Careers and opportunities Studying a combination of sociology and criminology opens up a wide range of potential careers, both in and out of the criminal justice system. Whether you’re attracted to careers that involve working closely with other people, or roles that call for rigorous and structured thinking, you’ll be well prepared. This is because you’ll graduate with a set of skills that are transferable to all kinds of professions. Those skills include:
  • insight into people and social dynamics
  • critical thinking and analysis
  • qualitative and quantitative research
  • the ability to shape and communicate an argument
For proof that a wide range of employers value these skills, look at the diversity of roles our recent graduates have taken on. They include: police officer, recruitment consultant, litigation paralegal, digital forensics assistant and victim support caseworker. What areas can you work in with a sociology with criminology degree? You’ll graduate ready to pursue a career or further training in areas such as:
  • health and social care
  • law enforcement
  • probation
  • counselling
  • advertising, marketing and media
  • teaching and lecturing
  • human resources and recruitment
  • business administration and personnel management
You could also progress into research-related jobs or pursue further research and study at postgraduate level. What jobs can you do with a sociology with criminology degree? Job roles you could take on include:
  • social researcher
  • probation officer
  • investigative analyst
  • police officer
  • human resource manager
  • counsellor
  • teacher
  • charity worker
  • detention custody officer

Modules

Year 1 Core modules in this year include:

  • Criminal Justice (20 credits)
  • Developing your Sociological Imagination (40 credits)
  • Research Design and Analysis (20 credits)
  • Theorising Social Life (20 credits)
  • Understanding Criminology (20 credits)
There are no optional modules in this year. Year 2 Core modules in this year include:
  • Doing Sociological Research (20 credits)
  • Questioning Criminology (20 credits)
Optional modules in this year include (20 credits each):
  • Consumer Society: Critical Themes and Issues
  • Contemporary Terrorism and the Global Response
  • Crimes of the Powerful
  • Digital Cultures: Exploring the Digital in the Humanities and Social Sciences
  • Drugs and Society
  • Emotions and Social Life
  • Empire and Its Afterlives in Britain, Europe, and Africa
  • Engaged Citizenship in Humanities and Social Sciences
  • Equality Or Liberation? Theorising Social Justice
  • Family, Career and Generation
  • Gang Crime
  • Gender and Sexuality
  • Global Environmental Justice
  • Global Security
  • Hate Crime
  • Health, Wellbeing, and Happiness
  • Intercultural Perspectives On Communication
  • Marketing & Communication
  • Modernity and Globalisation
  • Nationalism and Migration: Chaos, Crisis and the Everyday
  • News, Discourse, and Media
  • Penology and Prison
  • Policing and Society
  • Principles of Economic Crime Investigation
  • Professional Experience
  • Puritans to Postmodernists: American Literature
  • Race and Racism
  • Risk and Society
  • Social Power, Elites and Dissent
  • Sociology of Culture: Taste, Value and Celebrity
  • The Sociology of Education
  • Transitional Justice & Human Rights
  • Understanding Personal Life
  • Victims of Crime: Key Players in Criminal Justice
  • Wildlife Crime: Threats and Response
  • Work, Employment and Society
  • Youth Crime, Youth Justice
Placement year (optional) Have the opportunity to do a work placement year after your second or third year on this Connected Degree - we're the only UK university to offer flexible sandwich placements for undergraduates. Year 3 Core modules in this year are: Optional sociology modules in this year are (20 credits each):
  • Challenging Global Inequality
  • Consumer Society: Critical Themes and Issues
  • Emotions and Social Life
  • Equality or Liberation? Theorising Social Justice
  • Family, Career and Generation
  • Food, Culture and Society
  • Gender and Sexuality
  • Health, Wellbeing and Happiness
  • Introduction to Teaching
  • Nationalism and Migration: Chaos, Crisis and the Everyday
  • Professional Development
  • Professional Experience: Recruiters and Candidates
  • Race and Racism
  • Social Power, Elites and Dissent
  • Sociology of Culture: Taste, Value and Celebrity
  • Understanding Personal Life
Optional criminology modules are:
  • Black Criminology, Race and the Criminal Justice System
  • Consumer Society: Critical Themes and Issues
  • Contemporary Terrorism and the Global Response
  • Crime and New Technologies: Theory and Practice
  • Dangerous Offenders and Public Protection
  • Dissertation
  • Economic Crime and Fraud Examination
  • Emotions and Social Life
  • Equality Or Liberation? Theorising Social Justice
  • Family, Career and Generation
  • Gender and Crime
  • Gender and Sexuality
  • Green Crime and Environmental Justice
  • Health, Wellbeing and Happiness
  • Introduction to Teaching
  • Major Project
  • Miscarriages of Justice
  • Money Laundering and Compliance
  • Nationalism and Migration: Chaos, Crisis and the Everyday
  • Policing: Law, Policy and Practice
  • Policing: Communities, Intelligence and Information
  • Political Extremism
  • Professional Development: Recruiters and Candidates
  • Professional Experience
  • Race and Racism
  • Social Power, Elites and Dissent
  • Sociology of Culture: Taste, Value and Celebrity
  • The Sociology of Education
  • Treatment and Rehabilitation of Offenders
  • True Crime - the Making of a Genre
- Understanding Personal Life

Assessment method

You'll be assessed through:

  • written essays
  • group and individual presentations
  • group and individual projects
  • seminar participation
  • examinations
  • a 10,000 word dissertation
You can get feedback on all practice and formal assessments so you can improve in the future.

How to apply

29Jan

This is the deadline for applications to be completed and sent for this course. If the university or college still has places available you can apply after this date, but your application is not guaranteed to be considered.

Application codes

Please select a course option – you will then see the application code you need to use to apply for the course.

Points of entry

The following entry points are available for this course:

  • Year 1
  • Year 2
  • Year 3

Entry requirements for advanced entry (i.e. into Year 2 and beyond)

We welcome applications for advanced entry. If you’d like to apply for advanced entry, you need to select the required year when you complete your UCAS application.

Entry requirements

Qualification requirements

English language requirements

TestGradeAdditional details
IELTS (Academic)6English language proficiency at a minimum of IELTS band 6.0 with no component score below 5.5.
Cambridge English AdvancedCambridge English: Advanced (CAE) (taken after January 2015). An overall score of 169 with no component score less than 162.
Cambridge English ProficiencyCambridge English: Proficiency (CPE) (taken after January 2015). An overall score of 169 with no component score less than 162.
PTE Academic62An overall score of 62 with a minimum of 59 in each skill.
TOEFL (iBT)7979 with a minimum of 18 in Reading, 17 in Listening, 20 in Speaking and 17 in Writing.
Trinity ISEPassTrinity College Integrated Skills in English (ISE) Level III with a Pass in all 4 components.

Student Outcomes

Operated by the Office for Students
72%
Employment after 15 months (Most common jobs)
91%
Go onto work and study

The number of student respondents and response rates can be important in interpreting the data – it is important to note your experience may be different from theirs. This data will be based on the subject area rather than the specific course. Read more about this data on the Discover Uni website.

Fees and funding

Tuition fees

EU £9535 Year 1
England £9535 Year 1
Northern Ireland £9535 Year 1
Scotland £9535 Year 1
Wales £9535 Year 1
Channel Islands £9535 Year 1
Republic of Ireland £9535 Year 1
International £17200 Year 1

Tuition fee status depends on a number of criteria and varies according to where in the UK you will study. For further guidance on the criteria for home or overseas tuition fees, please refer to the UKCISA website .

Additional fee information

Students who are resident in EU countries: please note that the net fee is inclusive of the Transition Scholarship Placement Year and Year abroad (at the time of publishing for 2025/26): UK/Channel Islands and Isle of Man students – £1,430 EU – £1,430 International (Non-EU) – £2,875. Fees are accurate at the time of publishing and are subject to change at any time without notice. Please check the course page on our website for the most up to date fee information All fees are subject to annual increase. For more information about fees, go to port.ac.uk/study/undergraduate/undergraduate-fees-and-student-finance/tuition-fees-living-costs-and-other-study-costs
Sociology with Criminology at University of Portsmouth - UCAS